Helaine Mario

About Helaine Mario

Helaine was a White House volunteer for Al and Tipper Gore and continues to be a passionate advocate for women and children. Because she believes in “giving back,” she founded The SunDial Foundation in 1998 and the Helaine and Ronald Mario Fund continues this work. Royalties from her books support reading, music and food programs for children and families.

Music and art are at the heart of Helaine’s stories. Maggie O’Shea, the pianist in her series, was inspired by Helaine’s son, Sean, who studied piano for fifteen years. Shadow Music continues Maggie’s story. Helaine wants to invite the reader in, create characters with depth and paint pictures with words. To make people feel, to ask, “What would I have done?” She says, “Music tells our stories.”  

BOOKS:

Firebird (2012)

The Lost Concerto (2015)

Dark Rhapsody (2018)

Shadow Music (2021) (BookTrib Review)

Your biggest literary influences:

Helen MacInnes and Mary Stewart; more recently, Gayle Lynds, Kate Quinn, Jojo Moyes and Anthony Doerr.

Last books read:

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes.

The Sound Between the Notes by Barbara Probst.

The Angel Network by Kate Quinn.

Being A Ballerina by Gavin Larsen.

The book that changed your life:

I know the exact moment I discovered Helen MacInnes, often called ‘The Queen of Espionage Writers,’ because her books changed my life. Almost five decades ago, as a new college graduate with zero writing aspirations, I visited my parents for the weekend. On the table was a tattered paperback titled, The Venetian Affair. The cover lured me in – an attractive couple, clearly in danger, running through night shadows across a Venetian bridge. The opening sentence,“Two men sat in a darkened room …” sealed my fate. I read all night and was the first person in the bookstore the next morning to buy Helen MacInnes’ earlier works. I still have all twenty-two of her novels in the bookcase behind my desk.

Espionage, international suspense, mystery, smart, strong women characters – and romance. Helen MacInnes gave it all in equal measure.  

Your favorite literary character:

There is no single favorite character for me. Rather, my ideal character is a combination of female characters I have loved and admired over the years. I am inspired by women who are creative, empathetic, confident and very smart; women who somehow find the courage to do the right thing, who run towards, not away, who find the strength to face unimaginable loss with grace and understanding, and then go on. These are the women I want to be. My series character, classical pianist Maggie O’Shea, is this woman.  

Currently working on:

Echoes on the Wind, #4 in my Maggie O’Shea Classical Music Suspense Series, this one with a dual timeline between WW2 and the present.

Words to live by:

Jac Vanek, “You are the books you read, the films you watch, the music you listen to, the people you meet, the dreams you have, the conversations you engage in. You are what you take from these. You are the sound of the ocean, the breath of fresh air, the brightest light and the darkest corner. You are a collective of every experience you have had in your life. You are every single second of every single day. So drown yourself in a sea of knowledge and existence. Let the words run through your veins and let the colors fill your mind until there is nothing left to do but explode. There are no wrong answers. Inspiration is everything. Sit back, relax, and take it all in. Now, go out and create something.”

Advice for aspiring authors:

Write the book you want to read. Give your characters depth. Be open to suggestions but be honest and true to yourself. Edit, edit, edit. Edit again. Invite the reader in.