Playing my song ~ #MondayBlogs

Music has always played an important role in my life, it's been a boost to my ego and a respite during troubled times. The words of a song have often helped me find clarity. And in recent years, songs have proven to be a trigger for unleashing creativity. Key scenes of more than a few of my novels have been written while specific songs have blasted over and over... and over again.

As for me, I sing without shame in the privacy of my shower or in the confines of my car (always alone) and I am always woefully off-key.

I dated a young man whose dream was to become a famous singer and entertainer and at 14 (me) and 15 (him) he would play his guitar and sing to me. We belonged to the local community center and there was a teen cafe where he often headlined the evening's entertainment - one night he dedicated a song to me, in front of everyone, and it was one of the most romantic things to ever happen to me. The song "Wild Thing" has never sounded the same ever again.

Since then there have been other songs sung to me or dedicated on the local radio station - Do You Love Me, The Worst That Could Happen, Lady in Red, Close to You, Through the Years, Have I Told You Lately... The day I was married our first dance was to We've Only Just Begun. Each time I hear one of these songs, or a few others I equate with significant events of my life, I feel flooded with nostalgia, happiness and a little bit of a return to my yesterdays.

When I wrote His Lucky Charm (originally titled Forgotten) I played Kenny Chesney's Because of Your Love on a continuous loop; for Courage of the Heart it was Once in a Lifetime by Keith Urban; currently I'm playing Kenny Chesney's (again) I Lost It for my present WIP (a sequel to Karma Visited). Music seems to reach right down, grabbing my emotions and shaking them up so that I can pour words onto paper and hopefully connect with my readers' emotional intellect.

What about you? Are there any songs which have special meaning?

The True Story Behind Courage of the Heart

This true story isn’t about the love affair between Adam Sherman and Davie Prescott, the hero and heroine of my book. This isn’t about the shame that Adam feels or Davie’s innocence, or about the way he fears that he will taint her.


This is a true tale about the publication of a novel and the dreams of an author. You see, I first wrote Courage of the Heart in 1999 and it was published in June 2001. At the time, the publisher was an innovative print-on-demand company and one had to apply to be published. And while they never promised to move mountains to market the book, they indicated that they would help.

So my book went to “press” and I experienced the wild euphoria of seeing my name on the spine of the book. Between the time that I signed the contract and my book actually was made available, the company had changed its policy and became an all out self-publishing company. There was nothing wrong with that except that even the limited help with marketing I thought I would get was nil since I had not paid any money or purchased any packages. And… I knew absolutely nothing about marketing a book on my own.

Courage of the Heart received a few very favorable reviews (no, they were NOT all relatives!) and not many more books were actually sold. My copy sat filed away as a frustrating memory of what could have, should have, been. It was frustrating, but I had a book in my name even if less than 20 people had read it. I still felt some accomplishment.

I kept writing and in 2008, Vanilla Heart Publishing published my novels Bartlett’s Rule, Forgotten and Within the Law. Then Kimberlee Williams, managing editor of VHP, asked if I would consider re-releasing Courage of the Heart. My heart took a leap! Could it really happen? VHP and I had worked as a team to promote my other books and things were moving along very nicely. Did I dare to hope?

So I sent Kimberlee the manuscript – and legal looked into the question of rights. Kimberlee liked the story with some updated scenes (mostly to reflect the more modern world of computer technology that the story relied heavily on). Right now I am soooo excited I could squeal – Courage of the Heart will be re-released in a few months by Vanilla Heart Publishing!

Kimberlee designed a magnificent cover that so perfectly reflects the heat and intensity of Davie and Adam’s love story.

And while I don’t remember the music I listened to when I wrote the first version in 1999, I do know that I listened to Keith Urban singing “Once in a Lifetime” while I made the changes to make my story fit into the 21st century. So I guess that "Once in a Lifetime" is the theme song to Courage of the Heart.

Keep your eyes wide open for this romance… You know that I will let you know as soon as it is available. And in the meanwhile, keep coming back here for bits and pieces of interest about Courage of the Heart as well as Bartlett’s Rule, Forgotten and Within the Law.