Blogs by Flo Fitzpatrick
Pick up the Pieces - Reunions and Stevie Nicks
11/29/2025 8:55:14 AM
The college my ex-husband attended was the kickstart for Pick up the Pieces. Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. He had received a notice regarding an upcoming college reunion (he received his undergraduate degree in Music there) and we were looking at our schedules to see if we could work it into a vacation. We were living in NYC at the time but both had family in Texas and we tried to combine visits with other events whenever possible.
This particular reunion ended up as a “no” but the notice led to me asking him about Southwestern since I’d never visited the campus. Which is when I heard all about “The Hole” which was apparently an archway in the middle of a building. I was intrigued.
I’d already been thinking about reunions, because there’s an article I wanted to write (never did) based on attending a reunion with a boyfriend years ago. Instead, I began musing as to how I could use The Hole and a reunion at the college and create a romantic mystery.
Enter Stevie Nicks. For years I’ve used the song “Gold Dust Woman” for a particular stretch in dance. It’s a great song (fun to sing as well) and the lyric “pick up the pieces and go home” worked nicely for a reunion. I cut the “and go home” because copyright issues get dicey when using song lyrics (song titles are fine) but since words “pick up the pieces” apply in everyday life, especially when dealing with broken jars in the kitchen so I was good to go! I did consider having “Gold Dust Woman” as the title but a friend pointed out it sounded more like a Zane Grey Western. Good point.
I had a title. I had a setting. And both screamed Music at me.
From there it was coming up with reasons why the heroine, Bebe, might not want to attend a reunion. Clearly, something bad must have happened when she was attending the university. The disappearance of her best friend and fellow band member, Marigold, following an argument which also led to a break-up between Bebe and drummer Nic Jericho, could trigger an “I’m not going back there ever again” response.
I’m not usually one for puzzles (apart from crosswords) but for some reason I wanted Bebe to solve one to discover what happened to Marigold. I wrote a song I called “Chasm” and stuff the lyrics full of clues, based on names.
Still wish I could find a composer to create a cool melody.
A college reunion. A lost friend. A lost romance. A mystery with lyrics. It was time to put all the pieces together.
Pick Up the Pieces bit.ly/4oFpnpT
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