Today I welcome guest author Kathy Webster, as she shares the story behind the story of her latest release.

I didn’t expect to meet Jesus when I went to a performing arts school. He was the farthest thing from my mind. I graduated in the early 70s from high school after surviving my atheist father’s angry tirades, my brother’s drug addiction, and my mother’s withdrawal from, well, everything. I was excited to finally leave and headed eagerly to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Winston-Salem shocked me in some ways and charmed me in others. The most alluring place was Old Salem, less than a mile north of my college campus. I could go there in off hours, wander without swarms of tourists, and soak in the 18th century. I loved the old buildings, the cobblestone streets, and the beautiful landscape of the ancient cemetery, God’s Acre.

Then, on November 9, 1974, I finally gave in to the tugging at my soul and the convincing words of a fellow student and prayed to give myself over to Jesus. Nothing was ever the same. Old Salem became even more of a haven. I felt the prayers of centuries hanging over the place.

When I went to graduate school in music history, I had to find a thesis topic. In talking to my advisor, he perked up over my memories of Old Salem. He told me to read about the Moravians’ musical life. The more I read, the more intrigued I became, both with their music and their spiritual life. I wrote a thesis on a Moravian composer and never lost my deep appreciation for them.

Years later, I spun a tale in my head about Mozart surviving and ending up in Salem. I loved the process of getting it all down on paper in a way that made sense. I also loved the research. It felt like coming home to think about music history again. I can’t say I loved all the editing, though. That is work, pure and simple.

This November will mark the 48th anniversary of my saying yes to Jesus. I don’t like to imagine where I may have ended up if he hadn’t come after me when I was in college. He rescued me with the Truth. Writing about that, imagining what salvation feels like for others, describing how his promises play out in everyday life for people–that is the call of 1 Peter 2:9 “... to declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

That, dear friends, is why I write.

Connect online: 

Website: kathywebsterauthor.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathywebsterauthor

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kathy-Webster

About Kathy:

Kathy Webster retired from a career in technology at Trinity School of Midland, TX, to return to her first love, classical music, through her writing. She holds a degree in clarinet performance from the UNC School of the Arts, an MA in music history from the University of Missouri and played with the Midland-Odessa Symphony for several years. She has been fascinated with the history of the Moravian Church in Salem, NC, since completing her master’s thesis about their composer, David Moritz Michael. The Amadeus Variations gave her a chance to share as well about the life-changing, explosive love of God which she herself discovered while in North Carolina. Kathy serves in several ministries in Mid-Cities Community Church while also editing books for friends. She lives with her husband of 36 years, George, their crazy rescue dog, Ivy, and is close to her daughter, Beth. 

Getting to know Kathy:

What can your readers expect from you next?

A second novel, set close to the same period in Salem, with some of the same characters. Called Rebels, it includes some of the American Revolution’s story.

What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful?

Share my author page with your friends who like Christian fiction and review the book, please!

How did you get started writing?

I began writing novels to entertain myself at least by the time I was in 6^th grade. I’ve always loved reading and writing. My mother and brother both worked in libraries, my husband is a librarian, and I am a librarian. I couldn’t escape.

Where to purchase The Amadeus Variations:

Amazon: The Amadeus Variations

Barnes & Noble: The Amadeus Variations

About the story:

In 1791, betrayal, false accusation, ill health, and broken relationships drive two unlikely companions to escape Austria. Johann Pertl, a world-renowned composer who has renounced his career and identity, and farmhand Carl Bauer cross Europe and the Atlantic in search of peace.

Far in the future, Anna Stohr is helping to settle her aunt’s estate when she stumbles upon a mysterious find in an attic in Old Salem, North Carolina. Anna’s graduate advisor in musicology helps her investigate the attic’s treasure, and they have no choice but to include an enemy in the search. In the 1790s, Johann and Carl find themselves in the New World, in new relationships which force them to confront the God who has guided them there.

Two gripping stories, hundreds of years apart, intertwine in a tale of mystery and redemption, finally colliding into the greatest musical discovery of all time.

Excerpt from the book:

Amadeus

Amadeus is a theophoric given name derived from the Latin words ama– the imperative of the word amare (to love) – and deus (god) . . . The name can be either taken to mean 'love of God', in other words, that the person is ‘loved by God’ or 'one who loves God'.

“Amadeus (name)” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadeus_(name)

Chapter 1
North Carolina
October 2019

Irritation threatened to overshadow her grief at losing Aunt Alzbeta, Anna decided. Life in the middle of the semester never permitted any breaks or down time, but here she was, being forced into a long weekend away from Chapel Hill. The dreary gloom of the day mirrored her mood. She usually enjoyed the 90-minute drive to Winston-Salem, but today even occasional bursts of autumn reds and ambers among the pines couldn’t lift the drab gray blanket wrapped around her soul.

The funeral at Home Moravian Church a month ago had only required a day away from her doctoral program in musicology. The old traditions had touched her more deeply than she thought they would. Her aunt mentioned her in her Lebenslauf–the ninety-year-old woman’s life story and testimony–telling how proud she was that Anna had carried on the family tradition of musicianship. The band, gathered for the funeral procession, made up in volume for what it lacked in skill, evidenced especially by the enthusiastic trombones. Her aunt’s favorite hymns, some like “Jesus Makes My Heart Rejoice” used by the church since the 1700s, rang out over God’s Acre. Many of her family talked about Alzbeta, how she had entered “the immediate presence of her Savior.” Anna believed it and gratefully took some of that peace back to school with her.

But now. Now she was expected to shoulder the responsibility of going through the old house to get it ready to rent or sell. Her parents were afraid of trusting anyone outside the family with the task. Aunt Alzbeta had no children of her own. Anna was her great niece, her brother’s granddaughter. The yellow, three-story house had been in the family for centuries, literally. Over two hundred years. Who knew what treasures or horrors lurked in the basement, the attic? Probably spiders, she thought with disgust. Succumbing to pressure from her mother, as usual, along with the promise of some sorely needed financial reward, she reluctantly agreed to spend the next few weekends rescuing family heirlooms. Her parents lived too far away to help, and the realtor was salivating at the prospect of one of the original Old Salem dwellings hitting the market. No one could wait for the semester break.