About the Book

Book:The Maestro’s Missing Melody

Author: Amy Walsh

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Release date: September 13, 2024

She was thrilled to apprentice with her fiddler hero—until she got to know him. He regretted his decision to play teacher to college kids—until he got to know her.

For aspiring musician and college student McKay Moonlight, winning a summer internship with Scottish master fiddler Huntley Milne was a dream come true. When a last-minute change moved the internship program from the Scottish Highlands of her ancestors to a village she’d never heard of along the River Deben, McKay was determined to make the best of it. However, she didn’t expect to make such a terrible first impression on her summer mentor.

Hosting a bunch of college students was the last thing Maestro Huntley Milne needed. He was already up to his ears in problems, with Aunt BeeBee being placed in a care home, resulting in him having emergency custody of his tween nephew and niece. Then he met McKay Moonlight, and the chaos really began.

The Maestro’s Missing Melody is a charming story featuring endearingly eccentric characters, a treasure hunt caper through the nooks and crannies of a mansion, and genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Sunshine and thunderclouds attract in this delightful age-gap Christian romantic comedy from Amy Walsh.

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About the Author

Amy Walsh is a 5th-grade teacher who loves teaching children about what she loves to do herself: reading and writing. She enjoys outdoor activities, especially hiking and camping. Amy also appreciates opportunities to share her faith through singing, teaching, and writing for her church family. Amy and her husband, Patrick, have three children: Bree, Spencer, Liz, and a son-in-law, Kyle. Amy and her family love to spend time together celebrating special occasions, listening to great music, swimming and kayaking, and having occasional ping pong tournaments.

More from Amy

The Maestro’s Missing Melody Cast of Characters

Maestro Huntley Milne regrets committing to host a group of college students, especially when Aunt BeeBee ends up in a care home, forcing him to move into the Milne Monstrosity on Sycamore Street which is about two hours northeast of London. Aunt BeeBee is nagging him to locate the missing Milne stave book, Dory and David are fretting about being put back into foster care, and even his aunt’s cats are high maintenance. Then he meets McKay Moonlight…

McKay Moonlight was thrilled when she won the musical apprenticeship at Maestro Huntley Milne’s Highlands Music Center.  After all, she had a little crush on him for years after seeing him play at the Rocky Mountain Fiddler Championships. When the apprenticeship is relocated to a tiny town near the Deben River, rather than the Highlands of her ancestors, she takes it in stride. Who would think her traveling mishaps would cause her to be late and forget something very important – ruining her chance to make a good first impression on her summer mentor.

The Milne Monstrosity was built by a wealthy plantation owner, who brought his family to England just prior to the American Civil War.  This mansion is a hodgepodge of turrets, towers, secret passages, and gables – – and does not fit in with the other homes on Sycamore Street AT ALL. Beatrice Milne has filled the mansion with many colorful and eccentric collections. Other unique features of the Milne property are a tiny guest house which is the exact replica of the Monstrosity, and a stone amphitheater decorated with musical gargoyles within view of the River Deben.

Dory and David are tween twins who went from foster home to foster home until they were finally adopted by Mama Bee. Dory enjoys riding her bike around her village, learning to play the flute, reading great books – – and finally having a family, even if her adopted mother is much older and let’s say “different” from other parents. David plays the guitar very well, but his real passion is for building gadgets. The twins were content living in the Milne Monstrosity in Eden Cove with Mama Bee encouraging them to explore their interests and grow their talents. But now, Mama Bee is in a care home and they are stuck with grumpy Uncle Huntley until Mama Bee comes home. That’s IF she ever comes home.

Beatrice Milne, aka Aunt Bee Bee or Mama Bee, always had her fingers in so many pies, and those pies were always so splendid, that she seems larger than life to the people of Eden Cove.  Now she is a patient of Balmy Bay Residences, the care home she helped refurbish as one of her projects.  What’s with her change in personality – and her obsession with Huntley needing to search for the missing Milne stave book?

Arabella and Gerard are Aunt Bee Bee’s ginormous cats who have a love/hate relationship with the Maestro.  Who knows, maybe they can help with the treasure hunt for the missing stave book…

Interview with Amy

What is your real-life work schedule like when writing?

I gave up tackling big writing projects for over a decade because I couldn’t juggle working full-time and being a good mother and wife.  So, it wasn´t until Election Night of 2020 that I began writing Elsie Whitmore: A Star from Oak Hills.  At that point, I had been teaching online for months due to the Pandemic, and I was crawling out of my own skin from listening to politics and having all my extracurriculars curtailed. My kids were in their teens and twenties and often busy with their jobs and friends.  I wrote 10,000 words that first night, and it has been project after project ever since. 

One thing about my writing schedule is that I will not allow myself to work on my novels when my family wants to hang out.  Fortunately,my husband works part-time on the weekends and my kids love to sleep in on Saturdays.  Hence, I get most of my writing during the school year done on the weekends. 

Of course, as a teacher, I have the summers off.  I usually write two books per summer. 

