The Composer’s Legacy follows a music professor from California who discovers he is the beneficiary of a composer he has never met, sending him on a journey to discover more about his mysterious benefactor. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Oh boy, well, long before I attempted to write in earnest, I scribbled down a few story ideas that I would have liked to have seen in a book. The first one operated under the premise, what would happen if a present-day, hearing-impaired college student had his hearing miraculously restored, only to discover all the odd “sounds” going on in his head were the compositions of Beethoven? Not only that, he could perform them on the piano as well as improvise just like Beethoven did. However, the niche of readers for this idea would be too narrow to be a relatable story.

The other idea, more generic, was this: What would have happened if no one had ever heard of Brahms, and then suddenly, we discover his music? And, as a composer, myself, and to add the personal touch, I could write pieces that would become part of the story. These simple ideas, along with sharing some actual history of the East Coast, morphed into The Composer’s Legacy.

David is an interesting and well-developed character that readers are drawn to and want to get to know. Are there any emotions or memories from your own life that you put into your characters’ life?

I am a 24-year-veteran of the U.S. Air Force and I deployed to many places in my career, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The scene contained in West’s journal that recounts his deployment to a “makeshift base” near Riyadh in September 1991, actually happened to me during my 1996-97 tour of duty there. The only change was, the keyboard I used was an electric Yamaha keyboard.

Can you tell readers more about the original music that you composed for this book?

The inclusion of my original music with this story was actually my niece, Shannon’s idea. Knowing of my penchant for composing, she suggested I use some of my own works (the score to the third movement of my string quintet is on the cover of the novel) along with the music playing a central role in the plot. I repurposed several compositions as well as composed the rest of the eight original pieces specifically for the book. There were other, full-orchestra pieces and a piano trio I conceived where only an introduction and a main theme were fully developed. As I wrote the descriptions of the scores Carla and David were “discovering” I began to feel unequal to the task of daring to come close to the genius of these mighty composers. Even today, I am reluctant to approach these pieces in an attempt to complete them.

All eight pieces are available free at my website under the “Books” page for The Composer’s Legacy, so readers could enjoy listening to them while reading the story. If you enjoy these musical offerings, I’ll pass that along to Mr. West. If you don’t, you can blame me.

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

As The Composer’s Legacy was my debut novel, I wasn’t sure if I would ever write another book again. I toyed with the idea of a sequel, but that plot proved too problematic. I did, however, publish The Old Corsair this past year (Aug 2023). Although the story is from the same world and year (2013), the two stories are completely independent of each other with an entirely different cast of characters. Contained in each is an Easter egg about the other, where there’s a cursory involvement with a character from the other story.

I am currently working on a sequel to The Old Corsair that shall continue the present-day character’s story arc called, The Crimson Corsair. I’m also toying with the idea of going back to the historic captain’s time in order to tell his story. This would be a bona-fide series; the initial work would establish the characters, with subsequent novellas (150-200 pages) to recount the adventures of the enigmatic Captain Vernon Cavendish Tunney.

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Esteemed California music professor David Whealy is drawn to the other side of the country to investigate the circumstances behind his unexpected inheritance. As David probes deeper into the secrets of his benefactor, James Burton West, he finds more than just a wealth of unpublished music on the order of the great composers.

David’s benefactor knew precious little about his own estate that had been in continuous family hands since 1724. He knew nothing about him.