My Musical Musings by Elizabeth Clements

My Musical Musings -  by Elizabeth Clements

Have you ever listened to a song in another language and wanted to know what it was all about? I grew up listening to country music on the radio. My mother loved opera, had books that told about some of the operas and arias. She missed not hearing them so when we finally bought a stereo, she’d buy classical lps. I didn’t understand the words, but I loved the melodies. One album that I nearly wore out was Carmen. Oh how I loved The Toreador Song as I dusted the furniture. And then there was Tschaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. In my mind’s eye I’d see the Cossacks flying over the steppes on their speedy steeds and imagine the clash of sabers and the cannon’s roar. Even the cartoons on tv used opera when Tom was chasing Jerry or Road Runner played tricks on Coyote….I think that was his name.

In my humble opinion, nothing speaks to the soul like music— and sometimes without a single word spoken. But when a song had words, oh my, nothing could beat Marty Robbins’ El Paso. That was my teenage anthem. And Frankie Laine singing Ghost Riders in the Sky. And on a Saturday night, at home all alone, laying on the couch and dreamily listening to Elvis asking, Are You Lonesome Tonight, or Jim Reeves saying, He’ll Have To Go. Even my opera-loving mom loved these last two singers.

All four Beetles were songwriters as well as musicians, but Paul McCartney and John Lennon were the most prolific.  Between them they wrote and recorded over 200 songs from 1962 until 1970.  Much of the older population shrugged them off as just another (phenomenally) successful rock group…until someone had the brilliant idea to adapt Yesterday, Penny Lane, Let It Be, and All You Need Is Love, to cite just a few, to be performed by a symphony orchestra. At times one didn’t realize it was a Beetles song until the melody broke into the familiar chorus. I think only then was The Beetles’ incredible talent truly appreciated by the non-rock populace <grin>.

It isn’t just instrumentals that can stoke one’s love of music. I think Spanish and Italian are two of the most beautiful and romantic languages in the world. There have been times when I’ve longed to know the words of a song performed in another language. Two singers I’ve chosen to use as examples are Julio Iglesias and Ivan Rebroff. They are opposites in many ways, but their talent and emotional      contribution to their songs has me often enthralled.

The first time I heard Julio sing (he’s the father of Enrique Iglesias) was back in late 1982 when he made his first appearance on American television on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, which we watched every night. Johnny introduced someone but I was half asleep and didn’t catch the name— but in just a few seconds I jerked to full attention.

“That’s him! That’s him!” I squealed. Poor Doug, he didn’t know what the heck I was talking about. At the time I was working on my third book, about two pop singers. I saw Samantha, my heroine, quite clearly, blue eyes and gorgeous long red hair to match her sexy, smoky voice. Samantha’s partner in crime was her manager and accompanied her on the piano. He was also in love with her. I had a hero, of course, also a singer, but I couldn’t “see” him until that incredible moment on late night television.

Okay, back to Julio. He sang with such emotion, often with his eyes closed and I remember demanding out loud, “Open your eyes.” He did, occasionally, for just a couple of heartbeats and I was mesmerized with those soulful, almost bashful brown eyes. (He’s a very humble person).  I felt his emotion, but I didn’t know a single word he was singing. And wanted to. Badly, and yet in one way it didn’t really matter because I was so wrapped up in the melody. But I did want to know his name (this was before the age of Google, let alone the internet <bigger grin>. And then the program ended and to my utter frustration, not any further information was forthcoming about this awesome Spanish singer.  For some reason the video of his first appearance is no longer available, so the video below is his second appearance on The Tonight Show where he sings Natalie.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Julio+Iglesias+first+appearance+on+Johnny+Carson+Tonight+Show&&view=detail&mid=B9D1293B9D9ABB996CBEB9D1293B9D9ABB996CBE&&FORM=VDRVSR

 

Two weeks later, the incredible happened. Johnny mentioned their switchboard had lit up after a singer had performed and there was such a never-before-demand for the return of a singer so soon after a performance. And this time I learned his name. Also, by this time my Samantha had kicked my original hero to the curb, had even forgotten his name (as did I) and she was falling in love for real. I gave this transformed hero a fitting name: Julius. Except when I was talking about my story, I kept calling him Julio instead of Julius. So, I thought to avoid further confusion for others as well as myself, I renamed my hero Raphael, a very good Spanish name, right?  

