Here is a little more information about the book "The Musical Realm" by Jerald Simon (this is book 1 in a 5 book series - the other books in the series will be forthcoming):

There are five books in the series:

1. The Musical Realm
2. The Dismal Abyss (forthcoming)
3. The Age of Enlightenment (forthcoming)
4. The Realm of Realism (forthcoming)
5. The Music Continues (forthcoming)

The Official Release Date on Amazon will be November 24th, 2025

Genre: Teen & Young Adult Christian Fantasy
Teen & Young Adult Christian Action & Adventure
Teen & Young Adult Arthurian Myths & Legends

Dimensions: 6x9 inches

Pages: 330

Background of the book:

Several interviewers continually ask me about the inspiration for this book, "The Musical Realm," or the various authors that inspired me in writing this book. 

"Why did I write my first ever, full length, teen and young adult Christian action and adventure fantasy book, The Musical Realm, and what do I hope the book accomplishes?"

This is a question I have received from several people with the launch of my new book. Here is another question I have received:

"What was your inspiration behind writing The Musical Realm, and what do the next four books in the series hold for readers?”

Let me answer each of these questions. I’ll condense and re-word the question.

“Why did I write The Musical Realm and what was my inspiration? What do the next books in the series look like?”

Here is my response to these questions:

This is book one in a five book series. I have already outlined all five books. Many who have read this book, The Musical Realm — Look to The Light and Listen to The Music Within, are comparing it to Narnia and C.S. Lewis. I love C.S. Lewis and have enjoyed reading his books my entire life.

As the king of The Musical Realm declares in chapter four of my book, “…thou wilt embark on the quest of all quests, the journey of all journeys, and the adventure of many lifetimes.”

Adventure awaits each of us in The Musical Realm as we read and learn about looking to the light of faith and hope, and learning how to listen to the music within ourselves.

During his first piano lesson, Matthew, a 13 year old boy, tells his new piano teacher, Mr. Darius, that he hates practicing the piano. The mysterious old piano teacher smiled slyly, and proclaimed, “As I said before, you will never truly enjoy practicing or playing the piano, until you get inside the music!”

Matthew gets sucked into the sheet music and enters a fantasy world known as The Musical Realm.

As a piano teacher, I love teaching about music theory, music history, and all things related to music. I also love religion, philosophy, history, music, art, poetry, gardening, self help, inspiration and motivation. In this book, I have tried to combine everything into one unforgettable story.

I first came up with the idea for this book back in 2016. For the next two years, I came up with the characters, outlined various plots, and thought about what I wanted this book to be. I wasn't intending on publishing it at the time, since I had so many other books and albums I was working on at the time. The book was heavily inspired by scriptures, religion, philosophy, music, history, C.S. Lewis and Og Mandino, among other inspirational and motivational authors. It was also inspired by musicians, artists, knights, legends, myths, folklore, seraphs, angelic visitations, supernatural powers, monsters, and myriad other historical events, locations, and people.

In this book, I have tried to incorporate inspirational, motivational, and spiritual topics that teach values, morals, courage, and faith-filled Christian themes throughout the book, to help teens and young adults develop greater faith to overcome their fears.

I love being a motivational speaker and performing at events — playing the piano, singing, emceeing, acting, performing on stage, etc.. I interact with large and small groups from home-schooled kids, school assemblies, teens, university students, various music teaching associations, organizations, church groups, religious events, firesides, businesses, and foundations. I love connecting with people and sharing my music, poetry, books, thoughts, perspectives, and life experiences with others. I love people. On my website and in every book I write, I share my own purpose and mission:

“My purpose and mission in life is to motivate myself and others through my music and writing, to help others find their purpose and mission in life, and to teach values that encourage everyone everywhere to do and be their best.”

In recent years, I have noticed an interesting change that has slowly come upon our society. This has happened throughout history and during each individual era of history and civilization. It is not unique to our society, but there are different and unique circumstances that are especially impacting our youth, teens, and young adults.

There is far too much pessimism and apathy toward life. The negativity, frustration, anger, and hostility is rampant and quickly spreading. There is far too much fear and an ever dwindling focus on faith, hope, peace, and positivity. Optimism is being overwhelmed and pessimism is poisoning far too many people. Negativity and its needlessness, is becoming commonplace, and anger, hatred, and hostility are replacing kindness, love, and harmony.

