Vivaldi’s Muse by Sarah
Bruce Kelly
Dragging the heavy box,
filled to the brim with fresh, new copies of my first novel Eyelash, I began to set up for a book
signing event in November, 2009 that would be held with several other
independent authors/publishers. We were each given one half of a ten foot
table, so it was tricky to display everything we desired to share with the
adoring public that would (hopefully) be attending, while not encroaching on
the territory of the author with whom a table would be shared.
As soon as I met the person
who would be a table-mate, I immediately liked her and found a kindred spirit.
Her name was Sarah Bruce Kelly, and we became thoroughly engrossed in conversations about our writing and publishing
experiences—so engrossed, in fact, that it was difficult to suspend the
interactions when potential customers wandered to our table! It was incredibly
helpful and gratifying to compare notes and engage in conversation with someone
who had chosen the same publishing path that I agonized over before taking
action as a new writer.
We exchanged our first books,
Eyelash and The Red Priest’s Annina, and have been mutual fans since that time.
Sarah has subsequently published Jazz
Girl and now Vivaldi’s Muse,
while I continued on to complete Never
Say Perfect and 7 Easy Steps to Memoir Writing.
Vivaldi’s Muse is
a book that transports the reader into 18th Century Italy and the
highly competitive world of the inner workings of the opera. With backbiting
and cutthroat rivalry amongst the music students and potential opera stars,
Annina Giro, a fragile little girl, is thrust into this domain after her
distant, disengaged mother abruptly leaves home and her father’s business has
faltered through unexpected circumstances.
The wealthy, ill-intentioned
Duke of Massa Carrara has offered to sponsor her tuition for the study of music
in Venice. Her dream to be a famous opera singer is suddenly on the path to
becoming a reality. With determination, spunkiness and God’s providence in her
favor, she is finally able to begin her musical training under Antonio Vivaldi,
renowned maestro and Priest. Their twenty-some year
platonic relationship (only they know for certain) was the topic of rumors and gossip throughout the opera
community and beyond. Could Annina ever find love when she compared every man
she met to her beloved Antonio Vivaldi?
Sarah Bruce Kelly tells this
fascinating story following extensive research on the characters and the
subject. As readers, we are immersed in 18th century Italy in such a
descriptive manner, we feel like casual
observers positioned directly into the sidelines of the setting. Even if I had
never been to Italy, I would have been able to visualize the canals and
gondolas of Venice, the crowded piazzas, structures with stately pillars and
heavy wooden doors, narrow streets and historical churches.
This book is highly recommended for young teens and above. Let it be noted
that even Annina’s battles with predators are handled delicately. Thank you to
Sarah Bruce Kelly for educating and entertaining us on this interesting venue
and topic!
For more information, please visit:
7 Easy
Steps to Memoir Writing: Build a Priceless Legacy One Story at a Time!
I recently penned an article
for a guest blog post that will be issued in the future (will let you know when
and where it is scheduled to be released) in which I was asked to give one
piece of advice to beginning writers. After process of elimination, because
there are a multitude of important suggestions I could offer, I chose my
initial suggestion (read everything you can get your hands on in the genre
of your writing interest) and then added that it is vital to remember that you
can never…and I mean…never please every reader. Some people will
love your work, and others will hate it. That is because we are all different
and operate with a variety of agendas. There is no one size fits all.
Contemplating this advice actually
prompted me to examine why I wrote 7 Easy
Steps to Memoir Writing. My goal in
writing this book was to provide tools for people of any educational level to
produce a collection of stories depicting their family history and life
experiences to pass along to future generations. It was also designed to help
readers capture the stories of other loved ones. It basically provides information on how to
jump-start a memoir project.
Out there in the universe
filled with perpetual critics, there are “memoir snobs” who believe that the
genre should only be graced by writers who are ultra-prolific and
sophisticated, and that tends to make me angry. I advocate that every
person has a worthy story to write in his or her own voice, which may be
neither prolific nor sophisticated.
7 Easy
Steps to Memoir Writing was
constructed for everyone--from the individual who has difficulty
stringing a few sentences together to make a paragraph to the expert on
sentence structure, grammar and punctuation.
There are three things that
people say that automatically fire me up:
1-“Only celebrities should
write their memoirs. No one wants to read what the average person has to say.”
2-“If you aren’t going to
tell all, it’s not worth writing.”
3-“Every memoir is supposed
to meet a high standard—to be Pulitzer Prize-worthy material.”
Here’s the thing. Every
potential memoir writer needs to evaluate his/her goals. Are they writing
stories for family only, or do they intend to publish their material and sell
to the public? There is a huge distinction between the two. If the memoir is
for family only, one can be slightly more relaxed about the editing process. If
the material will be sold for the world to see, there must be a higher standard
and regard for grammar, punctuation, proofreading, and content analyzation (does it flow and make sense?).
The truth is: Any memoir project requires unsteady baby
steps placed one after the other in order to progress. It must start somewhere.
7 Easy
Steps to Memoir Writing isn’t the only book that the serious memoirist
should read; however, it is a GREAT start. Learning, growing and digging deeper
in any endeavor we pursue will place us on track for developing and enhancing
our skills.
In the meantime, relish in recalling the memories, compiling your thoughts and enjoy writing your life stories!