Also, in those two weeks before Julio’s second guest on The Tonight Show, my Muse and I were very active in creating a history and background for Raphael. And here’s the kicker. Several years later, long after I’d finished the book and put it aside to write my first historical romance, I came across a little bio simply called Julio, complete with his life story and pictures. I think I must have somehow channeled Julio’s life because the similarities between his real life and my fictional one were downright psychic.

Julio was born in Madrid, Spain, to wealthy parents. He excelled at sports and had dreams of continuing with soccer when a car accident left him partly paralyzed. A nurse gave him a guitar to help pass the time as well as exercise his fingers. Eventually he started writing songs. Little did he know this exercise would inspire him to write a song, sing it and win a song contest in Spain, likened to Star Search. Since then he has sold more than 100 million records in 14 languages. When he came to the Jubilee Auditorium, Doug and I went to see him. We had excellent seats, but we were also in a direct line with the powerful speakers, so I think my head was a little numb—but oh, my heart was euphoric!

 

Here’s my favorite song by Julio, which he also wrote and sang in Spanish on The Tonight Show. I so wanted to know the words. He has since recorded Hey in English. But that song, too, proves when a song squeezes the heart, the melody also caresses the soul. 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Julio+Iglesias+Hey&view=

Julio remains my favorite singer to this day (yes, Marty Robbins, Jim Reeves, Tom Jones, Adam Lambert and Elvis, I love your gift that you share with the world…but Julio’s my favorite). And I love his music best of all when he sings in Spanish, even though I only understand a few words here and there…and it doesn’t matter because the heart loves what it loves.

However, now I have to introduce you to Ivan Rebroff because this Russian-German singer is not to be missed and is in my top seven list of favorite singers. I would “guesstimate” that 99.9% of the readers of this blog have never heard of him. Perhaps I never would have, either, if we hadn’t been living in Germany for five years and first saw him on German television back in about 1969 or 1970.

Standing an impressive 6’5”, often performing in Russian peasant clothing and a Cossack hat, Ivan Rebroff was an awesome singer with a 4.5-octave range from deep, deep bass soaring to beyond soprano. In 1931, he was born prematurely on a train station platform in Berlin, Germany, of immigrant Russian parents.  I’m sad to say he died of heart failure in 2008.

His big break came in 1968. Although he sings classical and opera, he is most famous (and popular) for his Russian and/or German folk songs. I have his Christmas album plus a two-CD set that has a collection of many of his beloved songs that he sings in German or Russian. He also sings in English, so a Google search can get you several English renditions such as Old Man River and Danny Boy, etc. I couldn’t find a video of my favorite song by him, but this one is my second favorite, called Abend Glocken or Evening Bells.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?

I also have to share this next video simply because it shows his playful side and how he can slide from falsetto to deep, deep bass that gives me delicious shivers. It’s called Im Tiefen Keller (literally translated Deep in the Celler and is another one of my favorites because it beautifully demonstrates his awesome range, plus, I absolutely love his sense of humor as he sings a drinking song. After all, he is an actor as well as a singer. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?

Doug and I attended his concert at the Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary and because Doug knew the security guard, we were able to go backstage to meet Ivan Rebroff after the concert. He’s even more impressive in person than on tv. I still have his signed souvenir photograph.

In closing, I just want to mention that music has always been a large part of my life. I come from a long line of musicians, most of whom had their own small bands and played at dances, weddings and other special occasions in the old country. My grandfather played the violin as did my great-uncle. I learned to play the piano, but sadly I didn’t inherit their talent nor their voice.

I treasure childhood memories of Saturday nights at my great-uncle’s home where all my family would gather around for music, singing and dancing (and probably some liquid “refreshments” as musicians were known to love their wine and ale. When we moved to the farm, my mother’s cousins and their wives would sometimes take the hour-long trip to come visit overnight. After supper, the dining room table was pushed against the wall, the scatter rugs rolled up and stashed and it was like old times again, just fewer people. Peter would bring his accordian and play while my mom and his brother, Johnny, danced. They did the waltz beautifully, but it’s the tango I remember the best.  I loved watching them dance, but I also have many memories of Peter, his head cocked to one side, his eyes closed, as he played without any sheet music. He truly felt the music and could play by ear as well as read sheet music. There would be singing and it was wonderful.

I remember rides in the truck going home from town on a Saturday night, my grandmother in the middle and me sitting on my mother’s lap. They sang beautiful harmony while I sang lead because I didn’t have their talent to harmonize and sometimes I’d slide into harmony, too. Hopeless, but now I just smile and ignore my two left feet <grin>.

