Annette Kruisbrink (*1958) is a Dutch composer/guitarist with a respectable oeuvre of hundreds of pieces, including 106 with the internationally renowned label Les Productions d’ Oz.
I know her from the guitar festivals in Twente and Nordhorn and I am currently attending guitar lessons with her. In 2018 she turned 60 and wanted to celebrate it with a special guitar festival in Nordhorn.
I’m always up for an occasional story at an anniversary and that’s how I conceived the plan to write a music story. I wanted to do that on one of her works, entitled Fantasia per il mio Liuto, part of Trois Pièces de style Ancien.
Set in fifteenth-century Florence, this story combines a lute composition with a painting, thus combining the art of Annette’s music with the art of her partner, who is an artist.
A writing friend of mine heard about the venture and wanted to get involved. Consequentially a story was added with chapters based on a number of Annette’s compositions: Tendresse, Don’t give Up, D-Tune, Close Friends and Final Grip.
Young Frank becomes addicted to the classical guitar and wants to start a career with it against the wishes of his parents. Laurelien, a conservatory student, helps him with the entrance exam while she has to do the final conservatory exams herself. They help each other in the struggle to achieve their goal. In the meantime, the music brings up confusing feelings.
It was a tough undertaking to get the book in its entirety ready on time while we both wanted to be satisfied with the content. Neither of us had worked together on this point, although we did have a modest mutual feedback loop on both of our stories. We never had had to meet deadlines as well. As a consequence, it became a bit of a stressful situation. Fortunately, the final result was up to our standards.
There are plenty of examples of collaborating writers, though. It is striking that these collaborations are mainly known in the thriller genre. 😉 Somehow, I understand that: When cooperation becomes difficult with two stubborn writers, you can release tension and frustration in the perfect murder by or on the main character.
I guess that I’m a better solo writer myself.
Ordering
Anyway, the book became the second in the Mark’s Publishers’ list. Annette was very happy with it. If you want to read the result (in Dutch!): You can order it at Boekenbestellen.nl: