Life Imitating Art?

Coincidence or Something More?

Jamie’s Children follows the paths of brother and sister, Niall and Laura Logan, as they use the music in their souls to deal with life’s challenges. I challenged myself when I chose to make Laura a violin prodigy and Niall a gifted singer-songwriter who was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

My challenge with Laura was learning more about the instrument, what is required to be a successful performer, and studying violin literature. My good friend Chris Souza, an exceptional violinist himself as well as an outstanding teacher, has been a great help with this. I’ve listened to some wonderful music. I’d heard many of these pieces before but never listened to them quite the way I needed to in order to better understand Laura.

Chris suggested I listen to American violinist Hilary Hahn, and I found her impressive and appealing. Reading her history was kind of astounding, actually. The path Hilary Hahn had followed is much like that of my fictional character. Laura’s genius as a violinist is discovered when she is four – the same age as Hahn. In my book, Laura begins her professional career at nineteen, a few years older than Hahn began hers. Both women complete a college program, Laura at Juilliard and Hahn at Curtis, both venerable musical institutions. How was it that I made choices for my character that parallel the professional life of the real violinist, choices that were made months before I became aware of Hilary Hahn?

Niall’s gift is as a folk singer-songwriter, another genre of music which I knew little about. More opportunities to be introduced not just to fine performances, but an opportunity to revisit some artists I was familiar with and an introduction to some I had not been aware of. Fortunately, I had another guide to help me with this – a former private voice student who is making inroads in his quest for just such a career, Nate Taylor. During the course of the book, Niall writes several songs, or at least the lyrics for songs. Maybe a subject for a future blog post?

Now my friend Ashleigh Evans has sent me a message about a young man currently competing on the television show “American Idol.” Dalton Rappatoni was diagnosed young with bipolar disorder, and apparently what has been his salvation has been the guitar someone gave him and his love of music which followed. My character Niall finds his passion for folk music before he is diagnosed, but that passion is vital to him. Another coincidence? Again, I created Niall well over a year ago when I first began research on bipolar disorder – a terrible chronic disease which has taken many months of study to begin to understand.

How do these things happen? I would think I am not alone in experiencing this – creating a character and inventing their life, only to learn of an actual person who has at least some of the qualities we’ve given our fictional character. Dalton is fortunate that he is living in the twenty-first century and is able to share his journey openly. My character Niall was born in 1969 and when he is diagnosed at the age of twenty-five in 1990, most people are unable to understand his illness and don’t want to hear about it.

Coincidence or something else? Shakespeare commented in Hamlet: “There are more things in heaven and earth than we have dreamed of.”  (Paraphrased; apologies to W.S.) Do we as writers somehow tap into a Muse which provides us with these ideas?

Broadening Horizons

Jamie’s Children

In my upcoming book, working title Jamie’s Children, I follow the stories of a brother and sister whose lives take very different paths. Their father, Jamie Logan, is an opera singer. His daughter, Laura, is discovered at the age of four to be a prodigiously gifted violinist. Laura’s brother Niall, younger by not quite two years, says at one point in the story: “Laura touched a violin at the age of four and the heavens opened up and announced what her life would be.” Niall battles the demons of bipolar disorder as he tries to understand who he is and how he fits into this family which is defined by music.

I’ve set myself quite a challenge with these two characters. In Eli’s Heart, Eli Levin was a prodigy, an immensely gifted pianist with a frightening congenital heart disorder, Tetralogy of Fallot. While I don’t consider myself a pianist, I spent many years studying piano and learned enough to be aware of the talent and dedication necessary for a career as a pianist.  And as a singer, I learned to appreciate the special skills required by a good accompanist. Eli Levin became a great accompanist. This was territory I entered fairly comfortably.

Laura plays violin. While I love the sound of the instrument, I’ve never played one. Fortunately, among my good friends I count a fine violinist, Chris Souza, who is my “go to” person for questions about the world of string music. Laura has isolated herself because of her genius, despite her family’s best efforts. She has to work through her own emotional problems to try to free herself from her self-imposed ivory tower.

Niall plays acoustic guitar, another instrument I know little about. I am learning what an aspiring folk singer needs to do to break into the field, thanks to a former voice student. Nate Taylor is in the process of doing what Niall thinks he might like to try, and Nate has generously shared some of his experiences with me. (He’s very good, by the way, and I’m going to include his website so you can hear Nate's music ─ http://www.ntaylormusic.com). As a classical musician, it’s good for me to broaden my horizons with this music, and I’m listening to a lot of great folk artists these days.