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to listen to the videos and perhaps be lured into watching a few more. I’d love to hear about your musical musings and memories.

In light of my musical musings, here is a little excerpt from my novella, Diamond Jack’s Angel. I’m so proud to be part of the anthology with five other wonderful authors that make up the Hot Western Nights Anthology. It’s great reading any time of the year, not just on a hot summer night.

He shook her off with a smile and wave of his rope-veined hand. “No more talk. Just sing, mein Engel, sing.”

Angela smiled at the endearment. She’d always been his angel from the moment he’d first held her. Her parents had taken her back to Austria for a visit when she was four years old. He’d sat her on his knee and taught her to strum the small guitar he’d bought for her. Hand in hand they’d walked in the alpine meadows where he’d shown her the small white flower, edelweiss, and spoken of his love for the mountains. Years later, lonely after his wife died, he’d travelled to Colorado to visit his daughter and had felt instantly at peace among the Rockies, different from the Alps, but still beloved mountains. Angela instinctively knew he’d never leave them.

And so, she strummed and sang songs her mother and Opa had taught her. One by one, five old miners emerged from their tents and gathered near the fire, joining in on a chorus or simply humming along with the now-familiar songs. When she played the last notes of the song she’d written about edelweiss, it was an unspoken end to the evening and the old men retired to their tents.

Feeling unusually melancholy, Angela stared at the dying fire, stroking Max’s big head, grateful for his company. He was always sensitive to her feelings and pressed closer, nudging his cold nose into her palm. She loved being here with her grandfather, taking care of him, cooking for the miners who treated her like a daughter. They always took time to hunt and bring meat for an evening meal, supplementing their food with the milk and eggs from the goat and chickens. For extra income, she took in laundry, which filled her days. Keeping busy made her forget how much she missed her parents who had been killed in an avalanche while they were skiing.

She couldn’t bear to live in the house, so when her grandfather came to Denver for the funeral, she’d left with him. And how much longer would she have him? He was in his high seventies, getting so frail but far too stubborn to admit it was becoming harder each day to work his claim.

Rising, she doused the fire, picked up her guitar and climbed into the wagon to sleep.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.clements.549

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17898781.Elizabeth_Clements

Link for Diamond Jack’s Angel/Hot Western Nights Anthology

https://www.amazon.com/Western-Nights-Karen-Michelle-Nutt-ebook/dp/B07T9F21B5/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_img_3?

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Horse-Thief-Moon-Prairie-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B07BHQNBDW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?

Beneath A Horse Thief Moon: http://amzn.to/2FVunRW

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Fugitive-Moon-Prairie-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B07SZ4LHVS

 

LARGER THAN LIFE

LARGER THAN LIFE - The Real-Life Characters Behind the Characters. Dr. Mary Walker.

By C.A. Asbrey

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker

Every writer has something which germinates that little kernel of an idea, which grows into a plot, a character, or a scene. If we're lucky, it inspires a whole universe, or fits neatly into one we are already building. Some of us get our inspiration from movies, T.V. shows, even pictures of models. Others are inspired by real people, or have figures who form from imagination who distil from the ethereal energy in the brain into something more tangible on paper. I'm no different to any other writer in that respect. I get my ideas, and run with them like anyone else, and I thought I might share with you some of the real people who inspired some of the characters in The Innocents Mysteries Series.

It's fair to say that some of the most outrageous characters are actually based on reality, and are people I came across while researching. One of my favourites is Dr. Davida (Vida for short) Cadwallader. In the series she is a friend of the protagonist, Abigail MacKay. They met when Abigail joined the Pinkertons, and became friends. Dr. Cadwallader was arrested as a spy during the Civil War, worked as an Army Surgeon, a Pinkerton, and now consults with the Pinkerton Detective Agency while practicing as a doctor and an Alienist. She was a proponent of The Rational Dress movement, and insists on wearing men's clothes.

In the book 'Innocent Minds' she is introduced as follows:

“I think that’s who you’re waitin’ for. Abi said she might be unusual. Any more unusual and she’d be got up in one of them horse suits. What’s she come as?” 

Both men stared over at the stout woman wearing a man’s frock coat, high-collared shirt, cravat, and stove pipe hat, who stared up and down the quay as though searching for someone. 

“At least she’s wearing skirts,” said Nat. “I guess that’s something.” 

“Yeah,” Jake answered. “That was my first thought when I clapped eyes on her. That’s really somethin’.”

Vida has a remarkable past in the books, but no more incredible than the real woman who inspired her, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, (November 26, 1832 – February 21, 1919). She wasn't a Pinkerton, but none the less remarkable for that.

She was born in Oswego, New York. Her parents were both very progressive for the time and reinforced the idea that there was no such thing as roles defined by gender, but only by ability. Her mother often did heavy farm work, while her father attended to domestic duties. Mary's ideas on female clothing came from her mother, who did not like corsets, and encouraged the girl to wear men's clothes to work around the farm. Tight-lacing was said to be unhealthy and unnecessary, and these ideas seem to have stuck with Mary for life. Her parents also insisted that their daughter be as well-educated as their son, and she gained her medical degree in 1855 from Syracuse Medical College.

She married a fellow medical student, Albert Miller, on November 16th, 1855. True to form, for the wedding she wore a short skirt with trousers underneath for her wedding. She also refused to 'obey' in the wedding vows. They set up a joint practice in Rome, New York, but it failed due to suspicions of female doctors at the time. The marriage was also short-lived due to Miller's infidelities. The couple separated and divorced.

Her insistence that long skirts and numerous petticoats spread dirt, as well restricting the movement of the wearer, led her to experiment with various combinations of trousers and skirts. This was not well-received by many, and she was widely ridiculed, and attacked more than once. At one point she was even arrested by a police officer who twisted her arm, demanding to know if she'd ever had sex with a man. She was released after influential friends kicked up a fuss regarding the matter.

When the Civil War broke out she offered her services to the union side as she was a passionate abolitionist, but women were not permitted to be doctors, so she ended up working as a nurse instead. She was known to wear men's clothes when working, insisting it was more practical in the field. Mary served at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), July 21, 1861 and at the Patent Office Hospital in Washington,  D.C. She also acted as a battle surgeon, without pay, at the Battle of Fredericksburg and after the Battle of Chickamauga. In 1862 she was allowed to become the first female surgeon employed by the US Army, but only as a civilian, and treated both combatants and civilians in that role.

It was during these forays across enemy lines she was captured, and treated as a spy. Mary was held for four months until she was released as part of a prisoner exchange. During her captivity she steadfastly refused to wear clothes 'more fitting to her sex.'

She went on to supervise a women's prison in Louisville, and an orphanage in Tennessee for the rest of the war, but suffered muscular atrophy as a result of her imprisonment. For her disability, she was awarded a Civil War pension

Mary spent the rest of her life touring and campaigning on health care, temperance, women's rights, and dress reform. In those speeches she always insisted that she didn't wear men's clothes. "I wear my own."   

She found herself at odds with her own movement when she insisted that women already had the right to vote, as some states had already allowed it. The movement decided to campaign for constitutional amendment instead. Mary's intransigence on the issue led to increasing alienation, and her insistence on dressing unconventionally made her an easy target for mockery.

Medal of Honor

After the war Mary had been awarded the Medal of Honor, even though her civilian status technically made her ineligible. The medal was based on her service, and the lack of an award being a good match to the nature of her service being available at the time. However, many loopholes in the regulations as to who was entitled to a medal, and who was not, led to many people being awarded who were not involved in combat, or who had civilian roles. In an overhaul of the regulations in 1916, over 900 people were stripped of the medal, including Mary and Buffalo Bill Cody.

True to form, Mary refused to return her medal and continued to wear it until her death in 1919 at the age of eight-six, insisting that men were awarded the medal who spent less time on the front lines than she had. They also did not remove the medal from male surgeons under the same kind of civilian contract as she had. She was buried wearing a plain dark suit, a year before women got the right to vote in the USA.       

During World War II, a Liberty ship, the SS Mary Walker was named after her, and a stamp was released in her honour in 1982. Her home town, Oswego, unveiled a statue to her in 2012. There is also a plaque explaining her importance at the Health Center there.  Her Medal of Honor was returned to her in 1977 by President Carter.

Excerpt

“She hasn’t got the combination to the safe,” said the manager. “You can scare her as much as you want. We all know you’re not gonna use that gun on us.”

Rebecca’s breath halted as she felt a careless arm drape around her shoulder.