One book was even written during a teachers strike, where we were assigned to picket for an hour or two or day, and then we had free time.  As much as I hated striking, it was perfect timing because my grandmother was in hospice.  I spent every other night next to Grammy and wrote the bulk of His Brother´s Atonement while she was sleeping.  That was a very prayerful and holy time for me. One reviewer of that book wrote, ¨You can tell God guides her words.¨ I feel that He truly did guide my words as I was led to share a story of how God blesses us despite the pain we go through – and redeems that pain with opportunities that we never would have had if we hadn’t experienced that trial.

When did you write your first book and how old were you?

I wrote my first chapter book when I was in high school.  It was a YA novel reminiscent of George MacDonald´s fantasies.  It was set in New York City and featured a puppet who came to life and a few magical doors.  Someday, I will have to pull that out and do something with it!

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

My husband has built a man-and-woman cave in our garage with a woodstove, Christmas lights, recliners, and even a gigantic window so we can watch snow fall and view the city lights below us, since we live near the top of a mountain.  We sit in there and listen to music while playing on our phones.

My son and I go on hiking adventures.  He likes challenging trails – and sometimes I wonder if I am going to end up breaking my neck on one of our outings.  However, there is nothing like the adrenaline rush that comes with getting to the top, especially now that I have a physical challenge that came close to causing a permanent disability — I had to have a thigh muscle placed above my ankle to prevent loss of my leg from cancer, but by the grace of God and amazing surgeons, I have almost full mobility. 

I love to kayak and play pickleball.  I enjoy karaoke nights and singing with the praise team at my church.  I like painting and crafting of all sorts.

I look forward to trying new foods with my daughters, celebrating special occasions with friends and family, and going on adventures – especially to historical places and antique stores!

I also dedicate time to ministering to others.  I am currently teaching a ladies class each Sunday which is based on a nonfiction, low-content book I just released, Ïn the Night Season and All the Day Long:  How to Triumph Despite Chronic Health Problems According to God’s Word.  

One thing I am very happy about is that I just became a volunteer for Search for Jesus through the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.  The training was amazing, and I even had to role-play chatting with people facing terrible crises in their lives.  It was stressful, yet I feel like I was forced to learn so much, so quickly.  It was kind of like that rush of reaching the pinnacle of a mountain when hiking with my son.  My “job¨ is to be available online through the Search for Jesus app to talk to anyone who recognizes the need for a Savior and is seeking help.  What an honor!

Have you experienced writer’s block, and how do you handle it?

Yes, I have!  Mostly all I need to defeat writer’s block is to have a pressing deadline.  I work well under pressure. 

Once, though, even a pressing deadline didn’t help.  It turns out it was because I had planned an ending that wasn’t right for the story – God had a better plan for my book than I did.  Once I spent some time in prayer, and even had my dad pray with me on the phone, my brain unlocked and I could see clearly where the story was meant to go. 

This past summer, however, I faced a different type of writer’s block.  I was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma,had to go through two major surgeries, and take a leave of absence from teaching.  I was trying to focus on the positives so my attitude was, ´Well, at least I will have lots of extra time to write.´ 

Unfortunately, I had such brain fog after being under anesthesia for so long that my vocabulary went kaput for a while.  I would imagine scenes in my head but I couldn’t get them on paper.  The Maestro´s Missing Melody needed to be done within a few weeks, and I couldn’t get past the first few chapters.  It was such a great lesson for me to just ¨be still and know¨ that God was with me.  Instead of trying to work on the book, I mostly spent days just sitting on my front porch watching the clouds roll by and listening to the birds sing.  While my body and brain were healing, my soul was soaking in the loving handiwork of our Creator. 

One morning, I woke up and I knew I was ready to write again – and I wrapped up the book pretty quickly after that. 

Any current or upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?

I have a few projects I am working on.  I am very excited about a mail order bride story that will be published this year for the Brides of Pelican Rapids multi-author series.  The main character is an herbalist who doesn’t ever want to have children so she has her heart set on a platonic marriage of convenience.  However, God has other plans for her. 

Another fascinating project is for the second collection of the Our House series. This time the homes will be in the Scottish Highlands rather than along the River Deben.  My tale is about two half-sisters who discover each other through an ancestry DNA test.  They decide to go abroad on a ¨get-to-know-you¨ adventure which turns into a modern-day gothic tale.

One last book I will tell you about is an Apron String Tea Tale.  A group of authors has each been assigned a different fairy tale which they will rewrite to incorporate a tea room during the interbelllum era. I am so excited to tackle a realistic Thumbelina storyline which is a tribute to a great-great aunt who had hypothalamic amenorrhea. In other words, she never fully developed into a woman. Hence she was never married and devoted her life to working for the church.  I´m very honored that God laid this story on my heart and gave me the opportunity to write it for Tea Tales.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, January 25

Stories By Gina, January 26 (Author Interview)

Becca Hope: Book Obsessed, January 26

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 27

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, January 28

Texas Book-aholic, January 29

Locks, Hooks and Books, January 30

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, January 31

Books You Can Feel Good About, February 1

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, February 2

Blogging With Carol, February 3

For Him and My Family, February 4

Fiction Book Lover, February 5 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, February 5

Holly’s Book Corner, February 6

Pause for Tales, February 7

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Amy is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54141