In my last post, Collaboration like peanut butter and chocolate, I described a serendipitous connection with a coworker that seemed to be leading toward a musical partnership.

In hindsight, we were kinda dancing around the topic of collaboration, feeling each other out to determine whether we could work together. Instead of the direct approach – just saying it aloud – this oblique route felt more organic as it developed. Unforced.

As we talked, the conversation was effortless and meaningful. We shared our passions and several creative projects. One that I shared was a novella I started….ooof, twenty years ago. The manuscript still waits patiently in the mezzanine of my brain: I’m not actively working on it, but I haven’t yet relegated it to the dusty attic purgatory where abandoned ideas are stored until the Muse drags them back into the daylight.

Well, that metaphor was certainly well-mixed.

The novella Healed tells the story of an outcast who has the ability to heal others and take away their pain, but in exchange, those ills manifest in him. He is cursed to bear the physical and emotional scars of each person he saves. Disfigured and burdened beyond what a person can carry, he wishes for nothing but to die. Except he can’t. The inspiration for the story was a lyric from Iris by Goo Goo Dolls, and we enjoyed a laugh as I recounted the disastrous story where I shared that with the band: My Writing Freaked Out a Rock Star.

As I described the protagonist’s torment, generosity, and selflessness, my colleague was enthralled in that way storytellers hope their audiences will be. He pulled more detail from me, asked probing questions, and was otherwise highly engaged. The experience was rewarding in a way that makes you feel better about your creative projects.

The next day, I got this message from him.

I couldn’t stop thinking about your characters, especially the guy who cuts himself. Well it definitely inspired me. I wrote something to capture how I feel, the image of him cutting himself over and over, falling over and over, until he falls for the final time, only to finally be lifted up. So last night I wrote The Law of Gravity.

Seriously, THE NEXT DAY I received a song based on a short discussion about a story I wrote. It was one of the most meaningful gestures of my life, and it told me everything I needed to know about his creative process.

As you can probably imagine, it sparked my writing brain and I knew I had to return the favor. As I listened to 8 tracks from an album he was finishing, I wrote lyrics that I think captured the mood and style of his music. I’ll share them in the next post!

Good luck with your creative projects!

Mike

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(C) Michael Wallevand, June 2026