The Loveday books began to tell the story of the family in 1787 and have
now progressed in The Loveday Pride to 1797 with many adventures and new
characters introduced on the way. It is great thrill that in March book
seven of the series The Loveday Loyalty will be published.
The
series was originally conceived as a trilogy focussing on the the three
sets of cousin. Adam and St John, Japhet Hannah and Peter and Thomas Mercer
in London. When I created the main characters I wanted their traits and
personality to be slowly revealed to the reader through the problems and
adventures they experienced. No one is quite how they are perceived by
a first impression and it is the deeper complexities of their characters
that has enabled me to keep the Lovedays presenting the reader with new
insights into their personalities, while at the same time the reader would
then realise that those depths were always there and part of their motivation.
When we first meet a friend we see the side of them they wish to present
to the world, as we get to know them better we learn more of their strengths
and weaknesses, their secrets and hidden aspirations and their darker
side, their virtues and their vices. This has been shown in the Loveday
books and I know many of the readers anguish over the family as much as
I do.
Originally I plotted that Edward would die at the end of the first book
but his character took on larger than life dimensions and when he died
in book five The Loveday Honour it was the hardest scene I have had to
write. From your emails and letters I know many lof you shred a tear and
I miss his steadying influence on the family. The books have in turn brought
more prominence to different members of the family and when Tamasine unexpectedly
arrived at the end of The Loveday Trials she became a very forceful character
to be reckoned with but her past continued to haunt her as she faced fresh
prejudice and feared she would never find true love and happiness in The
Loveday Loyalty.
The Loveday
Loyalty tests all the family to find new strengths and resources to overcome
their enemies. Peter especially shows a new side of his character. Hannah
has always been a strong and resourceful woman but even she has to reappraise
her life when she is at her most vulnerable and her loyalty is tested.
Joshua now the senior male member of the family finds his wilder past
has come back to haunt him. And how will the Sawle's react in their family
loyalty when the wily and brutal Harry Sawle clashes with the Lovedays
who seek to bring him to justice. The repercussions of Sawle's vendetta
with the Lovedays will test everyone's loyalty to the limits.
Adam and Japhet are by the far the most popular but out of the two Japhet
has got into more diverse scrapes that has certainly given me headaches
as a writer to resolve. The characters are so vibrant and alive that once
Japhet became involved in highway robbery the consequences dictated by
his personality and keeping true to the harsh justice of the times became
inevitable. His story became the dominant tale in The Loveday Scandals,
The Loveday Honour and The Loveday Pride. Researching his life in Australia
was fascinating. I was fortunate enough to enjoy two wonderful month long
trips to this amazing continent researching the background and visiting
my brother and his family travelling from Brisbane, to Sydney and then
to Melbourne.
The hardest research was for Japhet's story in The Loveday Loyalty when
he still had many challenges to face to make his mark in the new colony.
And this is where the magic of the series comes in to aid me as the writer.
I had no idea how Japhet intended to make his fortune in Australia and
then I realised that so much of his past had been stepping stones to create
the path of his future. And this is so true to for many of us in our lives.
The Loveday adventures will continue as the series is rapidly growing
in popularity. I am currently writing book eight in the series with the
working title The Loveday Justice and what various aspects of justice
do you suspect the family will become involved in.