MaureenMcBooks asked Lisa Genova:

I was impressed by the way you wove beautiful descriptions of music into this story. Do you have musical training yourself? How did you go about capturing sound in words?

Lisa Genova Thank you, Maureen! I took piano lessons as a child but never developed a passion for it. I practiced because my mother told me to and went to weekly lessons for a few years against my will--basically, I was one of Karina's students! :) So for this book, I needed to roll up my sleeves and learn more about classical and jazz piano in order to write about it with any authenticity.

I interviewed many pianists (including two who were trained at Julliard and Simon Tedeschi); I read books about jazz and Lang Lang; I went to New Orleans and soaked in live jazz; I went to many piano concerts; I listened to classical music as I wrote; and I took piano lessons! This time, I was an eager student and looked forward to every lesson I could take! Karina would've loved me! :)

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