In case you wondered …

… In Perfect Harmony: Why Music and Fiction Work Well Together. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

My central character, as piano tuner, had a completely intimate relationship with the musicians and the music being produced – yet his angle on that world was unique and highly specialized. And – the novelist sighs with relief – it can be precisely described; there is a language that works brilliantly. The piano is a wonderful, highly complex machine; like a clock or a watch its intricate moving parts all perform specific functions and they can be written about in a precise and evocative technical language that absolutely conforms to the effects produced. Making music can come alive in a way that simply describing music doesn’t allow.