Author's Note 211102: 

Well, hello! First and foremost, this story is going to be a very challenging one for me to write, given the fact that I am more accustomed to one-shots/short stories. And even with my multi-chaptered stories, I tend to lose creative interest in them over time... However this story has captured my imagination quite vividly and fervently. I've been following this year's International Chopin Piano Competition, a very prestigious piano competition that happens every 5 years, since its preliminary stages (wow, all the way back in July;;) and had somewhat of a creative crisis along the way. This past year, I've been looking back at my works, and without mincing words, I've felt that they just truly don't capture what I've been meaning to write; more so just fleeting ideas that I've had and somehow manage to write and complete them... if that makes sense. I wanted to write something that I felt passionate about, not that I don't "care" or "mind" for the works that I've previously written, but I wanted to drastically change the course and direction of my writing. I've always had an affinity for classical music (I've casually played piano since I was young), and with the onset of the earlier said-competition, my mind and its oddities have found a way to incorporate both my love for classical music and writing. Now to reiterate more on the challenges of writing such a daunting story, you may or may not have noticed the tag "slowburn." As in my name, I love fluff and all things mushy/lovey-dovey, and often times overcompensate and forget to mind the pacing of the story and just go on my merry way. I want to use this work to challenge that—to fine tune my pacing skills, work more with angst, develop a healthier relationship with the process of actually writing, and step out of my comfort zone and see where it'll take me and this story. 

Also, with the addition of classical music playing a heavy role in this story, my "Author's Note" will be followed by a section titled "Musical Tidbits," where I may share definitions of certain musical terms, recordings of pieces I may mention in the story, and offer insights on them as well. Recordings and their respective links to them will be pulled either from YouTube, or Spotify (apologies in advance if you happen to not be able to access some of the recordings! please message me if you have any concerns or needs in regards to this particular section - I'd be more than happy to help anyone out!) This section will help to further aid in the understanding of the story in itself, and much of the pieces I select will have a deep significance as to why I chose them. I'm very excited to share with you all my findings, insights, and hopefully introduce you all to such a beautiful and beloved genre of music!

Well, that about concludes this slightly lengthy author's note. I hope to see you all in the first chapter very soon! (´｡• ω •｡`)

With love,
Young Mi x