The most difficult task of all is trying to gain an understanding of Niall’s terrible burden of bipolar disorder. To write a character, I have to know him. I have to be able to get inside his head. Niall’s bouts of mania and depression are something I thankfully have never experienced.

Writing about Niall’s first manic experience wasn’t easy, and will no doubt be rewritten, possibly more than once. It’s difficult to understand how Niall’s mind works because it doesn’t work at all the way mine does. Whether Niall’s music will help him live the kind of life he wants remains to be seen. My belief is that music is a powerful force in our lives; indeed, in the universe.

It was invaluable to have a cardiologist as my guide when writing about Eli Levin’s heart disease. For Jamie’s Children I’m fortunate to have a young friend who is a medical researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital whose specialty is mental illness, bipolar disorder in particular. Dr. Andrew Rennekamp has provided me with a wealth of information about the condition.

Bipolar disorder presents in many ways, and it often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years. Medication is just one part of treatment ─ therapy, the support of friends and family, and the patient’s strength of will all must combine to make a productive and happy life even a possibility. 

People with bipolar disorder are suffering from a life-threatening illness. Far too many of them become overwhelmed and end their own lives. Somehow, we have to find a way to make that stop. It’s heartening to know there are researchers like Dr. Andrew who are working hard to provide more answers and more help.

           

While you’re waiting to read more about Niall and Laura, you can

 meet their parents in the third book of my Carousel Trilogy.

You Are My Song is about Jamie Logan’s journey in the world of opera

and the professional and personal challenges he must face along his way.
Here's the link to the book: tinyurl.com/p743ru9

www.susanmoorejordan.com

Nate Taylor

photo by Lauren Peters-Collaer

The Right Bad Guy

Living in My Head

     Over the past few days I have been attempting to develop a character who would provide me with the complication in another character’s life I was looking for. That probably makes little to no sense, so I’ll simplify it and say I’m trying to write a bad guy. Not a criminal type bad guy, or a sleazy type bad guy. A man who seems to be poised and charming, and musically talented. But there’s another side to this person who was eluding me; he’s narcissistic. That’s his badness.

     I’d been trying to envision a pianist or a conductor for my female character to become entangled with, but nothing I thought about really seemed to work for what I wanted to have happen to her. She’s a gifted violinist, a prodigy, actually. Her talent was recognized when she was four years old.

    Musical genius can be a two-edged sword. I’ve been re-reading a book about musical prodigies and revisiting some of the difficulties they can undergo as a result of their genius. The legendary cellist Pablo Casals, for example, suffered from severe nerves before every concert he ever played, right up until the last one, so he probably dealt with that for seventy years. He also suffered terrible emotional turmoil when he went through puberty and for some time afterwards, and often had thoughts of suicide during that period.

     Laura, my violinist, doesn’t endure anything that dramatic, but she has set herself apart from her peers and has few friends, and hasn’t had a romantic encounter. Okay, she hasn’t had sex yet, and she’s twenty-three. She picks the wrong man to have a romance with. But I couldn’t come up with the right guy. Well, the right wrong guy.

     This morning at 2 a.m. I awoke with the thought: why not make him a tenor? Her father is a famous tenor, so she has warm feelings about singers, and tenors in particular. And she’s still young enough, and inexperienced enough because of her isolation, to not be as discerning as she should be. My quest this morning – okay, in the middle of the night ─ was to find recordings of violinists and tenors performing together. Oh, I do so love YouTube. I was amazed at all the music I found! So poor Laura, she’s going to become enamored of a charmer with a glorious voice who is a real heel.

     The musical quest was a result of a thought as to how she meets this tenor who does her wrong. It would make sense that they perform together, and sparks fly, at least for her. Is there such music for them to perform? YouTube confirmed that there definitely is. Where does this happen?

     A great place might be the Aspen Music Festival, where they are both engaged for the entire eight week season to teach and perform. So thanks, Google Earth, for the tour of Aspen. I’ve been to Colorado but not specifically to Aspen. Well, now I’ve made a couple of virtual trips to Aspen and will undoubtedly make more over the next months. Modern technology, a great aide to the author.

     I’m sure sometimes my friends and family are concerned when I am sitting in a gathering with a blank look on my face, or if I walk right past someone I know on the street without even seeing them. Or call somebody by the wrong name. Yes, I’m getting up there in years. But at this point, what that indicates is that my head is in my next novel. I’m meeting my characters and learning who they are, and finding out what their journey is going to be, and marking time until I can get back to the computer and start writing all this stuff down.

     What a great way to spend my golden years.