Sarah McNeal's Inspiration for 'The Violin'

Karen: Sarah McNeal is a multi-published author of heartfelt romance and historical time travels. Let's join Sarah as she takes us back to the 1920s and to John, the young man who inspired her to write The Violin. 

Behind The Scenes:  My Inspiration for The Violin by Sarah McNeal

Of all the books and short stories I have ever written, The Violin is the one book inspired by my own family.  I heard marvelous and exciting stories about my Uncle John from my dad from my earliest memory.  I sensed from Pop’s far away gaze and the way his voice wavered when he spoke of John that he idealized his brother and missed him even many years after John’s death.

John was the wild child, eager for adventure and the excitement that the 1920’s presented.  It was a time of great change and John wanted to experience all of it.  My grandfather and grandmother were practical teachers and insisted that all three of their sons go to college and earn a degree.  Not an easy accomplishment in a time when most people were either very poor or very rich.  John  had a talent for music and played the mandolin and violin.  In fact, I inherited his violin and still play it.  He managed to get a job with a traveling opera show out of New York City as a roadie and also played his violin.  He rode his Indian motorcycle all over the United States and Canada with the opera and, although he wasn’t the best of letter writers, he was a great photographer and sent home pictures from all the places he went.  In the fall and winter, he attended college and graduated with a degree in civil engineering just before his twenty-first birthday.

According to my dad, John was quite the ladies’ man with heart-stopping looks and easy charm.  Sadly, he never had the chance to work as a civil engineer, marry some sweet girl or have a family.  John went fly-fishing with some of his friends along Roaring Creek on a sunny May morning.  His friends moved forward around the bend in the river and after some time noticed that John hadn’t joined them.  When they went back to look for him, they found him face down in the water.  He had drowned.  The newspaper clippings I found in my grandfather’s trunk declared it an accident but none of the papers said what happened.  I offered an explanation for his death in The Violin, but in truth, no one really knew the cause.

After my dad died, I was determined to write John’s story but I wanted to give him a life filled with all the wonderful things he missed.  I wrote The Violin and dedicated it to my dad who loved and missed John until the day he died.  I used real places including the description of my grandfather’s house, the graveyard next to it and the picnic grounds and church just up the hill.  Pop told me so much about the things young people did for entertainment and what everyday life was like in 1927 that I almost felt as if I had been there.  I also learned some wonderful nuggets of information from an elderly woman who knew my father and his brother John when she was growing up.  I loved her stories and they gave me a good female perspective of those days like the flour sacks women used to make dresses and other clothing and accessories. I learned about the first Indian motorcycles from a male nurse who was a motorcycle enthusiast that worked with me in the ER.  Genevieve is completely fictional, but I hope I made her the perfect woman for John.  From a lonely existence in the twenty-first century, Genevieve travels through time to find her one true love.

THE VIOLIN

By Sarah McNeal

Publishing by Rebecca Vickery

Revised edition published December 4, 2011

Loneliness...Mystery...A step through time

BLURB:

Genevieve dreams of him almost every night and has for most of her lonely life. Intrigued, she buys his violin and finds the remnants of his life and the mystery of his death in 1927 revealed within its case. Intrigued, she makes a decision, one that will change her life forever.

Is there a way to change the past and save this man who haunts her heart?

EXCERPT:

Genevieve began to loosen her grip a little as she grew calmer. A little burn of fear still scorched her stomach, though. "Does this thing have brakes?" she called out the question.

"You'll be glad to know there's two. I have one in my right hand and the other is located under my right foot. You couldn't be any safer." His voice rose above the engine noise. "Isn't this the greatest?" He was obviously enjoying himself.

Genevieve wasn't so sure it was the greatest thing, riding wildly down a dirt road on a motorcycle. In her real life, she would never take such a crazy chance. But there is one thing that makes this dangerous and impulsive antic worthwhile. She got to hold John close to her until she could hear his heartbeat and the vibration of his voice through his jacket on her cheek. The time she spent with John was worth all the heartache that would come later.

BUY LINKS: (Available in E-Book and Paperback)

Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/sarahmcneal2

Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/The-Violin-ebook/dp/B006JE2RLG/

Rebecca Vickery Publishing

http://rebeccajvickery.com/online-store.php

Create Space :

https://www.createspace.com/3740163 

Also available at Barns and Noble and all other online bookstores.

Where you can find me:

 Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?&new_box_added_id=7100654162#

Moonlight Romance Authors:  http://moonlightromanceauthors.blogspot.com/?zx=e8f0512666a5c2c

Sarah’s Provocative Ponderings: (first Thursday of every month)

 http://pasttheprint.blogspot.com/

Twitter:

 http://twitter.com/#!/Starcriter

My Amazon Author’s Page:

 https://www.amazon.com/author/sarahmcneal

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My website: http://www.sarahmcneal.com

My blog:  http://www.sarahmcneal.blogspot.com/