Tunes for Tuesday

I'm a child of the '80s. Can't help it. Always have been. Always will be.

Not only am I a child of the '80s. I'm a child of music.

Music has influenced me since the first time I heard the Bay City Rollers and Fleetwood Mac play on my sisters' Panasonic turntable.

When I'm writing, music opens a channel between me and my characters. Like white noise is said to enable the voices of ghosts, music clarifies the voices of my characters and the scenes around them.

One of the most influencial musicians in my life has been Patty Smyth. When she burst onto the scene wearing all of that make-up in her video for "The Warrior" with Scandal in the early 1980s, I wanted to be like her.



I loved her hair. I loved her make-up. I loved her voice. Most of all, I loved her rebel attitude.

And yet, Patty showed a vulnerable side, too.



Alas, I realized I could never be Patty Smyth. But the music Patty sang had an incredible influence on how I shaped Heather in "Long Road."

So, today, I want to tip my hat to Patty, and thank her for providing a wealth of emotions through song.