Back in the day (at least when I first started writing lo these many years ago) I remember a lot of authors publishing play lists of music they listened to when they were writing their books. I always kind of envied them those lists, which I never had because I can’t listen to anything when I’m writing my romance novels. (For some reason when I was writing my dissertation I had to have something playing in the background, music or a movie, just so I could tune it out.)

Anyway, as I’ve been writing my romances, usually a single song will make itself known as the book’s “signature song,” a song or music that I strongly associate with that particular title.  I thought I’d share some of those with you over the next few weeks. And I’ve decided to begin with my current series, the Welwyn Marriage Wager.

Each of the books in this series have several elements that I decided when I first sketched the series out, that I wanted to incorporate into each of the novels. I think of them as part of the framework of the series. First, each of the heroes is named for my father and each of his brothers (and his grandfather) using their middle names. The dedications of each book are to the respective uncle, great-grandfather, or my father named in the book.

I also, for some unknown but random, tortured reason, decided that when the hero sees his lady for the first time, it must correspond to part of the lyrics from the song “Pretty Women” from the musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (my favorite musical). I’ll explain the link for each of the books as we go.

And lastly, each book would have a single word title and a single song that corresponded to it.

I’m really not sure why I thought any of this was necessary, but I haven’t been able to let go of these bits of framework, so I thought I’d share and let you see a little more how my mind works when I’m being creative.

So, to begin with book one of the series, we have Until I’m Safe in Your Arms.

The story itself never changed at all, but the title had to. Originally, I’d wanted to call this book Battlefield, after the song “Love is a Battlefield” by Pat Benetar (who my husband actually knew long before we met, but I digress).

The hero of the book is Alexander Bancroft, named for my great-grandfather Robert Alexander Jackson. And when he first meets Emma Washer (my actual great-grandmother’s name) they are at a house party and he sees her standing on the main staircase, waiting to come down the steps in the midst of a crowd of people.

Part of the lyrics from “Pretty Women” are

“Pretty Women, fascinating

Sipping coffee, dancing

Pretty women are a wonder, pretty women

Sitting in the window, or standing on the stair,

Something in them cheers the air”

As I have no idea what my great-grandparent’s love story actually was, I’ve given them quite a tumultuous courtship in the pages of my book, hence the musical selection of “Love is a Battlefield.” I thoroughly enjoyed writing this first book and hope you all have enjoyed reading it.

So let me leave you with my musical inspiration for Until I’m Safe in Your Arms, from Pat Benetar: “Love is a Battlefield.”