Books By Heather

Creating the MiM saga

The Music is Murder saga is a story of fame. But more than that, it’s the journey of three families―specifically that of Farin O’Conner: orphan, widow, woman, child.

Lockhardt Sound is the first installment in this seven-book family suspense saga. There, readers are introduced to three families: the O’Conners, the Grants, and the Lockhardts. Something—or someone—ties these three families together.

Aspiring recording artist Farin O’Conner has it all: beauty, talent, a lucrative recording contract with the most successful record label in the world, and the love of pop music sensation, Jordan Grant. But inwardly, a storm is building. This storm threatens to consume her, bringing everyone around her on a path to ruin. Only her innermost circle knows about her horrifying nightmares, shaky personal relationships, and the emotional instability that began shortly after the death of her father when she was ten. Farin is both a dam on the verge of breaking, and the ice that splits the rock.

But Lockhardt Sound’s shocking and tragic conclusion is only the beginning.

The Music is Murder saga is an epic tale: a complex, suspenseful, and sometimes hilarious story spanning decades. Tangled in a web of mystery and danger, relationships are sewn together with the threads of deceit, power, money, and fame. But more than anything else, it is a story of family, and the consequences we earn for the choices we make.

From the author:

Writing was never my first choice as far as a career. In fact, I stumbled into it. In 1989, I began to adapt a sort of “story” I’d written in sixth grade, at the age of eleven―the story that is now Lockhardt Sound. Originally, it was developed from its initial form to purge some deep-seated grief over the death of someone I loved, who had died unexpectedly a year before.

Research for this saga included countless interviews with music industry professionals, psychologists, physicians, notable forensics specialists, various police officials, British underworld figures, and assorted media contacts including editors at the Miami Herald.

This trek took me from Los Angeles to New York to Miami. I developed the story and characters so fully, they are relevant to a variety of readers. In it, I examined universal themes that motivate behavior in love, sex, grief, addiction, and power. Into the basic story is woven a subplot of psychological terror and manipulation, which leads to an unexpected twist of fate.

But wait―I’m getting ahead of myself.

After hand-writing the first draft of what was initially titled The Ties That Bind, I put it away for several years. I figured that, by sheer virtue of the fact that I had completed a story from start to finish, I had done more than I had ever set out to do. Since my first love was music, it never occurred to me to do more with my finished manuscript than state simply, “I’ve written a book.”

Shortly after its completion, I was encouraged to write a sequel. I dismissed the idea out of hand because I was of the opinion that sequels, in general, are cheesy at best. Still, the seeds of that idea were planted in my mind. Months later, although I’d fought the idea, the details of a sequel sprouted, took root and eventually grew.

I made copious handwritten notes but, like the finished manuscript, I hid them away. During that same time, ideas for nearly thirty other stories came my way. I wrote some down, but assumed I’d never write them.

In 1998, I had the opportunity to move from my native California to Alabama, where I worked with an editor to polish Ties and write the sequel. Over the next year and a half, I honed my skills, found my literary voice, conducted exhausting field research, finished a Ties rewrite, and completed my second novel―Embers From Ash and Ruin. Ties nearly doubled in size from its original version, and Embers equaled Ties in word count. The only problem was, at roughly 160K words for each novel, the story itself was unfinished. Thus, a trilogy was born. The third and (so I thought) final installment, When First We Practice to Deceive, was conceived. That book took nearly a decade to complete, as it vied for my time with the responsibilities all single mothers face.

In 2023, my publisher and I decided it was time to give the saga a facelift. New titles, new covers, everything. That year, the Music is Murder saga (MiM) emerged. It includes, in order:

Lockhardt Sound
A Fate Worse Than Fame
Ballad of Someday
Hit Makers
Feels Like the End
Betrayer’s Lullaby
High Water or Hell

Upon examining the various concepts and characters of this complex journey, it became increasingly evident that I had done more than simply create a suspense story that would eventually require seven books. At its core, MiM is about forging unbreakable bonds, and motivations born of despair, which determine our ultimate fate. It explores family dynamics, personal tragedy, overcoming adversity, and coming to terms with the lives we have manufactured. Though set in the music industry, it pulls back the curtain of glitz and glamour to reveal the oft times mind-numbing reality of living a public life. It dares to speak honestly of love, friendship, and loss. It is you, and it is me. Our experiences. Our deepest regrets. Our dirty secrets. Ultimately, it musters the strength to set right a lifetime of pain and betrayal.

It’s a story of love in the purest sense―and the price we pay for coveting its treasure.

Somewhere along the line, I realized I’ve been writing (to some extent) my entire life. Even the foundation for MiM came from that hand-written story I’d penned in sixth grade. Though I’ve never really journaled, I can look back now and see a consistent pattern of putting thoughts to paper. I’ve been blessed with people who’ve fostered and encouraged me. For that and so much more, I’m thankful. It’s my sincere hope that those who read MiM will enjoy the ride―however bumpy and unpredictable it may be.

Through the blinding spotlights, you may even catch a glimpse of yourself.