"Sing, dammit!" Music in my romances.

I suppose it was inevitable. The music world has invaded my literary world.

What do I mean? Well, some of you may know I used to be a classical singer. For a good chunk of my life, I studied music. Indeed, there were days when I felt Mozart, Bach and Beethoven were my closest confidantes. I sang professionally for a couple of years, singing soprano for a well-known Toronto chamber ensemble. It was an exhilarating experience...but not for me in the end.

Sadly, it took me a few years to realize I didn't want to be a singer. I do miss the music, being able to create beautiful sounds in an ensemble, but I don't miss the environment. After writing in secret for many years, I came to the conclusion writing was a passion I could no longer deny.

I knew I'd use my musical experiences in my books at some point. Music was simply too much a part of my life for me to dismiss it outright. However, for the most part, those experiences remained tucked away in my brain.

All of a sudden, they have burst onto the scene again. It occurs to me three, not one but three, of my heroines can now say music is a part of their lives. Heroine Winn from The Stand-In is a Broadway-style actor who loves musicals. Well, at the start of the book anyway.



In addition to Winn, I have two artsy heroines who will feature in books that are soon to be released.

Firstly, there is Kate Callender, the heroine of my upcoming contemporary with Samhain Publishing, Vice.  Kate is actually a radio jingle singer but her passion is torch songs.

And then I have Renata Bruno, the heroine of Night Lover. This paranormal has recently been submitted to a publisher and I eagerly await the response. Renata is most like me in that she is a classical soprano with a chamber ensemble.

Did I intend to write so many artistic heroines? No. Did it feel right to pen them this way? Golly, yes. Being able to draw upon my experiences in the singing world really allowed me to get to the hearts of these characters. I felt their dreams, understood their disappointments and craved their successes. I lived these women.

That being said, I did work hard not to make them carbon copies of each other. Winn, Kate and Renata are definitely different in many ways and so are their stories. Their heroes are unique, their conflicts even more so.

They say "write what you know." For a long time, I resisted allowing the world of music into my literary works. However, it seems those memories have a life of their own and they needed telling. And if I've learned anything as an author, it's that one must listen carefully to one's Muse.

She won't always speak in such clear terms.