Book Title: WHAT YOU DO TO ME
Character Name: Cecilia James
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
My childhood was magical. Two parents who adored each other, music thread through our lives like another child. Joplin. Stone Poneys. Mom was beautiful and daring; Dad was patient and ever-present. Our home was loud and colorful, filled with friends and parties and laughter. Until Dad found Tori. And everything fell apart.
What was your greatest talent?
For starters, hating my father, Don James. When he left my mother, Gloria, he stripped the music and joy from our lives. When I signed on at Rolling Stone magazine, I channeled all that anger into my work, because music was at my very core. I ached for music, believed music was the only way for me to express myself. And it was. This passion fueled my grit and determination to succeed. Ultimately, hating Don James served a purpose and made me unstoppable.
Significant other?
My sexy, photojournalist boyfriend Pete. He interprets the world through pictures; I interpret the world through song. Together, we should have been two halves of a whole, but those differences pulled us apart. I know. I can be thick-headed. I’ve heard. But Don really messed me up. If Don could leave Gloria, and me, how could I trust that Pete wouldn’t leave too?
Where do you live?
Right now I’m living with Don, Tori, and my admittedly adorable step-sisters Hazel and Phoebe in Los Angeles, CA. I’m not thrilled about it, but I have nowhere else to go. My best friend, April, says I need to go easier on Don and let go of some of the anger, or at least stop terrorizing Tori. She’s probably right.
How do you feel about the place where you are now?
Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place? I love LA. I love the vibrancy, the bustle. It’s like one long music video with my favorite tunes. Every street, every venue, every sunset holds a memory, a song, though living under Don and Tori’s roof is tricky and messing with some of those memories.
What do you do for a living?
I started at Rolling Stone magazine as a lowly intern. That meant fetching Starbucks for the staff and the artists’ assistants, editing, fact-checking. I’d been vying for a promotion, hungry to write, share my stories with the world, so when the opportunity presented itself, I took a shot, and I guess that’s when things spiraled. Sure, the timing wasn’t right to begin this hunt for the inspiration behind Eddie Vee’s “What You Do To Me,” but I couldn’t stop myself. I had to know.
Greatest disappointment?
Dear old Don. But I know I’m getting whiny at this point. After Don, I’d have to say my greatest disappointment is losing my mother, Gloria. I suppose the two are tied together. She wasn’t perfect, but she felt perfect to me. I still miss her.
Greatest source of joy?
Obviously, music. There’s nothing else in the world that can transport you back in time, restore old memories, bring you back to your youth and childhood and our best (and worst) days. Music is transformative and healing and says all the things that plain words cannot. Sure, it can hurt too, but living means feeling a range of emotions. Music has that power.
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
I dare you to play Name That Tune with me. I can easily guess a song by the very first note. Yeah, I’m a bit of a musical savant. But really, there’s a reason this is called the entertainment business. I’ve hung out with almost every conceivable artist and actor, which is never a dull moment. The interview with Jen Aniston was one of my favorites. We bonded over our parents’ divorces. This business is full of wild parties and there’s been some alcohol-infused moments I’d like to forget, but it comes with the territory.
What keeps you awake at night?
Finding the muse for “What You Do To Me!” Eddie Vee wrote the song for someone, though he vehemently denies it. She’s out there. I know. And I know she still loves him. I think somewhere inside I believe that if I find her, find him, and reunite them, it might fix me and Pete and everything else that’s gone wrong. Can you say I’m a sucker for a happy ending?
From the bestselling author of This Is Not How It Ends comes a moving novel of two unfinished love stories and the music and lyrics that bring them together.
Journalist Cecilia James is a sucker for a love song. So when she stumbles across a clue to the identity of the muse for one of rock’s greatest, she devotes herself to uncovering the truth, even as her own relationship is falling apart.
While writing an article for Rolling Stone, Cecilia works to reveal the mystery that has intrigued fans and discovers a classic tale of two soulmates separated by fate and circumstance. Rock star Eddie Vee once sang with his soul, dedicating love songs to Sara Friedman, his inspiration and first love. Now, Eddie takes refuge in anonymity, closed off to the past. Sara, too, has distanced herself from their love, moving thousands of miles away to live the life she once railed against. As Eddie and Sara tentatively open up to Cecilia about broken dreams, she struggles to give them a happy ending. In the process, she learns that broken hearts can be healed—even her own.
What You Do To Me is the story of a love song and of the triumph of the heart over the greatest of odds. Even for those who have written off love forever.
Women's Fiction [Lake Union Publishing, On Sale: October 17, 2023, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781662508271 / ]
Rochelle B. Weinstein is the USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of When We Let Go, This Is Not How It Ends, Somebody’s Daughter, Where We Fall, The Mourning After, and What We Leave Behind. A former entertainment industry executive, she splits her time between sunny South Florida and the mountains of North Carolina. When she’s not writing, Rochelle can be found on www.booksbywomen.org sharing monthly book recommendations, teaching workshops at Nova Southeastern University, hiking, reading, and finding the world’s best nachos. She is currently working on her eighth novel.
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