"To Love a Stranger," my first completed novel, went through about seven iterations (partial and full) and at least as many different titles before arriving at its current form. The book grew out of my training as a classical musician and my experiences of the backstage world of the classical symphony. I wanted to capture some of the vivid and larger-than-life characters I knew, and also translate the intense and often rapturous experience of hearing and making music to the page.

A quick synopsis: Sam Kraychik and Jeannette Reilly meet in the fall of 1986. Both are beginning their first professional jobs with the Richmond Symphonic Artists, a small struggling orchestra. Sam is passionate and assertive while Jeannette is quiet and withdrawn, but they connect through their love for music. Sam is gay, estranged from his parents because of this, and struggling with the illness of his former partner, Gil, who has AIDS. In Jeannette, Sam thinks he sees a way to make himself into what he "should" be. He knows who he is, but can't accept it.

Within a year, he and Jeannette are married and Jeannette is pregnant. The marriage falls apart as Jeannette runs up against Sam’s secrets. After her daughter’s birth, Jeannette abandons Sam and the baby. Sam, left alone, finally faces his own truth. Meanwhile, Jeannette finds she can’t forget her old life. When she returns to Richmond to confront Sam, the two face each other honestly for the first time. Individually and together, they learn about fear, truth and love, and forge a new connection for their daughter’s sake.

Before I began "Stranger," I had no intention of getting seriously into creative writing, though it was something I had always loved to do. Initially I thought I was going to write just the one book (and I thought it was going to be easy - !). As I learned more about the craft of writing, and cut my teeth on this first incredibly difficult and incredibly rewarding project, I realized what a deep hold the work really had on me. Now, eight years later, writing is the one thing I most want to do with my life.

"To Love a Stranger" was a finalist for the 2015 Schaffner Press Music in Literature Award. As yet it's unpublished. In its current form, I feel I've gotten the best combination I can of my first fresh passion for the project and the more mature sense of craft I've developed over the years.

I've included the first thirty-one pages here (two complete chapters), and I do hope someday to see the full book in print.