I’ve renamed my blog FOR THE LOVE OF WRITING because that’s the only way I can explain how I got carried away with these stories and ended up writing the equivalent of 2 and three quarter books – I know that sounds precise, but the sequel to FIRST BORN SON only needs a few months’ work to bring it home.

I look around at popular fiction today and I’m not quite sure where my books fit to be honest.

They’re not classic romance but there are romantic relationships. In fact relationships are at the heart of these books.

In the case of Philippe Duval, there is a strong romantic thread in his life but there is also the father/daughter relationship that almost wasn’t and the father/son relationship he never had. The story just started to pour out once I sent him back to New York for an extended visit. Which left his story quite adrift from the Belleville family story, even though he is Julia Belleville’s husband. He is the outlier.

In the case of the Belleville family, was there ever a family so susceptible to misfortune and yet so resilient? I couldn’t resist going deep into my background to create this fictional country family in Australia. Once again, it’s about relationships. And about how the weaknesses of the original patriarch repeat in the generation which are now young adults. We’re talking about the period in the late 1960s and the world is changing. As in many families, some recognise change is happening and accept it; others try to pretend the world isn’t changing around them.

Once upon a time, the Belleville series I’ve written might have been described as a family saga – but saga, to me, suggests it’s a hard slog, intense read. I don’t think my books are quite in that category.  I think they’re an entertainment, offering a range of characters that everyday people can identify with. And everyday family concerns of children and marriage.

My characters do everything. Fall in love, sometimes with the wrong people at the wrong time. Fall out of love. Wish for something different. Suffer disappointment. Plot revenge …. and so much more.

What do you like in a fiction book? What keeps you turning the page? Let me know. We could have a great discussion on page turners.

Until next time ….