Harmonic Dissonance is about two married couples -- (straight) Elle and Patrick and (gay) Corey and Noah. Patrick and Noah have dementia and are at the same Memory Care facility. During their stay, Patrick and Noah form a sexual relationship even though Patrick is straight. Both no longer recognize their spouses. The novel explores the impact on Elle and Corey as they confront the impact of Alzheimer’s on their marriages; the way their roles have changed. Elle and Corey are forced to form a bond with each other—as a coping mechanism. Elle ponders whether her husband has been a closeted gay man during their marriage. Corey and Noah’s adopted son is missing in Afghanistan, making Corey deal with another potential loss in his life without the support of his husband, Noah. Music is used as a backdrop because the auditory system of the brain is fully functional at 16 weeks. We appreciate and understand music before anything else. With dementia, music is the last brain function to die. In other words, first in and last out. Inspired in part by the late Supreme Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and her husband. As his memory faded, he no longer recognized his wife of more than 50 years and struck up a romance with a fellow Alzheimer’s patient, poignant events the O’Connor family shared publicly. Author Gordon Blitz credits his late friend, novelist Steve Neil Johnson, for sharing their story with him. Harmonic Dissonance is part of The Shortish Project, celebrating short novels at theshortishproject.com.