I believe we need more inspirational stories and motivational messages of hope, faith, peace, and positivity. Not just entertaining stories, which are good, but stories that entertain, educate, inspire, uplift, and were intentionally and purposefully written to change the reader for the better. These are transformational stories and help people transition from who they currently are to actively begin progressing toward the dream of who they can become. We need more stories that take the reader on a journey — a quest of their own self discovery and self improvement. I personally want to focus more on sharing messages of empowerment to become who we were born to be. It’s about being better today than we were yesterday and striving to be even better tomorrow than we are today.

I began writing book 1 back in 2018-2019. I have worked on and off on finishing book 1 ever since. I started having the book reviewed and edited from 2024 — 2025. I personally printed out the book more than 30 times and had as many, if not more drafts that I marked up, edited, and changed before having a professional editor edit the book. I have already outlined each of the chapters for all five of the forthcoming books in the series, including each chapter title, and the synopsis for what happens in each chapter. I know the characters and plots of each book, I just need to finish writing the remaining books in their completed form.

Since I mapped out the books in their entirety before writing them, when you read book one, characters and plots and even seemingly insignificant details will make more sense, as they reappear in books 2, 3, 4, and 5. Even one sentence events that only happen in the book once, will take on even more meaning in the subsequent books. Every detail from trees, fruits, musical instruments, necklaces, statues, artwork, and more are intentionally mentioned because they will play a pivotal role later on in future books.

Every character, land, river, building, event, or experience in this book and future books in the series also relate somehow to music, musical terms, art, history, philosophy, religion, and so forth. Some of the main characters, Saint Summer, Preston, and Matthew, are my children's names (Summer, Preston, and Matthew).

Don't take anything for granted in this series. Everything has an intentional meaning and was thought out in advance before writing the book. Many of the allegories, parables, experiences, and key points of the story are based on actual experiences and events. This book can be read on multiple levels of interest, and can be enjoyed by teens, young adults, and adults. I can't wait to have you read the series.

The book is a teen and young adult Christian action and adventure fantasy book, so it intentionally focuses on faith, and you will see parallels to biblical stories and characters, in addition to historical characters. The book is intentionally inspirational and motivational, and continually pushes the reader to focus on looking to the light of faith and overcoming the darkness of fear. The book includes kings, queens, knights, pirates, mystical and magical powers, beasts, monsters — all characters being personified musical terms or somehow applying to music, music theory, music history, the arts, and more. The book focuses on fear, faith, uncertainty, enlightenment, eternal wisdom, truth, goodness, and focuses on such varied topics as:

Honor, courage, success, strength, will power, leadership, possibilities, confidence, goal setting, optimism, rising above mediocrity, character, never doubting ourselves, being productive, learning from adversity, doing what it takes, being happy, seeing the good in others, forgiving, seeing our own potential and the potential in others, learning life’s lessons, righting wrongs, becoming a self starter, learning to control our thoughts, words, and deeds, and many more.

Although this book is geared for teens and young adults, many adults who have started reading it love it as well. I try to teach values, morals, and principles all throughout the book. Yes there are Christian themes and parallels scattered throughout the book as well, but this book is enjoyed by those who are not even religious because of the story of strength, determination, and triumph. Everything relates to music, looking to the light, and listening to the music within.

This book was written to inspire each of us to forgive our own mistakes and the wrongs others do — intentionally or unintentionally. It is about progressing along our personal path and quest for individual greatness. This book helps us take a look at ourselves — where we currently are in life, and where we would like to go and ultimately arrive at our desired destination. It is about becoming who we were born to be. The motivational and inspirational messages are wrapped up in an inspiring story of personal growth, change, and self improvement. It is a fantasy, action, and adventure story of unlikely heroes, who are empowered to accomplish unbelievable, unthinkable, and unforgettable experiences.

I hope you will “embark on the quest of all quests, the journey of all journeys, and the adventure of many lifetimes,” as you enter The Musical Realm. Always look to the light and listen to the music within!

I’d love to have you read the book.

Thanks in advance! - Jerald

​If you know someone who has a podcast and they are looking for guests, I’d love to be interviewed on their podcast about my new book. I’m looking to be a guest on 1-2 podcasts per week. I’m also looking for vloggers, bloggers, and social media influencers who would like to receive a PDF review copy and share the upcoming release of the book with their audiences.