The songs on this list all have, in small or significant ways, a theme of reinvention, either lyrically or in relation to a movie or TV show they’re related to. Reinvention isn’t always about a makeover or moving to Paris. Sometimes, it’s simply about looking inward and re-evaluating how you’ve always done things, the truths you’ve always believed, and seeing it all different.
“Can’t Help Falling in Love with You,” Lick the Tins
I actually created the character Dawn 30 years ago, in a screenplay no one ever read that I wrote longhand in a spiral notebook. Originally, she was a backup singer in a garage band who was more talented and badass than anyone gave her credit before until she just went for it. She’s a little baby version of the Dawn we know now, but she was inspired, in part by Watts, the talented tomboy drummer on “Some Kind of Wonderful” – another young woman whose image is framed by what other people think until she decides otherwise. This spirited Celtic version of the Elvis classic is in that 1987 movie’s closing credits, and it was in my head while writing FAMILY & OTHER CALAMITIES. Perfect theme song for a fledgling badass.
“It’s My Turn,” Diana Ross
Miss Vivi, our over-the-top diva whose wisdom is wrapped in cryptic stories and billowing capes, was inspired by many of the fabulous pop culture women I wanted to be – and still do: Diahann Carroll. Mary Wilson. Jenifer Lewis. Darlene Love. And most especially Miss Diana Ross. This song, the theme from a 1980 Jill Clayburg film about an empowered woman taking the reins of her life, reminds me of Dawn, because sometimes you have to be honest about the choices you’ve made and start over from there.
“Bridge over Troubled Water,” Aretha Franklin
There are instances when the remake is not simply better than the original, but becomes a completely separate and divine thing. The Queen of Soul reinvents a softly-rendered folk classic into a quietly tectonic gospel event. “Still waters run deep,” indeed. There is power in the stillness of time, and, as Dawn finds out, of secrets and rifts you’ve never mended until the water runs through and changes everything.
“Nothing on Me,” Shawn Colvin
Here’s another theme song – of the 1990s show “Suddenly Susan” with Brooke Shields as a columnist reinventing herself after a busted engagement. (I obviously have a love of columnists.) This was also the theme song of many breakups, my early widowhood and almost every moment where the world seemed to be closing in. When I was writing the book I thought of it as Dawn’s inner monologue to Joe – “I’m not crazy and you’re not nice, baby you can keep it, you can keep it to yourself,” the lyrics go. You don’t have to let other people define you. Great driving with the windows down song.
“Killing Me Softly,” The Fugees
Miss Lauryn Hill is something of a patron saint to a lot of GenX Black girls, because she was so undeniably talented who, despite getting in her own way, reminds us occasionally, how brilliant she is. And then, we’re that young kid watching this goddess who had our skin and our hair breaking through the sea of singer/songwriters who didn’t look like us, singing for us. She reclaims her voice, like Dawn does.
A Novel
A successful journalist returns to her hometown just as her biggest mistake becomes headline news in this vibrant, funny, and heartfelt novel about facing the past, and its secrets, head-on.
Entertainment journalist Dawn Roberts has a lot to work through: a widow’s grief, betrayals of family and friends, and scandals that almost tanked her reputation. Not that Dawn dwells on the past. Well, hardly. When she returns to Baltimore with her husband’s ashes, she can’t avoid it. In fact, she’s diving into decades of backstabbing and treachery for her first trip home in years.
She’s looking at you, Joe Perkins. Her former mentor, whose explosive exposé about big-city corruption is being turned into a slanderous movie, is also back in town. The villain of the piece? Dawn. The good news is that this could all be a chance to reset—heal family wounds, admit to her own mistakes, and maybe even reconnect with the one who got away. Oh, and get even with Joe any way she can.
With the surprising help of an up-and-coming journalist and a legendary R & B diva, Dawn will finally set the record straight. Returning home might just be the biggest story in Dawn’s life, a fresh start—and happy ending—she never expected.
Women's Fiction Contemporary | Humor [Amazon Publishing, On Sale: June 1, 2025, Hardcover / e-Book , ISBN: 9781662527616 / ]
Leslie Gray Streeter is an award-winning journalist and columnist for the Baltimore Banner. She is the author of the memoir Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like “Journey” in the Title, the cohost of the podcast Fine Beats and Cheeses, and a frequent speaker on grief. She is also a slow runner, an amateur vegan cook, and a fan of Law & Order. Leslie lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her son, Brooks.
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