Years ago, when I finally committed to actually writing fiction rather planning to do it, I envisaged a whole world with a community of characters whose lives intersected and diverged as the issues and concerns of their respective lives and the times brought them in and out of contact. My plan was for each novel to have a different set of characters at the story's heart and to write about their lives in that world. Secondary characters from one novel would be central characters in another and so on.

Like Tennyson, I believe that not only are we part of everything that we meet in life, but what we meet becomes part of us for good or for bad. I'm interested in the ripple effect of experiences in life and how that contributes to and shapes our personal stories.

'Life Song' is not a sequel to 'In and Out of Step'. When I wrote 'In and Out of Step', I knew that Mavis Mills was going to be the protagonist in the second novel although I didn't fully know where her story would lead or what the title of the second novel would be.

'Life Song' is Mavis's story first and foremost. It is a quest story about boldly journeying down a path less travelled. It is a narrative about rebirth with 'Life Song' beginning at the end of a period of loss and sacrifice.

I originally planned 'Life Song' to extend over a six year period, but in the writing process, I discovered though that Mavis' story required two parts. This necessitates two novels that focus on her:'Life Song' (1996-1998) and 'Song Bird' (2000-2004). In 'Life Song' Mavis awakens to the possibilities in life and her options as a woman and makes that significant step in womanhood to owning her life.

Do not read 'Life Song' expecting it to be a romance. It isn't.