“When it comes to formatting your words, melody beats RTF by more than a measure.”

I’m ever-grateful for the gifts of writing and music that God gave me, and for my mother – who passed on her own gifts of song and story-telling and most of all, helped me unwrap mine by pulling all the strings.

But being multi-talented can sometimes create some dissonance in your life as it did in mine. I couldn’t focus long enough on one of them before the call of the other would lure me away. And the romantic that I’ve always been, I enjoyed two-timing writing and music most of my life – until I strayed into songwriting, and decided to stay.

But there’s more to what goes on between my pen and guitar. Whenever I’m in a state of flow, I have this uncanny feeling of someone whispering words and motifs in my ear. I believe it’s my patroness, St. Cecília. My pen faithfully records these little snippets, while my guitar patiently plays its role of a sounding board for prosody.

And I, the messenger, have a song to deliver.

Take a peek at the snippets from my songwriting journal, a handful of which make it into song lyrics while others become quotes in nonfiction books, after being vetted via social media ‘Likes’ and ‘Shares’.

And those that don’t resonate with you – treat them as forged in the devil’s workshop.