1989 was an important year for me. I can almost say that it was a lucky year, as I turned 25 and the day of my birth is indeed 25. Above all, I met the person that would become my wife (15 years of wedding bliss this year, you can send cards) and this relationship inspired me to write my most ambitious fiction project to date. The discovery and contribution of a local upcoming Québec singer was also a turning point.

For some months at that time, I had toyed with the idea of writing a rock’n’roll novel about a struggling band, with a most complex female singer, after giving up in creating a comic book version. Over the following months, this eventually evolved to become a fantasy/horror story, to my great surprise, but it all came out in a most logical way. I won’t go into plot details because who knows what could eventually happen to that tale (which was eventually planned as a seven book saga, way before that Potter guy). Yes, I submitted my manuscript to some publishers… twice. One seemed interested but filed for bankruptcy some days after receiving my submission and the other send me the most strict rejection letter ever… that I still have and cherish to this day. Revenge is a dish best served cold, as it is said.

So yes in the mid-eighties, I used to play bass in a punkish band, however being more at ease in writing lyrics than hitting the right note. Mix this with my newfound ladylove and with the discovery of Marie Carmen on the musical scene, and I enjoyed many channels of inspiration. I won’t discuss my sentimental life here, but let’s note that I fell in love with three different women, each on their own different levels: one was my chosen companion to spend the rest of my life, the other a great entertainer and inspiration, and the last a fictional person of my own creation.

Marie Aubut was born on August 24, 1959, in Ste-Foy, Québec, and choose the artistic name of Marie Carmen when deciding to pursue a musical career. She became known in the local Québec musical scene for her participation in popular stage musicals, most notably Starmania and Vis ta vinaigrette. I first saw her at a concert for the Montreal band The Box, where she was backup singer alongside another future successful female Canadian songstress, Sass Jordan (now a judge on Canadian Idol). I immediately adored Marie’s look, mainly her tendency to tuck immaculate white shirts into tight pants/jeans, her admirable cheekbones and her own way to move on stage. Of course, I had no clue of her name on that night.

I didn’t wait for long and was delighted in rediscovering her with the release of her first solo album. Oh the joy: finally a French singing female rocker with a different style, namely a non-bimbo-ish attitude. In fact, Marie was quite theatrical in her singing (too much theatrical for her detractors) and I adored her passion. In her first shows, she used to come on stage wearing a man’s suit, complete with tie, but there was absolutely nothing butch about her.

Indirectly, her mere presence in my favorite entertainers at the time was a great benefit for my writings, namely my main female character who was also a singer, with a more edgy heavy-metal side. I named her Augusta, a tattooed six-foot-three redhead with glowing green Asian eyes, of ferocious beauty and talent, a seemingly direct child of the legendary Medusa. I won’t reveal her secret but you just had to move out of her way. Of course, my novel’s main male character began to behave and talk exactly like I would do, projecting many insecurities and hilarious cynical wit like I supposedly used to do (used to?).

My hormones and feelings were on a roller coaster between Monique, Marie and Augusta, three different and fascinating muses in a life that had been pretty devoid of serious and ever-lasting female excitement. Monique became a fan of Marie, accompanying me to at last seven different concerts over the years… and got pretty soon very jealous of Augusta, whom she pictured as her sentimental rival, to my dismayed chagrin! But she eventually warmed up to my imaginary singer and maybe one day you’ll do too.

Marie Carmen soon became Québec’s most popular and successful singer in the first half of the nineties, producing four studio albums, a live album and a Best Of compilation. The apex was the immense success of her reprise of gloomy French singer Barbara’s mythical L’Aigle noir (curiously a song that supposedly talks about incest!). This was her ultimate reach to stardom. She won countless musical awards and was not shy in declared her love for her fans, which was met with snobbish sniffs by the press. Soon after her fourth (and probably best) studio album, though, and with some difficulties with new management, Marie decided to call it quits, being fed up with showbiz and incessant touring. She actually went to Peru to became a goodwill worker for people in need, a complete career turnabout if there ever was one. She still pops up from time to time on TV, with a notable 2005 appearance in Star Académie, a popular Idol-ish french musical show, effortlessly out-staging the young participants.

She has been a player in a most important part of my life, in many varying degrees. In a way, she subconsciously helped in consolidating my feelings in regards to love and her presence was invaluable comfort in creating my Augusta character. It’s with sweet melancholy that I think of her from time to time. Of course, I think about my wife all the time. As for Augusta, there’s not a day in the part 20 years that she doesn’t pop in my head, not a single day… her story is yet to be told.