Concerto by Sandra Miller

CONCERTO

by Sandra Miller


Suspense/Thriller
CreateSpace
www.Sandra-Miller.com

5 autographed copies will be given away on Friday, October 7, 2011!



About the Book:

"I see you."

Three simple words from her telephone in the dead of night send violinist Chrispen Marnett's life spiraling in directions she never imagined. The chance to work with the greatest violinist alive drew her to Newton, but nothing could have prepared her for what she found there. Terror lurks in unexpected places--a ringing phone, a late-night rehearsal, unexpected flowers.

And what could have prepared her for Alexis Brooks: symphony concertmaster, international superstar, and accused murderer? Withdrawn and moody, Alexis is cut off from everyone around him; his colleagues in the symphony, his fans, even his own father. Everyone from her mother to the Newton Police has warned Chrispen against Alexis, but as her own danger increases, he may be her only ally.

Join Chrispen on the journey of a lifetime as she fights for her sanity, her happiness, and her life. To survive, she must unravel the layers of the past and learn the secrets the Newton Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra hides.

Exclusive Interview with the Author!

1) How did you get the idea for the novel?

To be honest, and I've never told anyone this before, it's based in part on some things that actually happened to me. What Chrispen goes through in this story is orders of magnitude worse--but a lot of the story of her victimization comes from extrapolating from things that really did happen. I think it gives it authenticity--for instance, when Chrispen points out that harassing phone calls never seem violating until they happen to you, she's speaking the truth.

2) What kind of research did you have to do to bring this story to life on the page?

I needed a situation where a man might have stood trial for murder, and gone free, but in the public mind could still be entirely guilty. I did not want a "not guilty" verdict; that would imply that a handful of people had been convinced that he was innocent. It turned out to be a stickier proposition than I realized at first. People throw around the phrase "got off on a technicality" quite easily. Trying to pin that idea down to something concrete that could be described in a story turned out to be trickier than I had bargained for!

3) When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer? Have you had other jobs along the way?

A favorite story in my family talks about the day my kindergarten class started reading "Dick and Jane" books. I couldn't stand them--I didn't know any boys named Dick, or any girls named Jane, or anybody at all who said things like, "See Spot run." I was five years old and I knew everything, so I decided I could write a better book. I came home and folded loose-leaf paper to look like a book, and wrote a story about kids with names that kids in my school had, doing things I and my friends would do. I've been writing ever since. I've won contests, and sold articles and short stories to magazines, but it's never been my day job. I've worked on an Air Force Base, taught orchestra in public schools, played in symphonies in Las Vegas, and I've worked for more than a decade as a software developer.

4) What's your favorite character in the book and why? Who was the most fun to write?

I think Alexis Brooks is my favorite character in Concerto. He's a bit of an enigma at first, and watching him develop through the story--from his grumpy first appearance, to cracking viola jokes, to his growing personality--is fascinating to me. Seeing him work through difficult things the way he does makes him more human to me. Chrispen's voice was the most fun to write, though--she has a casual, engaging style that is fun to inhabit. She also gets some really great lines, the kind of thing I would think of an hour after the conversation was over and wish I had said. :)

5) Let's talk about your main character, Chrispen Marnett. How did you think him/her up and is there any of you in him/her?

I think it would be a pretty obvious lie if I said there was none of myself in her. As authors, I believe we put some of ourselves into every character we write, even if it's only a tiny amount. As for Chrispen--well, she and I obviously share a love of the music, and a certain facility with the violin. We also share a tendency to root for the underdog and a kind of blind faith in those we love that can transcend rationality. In the broad strokes we seem very similar. She is gutsier than I am, though, and in the details our lives are completely different--I never went to Julliard, lived in either of the Carolinas or Ohio, and I hate iced tea. I think my college self and Chrispen Marnett would have got on nicely. Chrispen's character grew out of the type of person I wanted her to be--a strong, capable woman caught in an impossible situation.

About the Author:

Sandra Miller is an author. She's that girl you knew in school who always had a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other, and spent every spare second experimenting with ways to put them together. Visit the Author online at: www.Sandra-Miller.com.

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