Something Else

Something else of which largely inspires my storytelling, besides houses, atmospheric settings, and the past, is music, since my childhood was filled with music, as well as storytelling. My mother was an accomplished pianist and taught lessons. I experienced an ill-fated attempt to learn piano as a child but picked it up again in adulthood, this time learning from Natalia, a former Russian concert pianist, who happens to share a birthday with my late father. After surviving lessons with her for ten years (!!!) I now enjoy playing a variety of pieces. I adore classical (I’m more than a little obsessed with Chopin) but I also enjoy playing anything from New Age to Evanescence. I also attend rock concerts, folk festivals, symphonies, and operas whenever possible. And while writing I always have Sirius XM Spa playing in the background. I turn to a variety of favorites for inspiration in finding the right “mood” for a particular scene, and this includes anything from acoustic rock to folk to Celtic.

Lastly, I love passing on the magic of reading, writing and storytelling to the younger set (to the people who think Pearl Jam is classic rock). I have taught K-12 English and composition, and history. And while I love teaching children formal literary analysis and composition and seeing the confidence they gain when they are able to craft an elegant essay on their own, nothing compares to seeing my own children develop a love of story and sharing with me how the storyline of a popular superhero movie follows the hero’s journey, or not, or how a character in a movie or book falls flat because they have not been fleshed out thoroughly.

Playing a 1904 Steinway in the Riordan Mansion in Flagstaff, Arizona.