Having written several time travel novels, I'm always drawn to similar stories, and Steve Moretti far exceeded my expectations with MUSIC IS NOT BOUND BY TIME. This story drew me to it not only for the time travel element, but because his heroine Adeena Stuart is a musician. She plays cello and I play piano, but musician stories always connect with me. Meet Steve, read about MUSIC IS NOT BOUND BY TIME, and be sure to check out Books Two and Three of this trilogy, which I look forward to reading.
About Steve
I
was a reader long before becoming a writer.
The
feeling of being swallowed whole by a great book is something I treasure. It is
my goal with every book I write, to immerse the reader in the story – utterly
and completely.
I
am drawn to music and art that transcend time, movies that don’t age, and novels that
forever embed themselves inside you.
My
writing focuses on artistic creators and the passions that define them, often
tragically, men and women who are inspired to the point of obsession with their
art. They leave behind creations that render them immortal, free from the
constraints of time.
My
background in broadcasting, journalism, public education, and the technology
business taught me that great accomplishments are the result of individuals who
are not limited by limitations or afraid to face what they they most fear.
I
live in Ottawa, Canada, with my wife and a menagerie of dogs and cats. My four
young grandchildren keep me in wonder at the mysterious world around us.
About MUSIC IS NOT BOUND BY TIME
A
gifted musician, a priceless cello, and a love worth risking everything. A
time-travel fantasy powered by music.
Even
as a rebellious child, Adeena dreamed of becoming a professional cellist.
Driven to perform and to compose, she forsakes almost everything else,
sabotaging relationships at the altar of her quest for musical perfection.
But
after yet another failed audition, she’s
had enough. It is time to let go of her dream and get a real life. And then, a
new hope arrives from her dying grandmother in Scotland – a lost music score
written by an unknown composer in the 18th century.
When
Adeena gets an opportunity to perform the lost score on the Duncan Cello, the
oldest cello ever created in the United Kingdom, time transforms around her.
She
is connected to Katharine, a young cellist living in 1745 Scotland. Both women
are attracted to the Duke of Perth, James Drummond, a man history records as
doomed to die the following year after the Battle of Culloden.
In
Music is Not Bound by Time, the first book in the Song for a Lost Kingdom
trilogy, the power of music transcends the limitations of the ordinary world
for those who listen through their heart.
A
fantasy that will sweep you away. Time travel powered by music.
An Excerpt
Adeena wasn’t sure what to make of her
situation.
An hour ago the music director of the
National Arts Centre Orchestra was almost a stranger to her, more mythical
creature than real person. Now, as she stood beside Friedrich Lang, with the
pages of her score spread all over his piano, they were like old comrades.
She surveyed his private practice room.
Baffles made the acoustics rich and pure. A row of spotlights lit a line of
framed photographs highlighting Friedrich’s career, conducting and performing
on stages around the world. One dramatic series of black and white photos
captured him in performance at Carnegie Hall, dripping in sweat, entranced in
what must have been a sorrowful violin solo.
“Ja! Ja! I
see how this will work,” Lang shouted as he played parts of the score on the
piano, getting a feel for the tone and tempo and muttering to himself.
Adeena began to worry that his interest was
only in the music she had brought him.
“Would you like to hear me play, Mr. Lang?”
she finally asked tentatively.
He suddenly stopped, looked up from the piano
and stared at her, as if seeing her for the first time. “What?” he asked,
focusing on her and then at her cello case, propped up in the corner. “Yes, of course! Bring your cello over here.
Let’s try playing this through, together.”
Adeena felt relieved as she unpacked the
cello and lifted it carefully from the case. He stared at the old instrument.
“That’s your cello?” he asked. “No endpin?
Where did you get it?”
Adeena felt her heart pounding through her
chest like it might expose her at any second. She took a deep breath and spoke
carefully.
“It’s the…the Duncan Cello,” she said
matter-of-factly. “I work at the National Gallery and I have, uh, well…I have
special permission to use it.”
Lang studied her carefully and Adeena wished
she could read his thoughts.
“Really? I just saw a story about it on the
news.” He examined it more closely and slapped his hands together in hearty
approval. “Five million dollars? Scheisse! Okay, you’ve got my attention
young lady.”
Lang stood up and moved a wooden stool near
the piano. He motioned for her to sit.
“Let’s play, my dear. See what we can do with
this piece!”
As the conductor focused on her music, Adeena
glanced toward the open cello case and the original copy of the score, sealed
in a plastic bag. An image of her grandmother flashed in her mind. She mouthed
a silent “thank you” to her.
It had not been easy to “borrow” the Duncan
Cello from the National Gallery. Indeed it had required a certain degree of
deviousness on her part. But for the moment, cello and musician were together.
At last, she could perform the music that seemed a part of who she was with an
instrument that felt like it had always belonged to her.
Adeena listened to the opening bars of the
music coming from the piano. The conductor was astute. He understood this music
instinctively. The effect on his face was clear and his focus profound as his
fingers touched the keys. Lang’s head began to sway, directing an invisible
orchestra in front of him.
Adeena sat watching him on a wooden stool.
She pulled the Duncan Cello between her legs. It somehow felt naturally
comfortable. This instrument was her voice, its haunting timbre was able to
bestir her nethermost emotions with a depth she had never experienced. It
brought release to the creativity imprisoned within her. As she traced her
fingers along the smooth wood grain of its weathered fingerboard, a rush of
blood pounded within her trembling hands.
Lang looked up from the piano. He seemed
entranced as well, as he gave a slight nod of his head for her to begin,
closing his eyes to better concentrate on the music.
Adeena tightened her grip, ready to start the
dark, timeless tango of cello and cellist.
Slowly,
she began to play. As the strands of her taut horse-hair bow glided across the
strings of the cello with a lush friction, an odd sensation swept over her. The
harmonics of cello and piano combined to create a sense of yearning, enveloping
the windowless chamber in a wave of sound that focused the emotions rising
within her.
Purchase the Song For A Lost Kingdom Trilogy on Amazon
Audio Book
Connect With Steve
Email: steve@stevemoretti.ca
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