BLOG TOUR: GUEST POST – A THOUSAND PERFECT NOTES by C.G. Drews

Hi Everyone, I’m very excited to end the A Thousand Perfect Notes Blog Tour by C.G. Drews. It’s been an incredible week hasn’t it? Inspirations, Cover designs, reviews and interviews and today I bring you how C.G wrote her beautiful book. If you haven’t followed the rest of the tour, make sure you do so. Also I’m hosting a giveaway on my Twitter so please to head over there @NverJudgeaBook. But before that here is a little bit more about C.G’s debut novel.

An emotionally charged story of music, abuse and, ultimately, hope.

Beck hates his life. He hates his violent mother. He hates his home. Most of all, he hates the piano that his mother forces him to play hour after hour, day after day. He will never play as she did before illness ended her career and left her bitter and broken. But Beck is too scared to stand up to his mother, and tell her his true passion, which is composing his own music – because the least suggestion of rebellion on his part ends in violence.

When Beck meets August, a girl full of life, energy and laughter, love begins to awaken within him and he glimpses a way to escape his painful existence. But dare he reach for it?

One of the most magical things about being an author is how there are a million and two ways to write a book. No two writers are the same! I thought I’d take you on a stroll through how I wrote A Thousand Perfect Notes, which is basically cobbled together with love and a few shrieks.

1. I’m a plotter! I can’t work without a very detailed outline and I’ll spend months thinking through my story until it runs like a movie in my head – then I’ll jot down the outline. It’ll be a bullet-point list with lots of snarky comments to myself because what’s writing if you’re not having fun, hm?! My outlines are usually between 12,000-20,000 words long…which is pretty intense! But I never get blocked while drafting so it’s worth it. 
2. I’m a fast writer. I typically write a first draft in under 10 days. I know it’s going to be a mess so why not get that gnarly draft out of the way so I can get onto rewrites and polishing?! My first drafts are for exploring: meeting the characters, discovering how they tic and react, and envisioning my world. I’m free to make a lot of mistakes with this process, and it’s fun. 
3. A lot changes when I rewrite my first draft. For instance, with A Thousand Perfect Notes, the first draft didn’t even have the fearsome Maestro, who is Beck’s mother and tormentor. “How did the book even work then???” you’re probably asking. I have no idea, OK. I just…nope. Beck also used to have two little sisters! But one thing that never changed is the very first line! I’m pretty amazed at that, but it’s the first line I ever wrote for this book and here it still is! 
4. I write in third person/present tense. It’s my favourite style to write in, and I write it in a very close and personal way, so you’ll hopefully get thoroughly absorbed in Beck’s perspective. 
5. I secretly fail a lot of writer stereotypes. I don’t drink coffee or wear glasses or own a cat. (Although I do have a little dog, but he wasn’t even born when I first wrote A Thousand Perfect Notes.) The lack of coffee is the most tragic thing, but I make up for it by intending to build myself a house of chocolate and eat it. 
6. While my book is about music, I actually don’t listen while I type! I listen while I plot, but I find writing while having music going is too distracting. However I mention a few classical pieces in A Thousand Perfect Notes, so you can look them up and see what Beck played. 
7. Some of the things that influenced the story are…I also play piano (but I’m no prodigy like Beck – oops) and I had lovely teachers unlike Beck. I based the setting loosely off my hometown in New South Wales. And this book includes beetroot cupcakes which my family has made and my opinion was: no. I also was inspired by the Cinderella fairy tale and the life of a famous classical composer (you’ll know who when you read my book!) who allegedly forced their son to play piano all night long. 

Thanks so much for reading this little peek into my writing process! I hope you fall a little bit in love with Beck and August. A Thousand Perfect Notes is a story of music and darkness, friendship and bittersweet dreams, and a boy who both loves and hates the piano that rules his life.