I started out as a singer/songwriter and enjoyed some success. Columbia Records signed me; Bette Midler rocked Madison Square Garden with “I Regret Everything,” a comedy song I co-wrote, and Patti LuPone recorded it twice.

But, being a practical soul, I relinquished music with a sigh, promising myself I’d return…someday. So I turned to writing scripts for many delightful children’s television shows (Cyberchase, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and Olivia, among others), occasionally managing to sneak a song into a script.

My eclectic freelance career also found me writing a book on the brain, scripts for NASA, and a speech for the Pope. (That’s a whole other story.) Life was interesting and packed with pleasure, and then on November 16, 2012, my husband had a stroke.

One evening, in the summer of 2014, I set out on a walk.  I remember feeling so exhausted from my caregiving duties that I was scared I’d faint. To rouse myself, I began to sing – and to my astonishment, a new song came out, almost completely formed.

You’ll find that song, “When Love Walked By My Side,” on my first album, along with nine others that came bursting forth in the days and months that followed. Suddenly, after years of silence, my musical muse was working overtime. Writing songs is a joyful addiction, magically allowing me to stand inside and outside my experiences at the same time.

Much of what I write is blues-infused, because…well, I’m blues-infused, too. My love of the Great American Songbook permeates my songs, as does my enthusiasm for soul, pop, rock, and the whole shebang of American music.

Music comes alive when it's shared and it's my honor to share my music with you. The emotional intensity of the last few years has sparked a blaze of fellow feeling in me for anyone who gets walloped by life and tries to respond with a little kindness, humor, and panache. Maybe that's you, too. Aren't we lucky that music soothes the soul?