Goodreads asked Sandra L. Rostirolla:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Sandra L. Rostirolla Four years ago, my brother passed away unexpectedly. After spending three months back home in Sydney, Australia, I returned to Los Angeles with a fire lit in my belly – life was too precious to waste time not striving for one’s dreams. At the time, my focus was on writing screenplays. Cecilia, the novel, was a happy accident.

Inspired by a modern ballet that he had seen in Bern, Switzerland, my husband decided to write a ballet. Jumping at the chance to try something new, I offered up my services as librettist. Since ballet stories typically run only four to eight pages, I figured the assignment would be a quick and fun learning experience. How wrong was I. Each scene that I presented was met with the same response: “That’s great, just expand it a little more.” Needless to say, a little more became 90-pages.

Six-weeks into the project, Kurt’s workload exploded and the ballet was placed on hold, indefinitely. When I presented my colossal outline to him and inquired as to what I was supposed to do now, he replied: "Write the novel."

Here's a bit of trivia:
Cecilia is named as such because St. Cecilia is the patroness of composers.

Many characters and scenes are inspired by the artwork of Leonardo da Vinci, including:
Cecilia – Study for the Head of Leda
Amalardh – Bust of a Warrior in Profile
The Senators – Five Caricature Heads
Cecilia telling stories to children – Virgin of the Rocks
Siersha appearing to Cecilia – The Annunciation
The final battle – The Battle of Anghiari

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