Lost Melody (26 page)

The story we’ve created in
Lost Melody
is entirely fictional, but it was inspired by an actual historical event. In 1917 a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions struck Halifax, Nova Scotia. At that time, World War I raged in Europe, and Halifax Harbour became a crowded hub of activity. On December 6, a French ship named the
Mont-Blanc,
carrying 2300 tons of picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, 10 tons of gun cotton, and 35 tons of a highly explosive mixture called benzol, left the mouth of the harbor and was struck by a Norwegian vessel named the
Imo.
Fire broke out on the
Mont-Blanc,
and she drifted toward the Halifax shore where unwary spectators gathered to watch her burn. When the
Mont-Blanc
exploded, not one piece of the ship remained. Entire city blocks were flattened in the blast that was felt nearly 200 miles away. The biggest manmade explosion before the nuclear age triggered a tsunami, which crashed into the battered city. Reports of fatalities vary, but at least 1600 people lost their lives immediately, and as many as 200 within a few months. Nine thousand people were injured, most of them seriously.

Though unspeakably devastating, the legacy of the Halifax explosion is inspiring in some respects. The world responded, and assistance from many nations flooded the survivors. Halifax
rebounded and rebuilt, and today is a thriving metropolis. A memorial was erected to remember those who perished, and every December 6 at 9:06 a.m., a bell rings to commemorate their loss.

Lori read an article about the Halifax explosion, and that article provided the seed for the story you’ve just read. Our agent brought Ginny into the picture and suggested that we might enjoy working together on a book. She was right. We got together for a weekend of brainstorming, and the story of
Lost Melody
sprouted and grew, as seeds have a tendency to do.

We spent a lot of time discussing the role of Robert in the story. Scripture is full of instances where angels are sent by God to deliver a message, and in the book of Hebrews, we’re told that angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. We hope you’ll indulge us in the fictional application of those Scriptures. You might be interested to know that the ending you just read wasn’t our first. If you’d like to read the original ending, we invite you to visit www.LoriCopelandand VirginiaSmith.com. We would love to hear your opinion about both endings.

We hope you enjoyed reading
Lost Melody
as much as we enjoyed writing it. Please take a moment to let us know what you thought. You can contact us through our website above, or separately at www.loricopeland.com and www.virginiasmith.org.

In writing
Lost Melody,
we called on several people who generously shared their time and expertise in various areas. In doing so, they enabled this book to exist. We are extremely grateful to Dr. Patricia Tackett, whose expertise in the area of PTSD helped define Jill’s actions and feelings regarding the loss of her musical dream, and the beginning of a different kind of dream. For research on the Halifax area of Nova Scotia, we relied heavily on Janet Sketchley, who took the time to answer dozens of emailed questions and made the setting come alive to us. Huge thanks also to Gail Sattler for her insights on teaching piano lessons to kids. And thanks to Anna Zogg for proofreading at the drop of a hat. If there are any mistakes in this book regarding those areas, the fault lies entirely with the authors, and not with these four wonderful ladies.

We would also like to thank our mutual agent, Wendy Lawton, for introducing us and arranging this co-authored project. Thanks also to Sue Brower, Alicia Mey, Becky Philpott, and all the good folks at Zondervan for working so hard to make this book a success.

Lori and Ginny

Want more?
For bonus material, including an alternate ending
for Lost Melody, please visit
www.LoriCopelandAndVirginiaSmith.com

LORI COPELAND
is a bestselling author whose books include
Now and Always, Simple Gifts, Unwrapping Christmas, and Monday Morning Faith,
which was a finalist for the 2007 Christy Awards. Lori was inducted into the Springfield Writers Hall of Fame in 2000 and lives in the beautiful Ozarks with her husband and family.

VIRGINIA SMITH
is the author of more than a dozen novels. Her books have been named finalists in the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence and the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Book of the Year Award. When she isn’t writing or speaking, Ginny and her husband, Ted, enjoy exploring the extremes of nature. They live in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

ZONDERVAN

Lost Melody

Copyright © 2011 by Copeland Inc.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

EPub Edition © OCTOBER 2011 ISBN: 978-0-310-41223-6

This title is also available as a Zondervan ebook. Visit www.zondervan.com/ebooks.

This title is also available in a Zondervan audio edition. Visit www.zondervan.fm.

Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan,
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Copeland, Lori.

          Lost melody : a novel / Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith.
               p. cm.
          ISBN 978-0-310-28986-9 (softcover)
          1. Women pianists — Fiction. I. Smith, Virginia, 1960 - II. Title.
           PS3553.O6336L67 2011
          813’.54 — dc22                                                                            2011022690

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other — except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover photography: Caleb Rexius

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 /DCI/ 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Founded in 1931, Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins
Publishers,
is the leading international Christian communications company, producing best-selling Bibles, books, new media products, a growing line of gift products and award-winning children's products. The world's largest Bible publisher, Zondervan (
www.zondervan.com
) holds exclusive publishing rights to the
New International Version of the Bible
and has distributed more than 150 million copies worldwide. It is also one of the top Christian publishers in the world, selling its award-winning books through Christian retailers, general market bookstores, mass merchandisers, specialty retailers, and the Internet. Zondervan has received a total of 68 Gold Medallion awards for its books, more than any other publisher.

Free Online Resources at
www.zondervan.com/hello

	Zondervan AuthorTracker: Be notified whenever your favorite authors publish new books, go on tour, or post an update about what's happening in their lives.
	Daily Bible Verses and Devotions: Enrich your life with daily Bible verses or devotions that help you start every morning focused on God.
	Free Email Publications: Sign up for newsletters on fiction, Christian living, church ministry, parenting, and more.
	Zondervan Bible Search: Find and compare Bible passages in a variety of translations at www.zondervanbiblesearch.com .
	Other Benefits: Register yourself to receive online benefits like coupons and special offers, or to participate in research.