“I don’t need a gun to hurt someone. Give us the combination.” The manager remained mute and turned his face away. “Your call, sir.” He pulled Rebecca around to face him as she gasped in alarm. “Just remember who you’ve got to thank for this, ma’am.”

He pointed over at the manager, who refused to meet her eyes. “That man right there.”

“Anything that happens to her is down to you. Not me,” said the manager.

Rebecca felt herself dragged from the room by one arm. She was pulled into the office next door and pushed against the wall. The man walked over and pulled down the blind before returning to her. Her breath came in ragged pants of fear. “Please, no. Don’t.”

He leaned on the wall, a hand on either side of her head, and pressed his face close. “You were gonna hold this place up. Are you some kind of idiot?”

She blinked in confusion. “Huh?”

The man pulled down his mask, revealing the face of the fair man who had walked into her office looking for Fernsby. “Don’t lie to me, honey. You had the same idea as we did— look at Meagher’s bank account to see where he gets his money. We’ve watched you march up and down outside this place all day, like you were on sentry duty, while you built up your courage. You even got in the way of us doin’ it. What the hell is goin’ on in your head? How dumb can a woman get?”

“You? Here?” She couldn’t quite decide whether to stop being scared or not.

“Yeah. Me.” He indicated with his head. “Now, Nat’s in there, and he needs the combination of the safe. It’s too new and sophisticated for him to crack the combination. You and me need to put on a bit of a show to make sure the manager gives it up.”

“You’re not robbing the bank?”

Jake huffed in irritation. “Try to keep up, Becky. I need you to scream for help so the manager gives Nat the combination to the vault. We want Meagher’s records too.”

She shook her head. “Me? I can’t scream.”

“What do you mean you can’t scream? All women can scream.”

“I can’t. I’m just not made that way.”

He frowned. “Look, Becky. If you won’t scream, I’m gonna have to make you. Let’s do this the easy way, huh?”

“Please, help! Noooo.”

Jake frowned. “You call that screamin’? That’s useless.”

“I told you. I can’t.”

Jake flicked up an eyebrow. “Last chance, Becky.”

“Aaargh—”

“Nope.” A gloved hand reached up to her hat as his eyes glittered with mischief. “Don’t say you weren’t warned, sweetheart.” 

     

ACTING LESSONS FOR WRITERS?

Post by Doris McCraw

writing as Angela Raines

For this month's post I thought I might share some of the 'lessons' on character finding/building I used to share with my acting students. These concepts, which we all know, I use when I am writing. It seems I've been using them all my life, having been on stage for most of it. Still, it is fun to remind myself from time to time. I hope you enjoy them also. 

Character Biography

1. What is your character's name and age?

2. Where were they born and what was their childhood like?

3. Do they have any siblings, if so what are their names, ages, and sex?

5. Who were/ are their parents? What do they do/did for a living?

6. What makes them unique?

Character Sketch based on the biography

Name: Jennifer Jean Hobson (goes by J.J.)

Age: 38

Marital Status: Currently divorced after two failed marriages

Occupation: A detective with the city police department

Siblings: Two brothers, one in Ohio, one in Virginia. One sister living at home taking care of elderly parents

Parents: Both still living in New York state

J.J. loves her job and worked hard to get to the level she now has. Doesn’t feel guilty about failed marriages but gets constant remarks from her family. They want her to return home and have a normal life. This would make J.J. crazy. Has a drinking problem, but is in complete denial about the issue. Has been known to pick up men when drunk and has no memory of the event afterward.

As a child, J.J. was a bit of a tomboy. She enjoyed softball, track, and basketball. When she began high school she was in a car wreck in which her boyfriend was killed. She started drinking in secret shortly after that.

Has usually been a bit of a loner. This is primarily due to a lack of self-esteem and shyness. Has had friends but usually ends up driving them away with her behavior. Comfortable with her co-workers as the interaction is all business.

Character Belief Process

1. What problem, situation or area of life do they want to improve?

2. What emotions are they feeling?

3.. What physical sensations are they feeling?

4. What are they thinking about?

5. What is the worst thing that could happen in their situation?

6. What is the best that could happen?

7. What fear or limiting belief is keeping them from achieving what they want in their situation?

I hope you find something of use in the process. It has been a tool I've used for many a year. 

Wishing you all a wonderful, safe, productive rest of 2020. We surely do need it.

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Telling Stories Where Love & History Meet

Books: Angela Raines Books

Website: Angela Raines - author

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here