Eight-year-old Samantha Becker has the perfect life—a father and mother who love her and a baby brother on the way. When a car accident spurs her mother’s labor, she gives birth to a stillborn child and loses her chances of ever conceiving again. But the accident’s devastation does not stop there. Left with a father who hardly speaks to her and a mother who turns to booze, Sam’s world quickly falls apart. But her neighbor June and a timely gift may be the one thing that saves her…. Prelude depicts the catalyst for the dysfunction in Samantha Becker’s life, as portrayed ten years later, in the novel, Freedom Road. Approximately 10,000 words.

Since the tender age of eight, music served as Samantha Becker’s source of solace against her father’s tyranny and her mother’s alcoholism. Now at eighteen, her only dream is to study classical guitar at Juilliard. But when her father’s careless actions lead to an “accident,” which threatens her ability to play the guitar, Sam becomes despondent. Losing all confidence in her future, Sam hides behind the emotional barriers that have protected her for years. Just when Sam has given up, two unexpected people enter her life, giving her the confidence she needs, and forcing her to evaluate all she’s ever known. Battling her father’s plans for her future, band mates using her for personal gain, and a permanent injury, the odds are stacked against her. With auditions approaching and time running out, Sam must relearn to play the guitar, or be destined to give up her dreams forever.