THE MUSIC

Music speaks to me. It always has. One of my earliest memories is of playing on the swing set in the back yard of my childhood home and singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

When I was seven I begged for piano lessons. At sixteen I wanted to be a singer and studied voice. At twenty-one (realizing I wasn’t headed for stardom on the Broadway stage, after all), music lessons were nudged aside and I had to earn my living as a high school English teacher. At twenty-six, I started writing fiction, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I love many types of music from classical to Celtic, from opera to rock. Music affects and reflects my mood. I choose different music for each book — not to listen to as I write, but to listen to before I write. Music transports me to where I need to go emotionally as I sit down at my computer each day. It gets me "in the mood" and serves as a kind of emotional shortcut.

For those interested in knowing what pieces of music I was inspired by while writing the Pharaohs Rising series (all my personal favorites), they are listed below under each book title, classical composers before their music; popular performers, when specifically mentioned, after the song title:

The Music of NIGHT LIFE:

• Sometimes I Dream, Mario Frangoulis
• Who Wants To Live Forever, Sarah Brightman
• Wicked Game, Chris Isaak
• Puccini’s Nessun Dorma, from "Turandot"
• Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King from the Peer Gynt Suite No.1, Op.46
• Holding Out for a Hero, Bonnie Tyler
• Miserere, Andrea Bocelli, featuring John Miles
• This Could Be Heaven, Seal
• Dreamer, Bethany Dillon
• Pretty Vegas, INXS
• The score to "The Phantom of the Opera."