Well, yes, everyone can sing. Let me be more specific. I have joined the choir at church. I’d always wanted to sing in a choir, but, you know, I can’t sing. But this choir is, um, not discriminating. They welcomed me in before I’d sung a note, and finally, after several weeks, the director asked me to sing solo, just for him and the piano, so he’d know how best to use me. I was quite relaxed – it was already clear that no matter how badly I sing, I wouldn’t be kicked out of the choir.
So I sang for David as he explored my range, which is actually probably a whole octave. I sang intervals, and then I sang Of Thee I Sing (Sweet land of liberty …). When we were finished, he said my singing is lovely. He is the sweetest thing because I know very well it is a little less than mediocre. Although, really, I do sing in tune. Mostly.
So I’m an alto. Even though I play the piano, and should know better, I had assumed I’d be singing melody, just a little lower than the sopranos. Of course that’s not what altos do. So I’m learning to sing harmony and that is much harder than the melody.
There are some people in the choir who are actually talented, David foremost among them. And isn’t it lovely that they don’t mind singing next to someone like me? It’s all about the joy, not the renown.
So listen, world: I can sing!
(Next time, I’m going to give you my pumpkin bread recipe. I guarantee it’s the best pumpkin bread you’ve ever had, even better than your snippy sister-in-law’s.)
About glcraig
Gretchen Craig’s lush, sweeping tales deliver edgy, compelling characters who test the boundaries of integrity, strength, and love. Told with sensitivity, the novels realistically portray the raw suffering of people in times of great upheaval.
Gretchen was born and raised in Florida. She’s lived in climates and terrain as diverse as the white beaches of the Gulf Coast, the rocky shores of Maine, and the dusty plains of Texas. Her awareness of place imbues every page with the smell of the bayous of Louisiana, the taste of gumbo in New Orleans, or the grit of a desert storm.
Rich in compelling characters and historical detail, Always and Forever is a sweeping saga of Josie and Cleo, mistress and slave. Amid Cajuns and Creoles, the bonds between these two remarkable women are tested by prejudice, tragedy, and passion for one extraordinary man. Gretchen’s first novel won the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence for Mainstream with Romantic Elements and was chosen as an Editor’s Pick in the Historical Novel Society reviews.
Ever My Love, winner of the Booksellers Best Award from the Greater Detroit Romance Writers of America, continues the story of Cleo and Josie’s families, of their struggle for principle, justice, and love in a world where the underpinnings of the plantation culture are crumbling.
Crimson Sky, inspired by the pueblos, mountains, and deserts of New Mexico, evokes the lives of people facing neighboring marauders and drought. Now the march of Spanish Conquistadors up the Rio Grande threatens their homeland, their culture, and their entire belief system.
Gretchen Craig 