Tackling Something New
I'm branching out in my next novel, which I've ended up just entitling: "Hillsend".
As a loyal reader has recently pointed out to me, I've written “four adventure/thrillers, a morality tale, and two works with an environmental message”. This time I'm working on a story about love and family (though definitely not in the romance genre).
With spoilers removed, the following is how my manuscript assessor has summarised my work in progress:
"This contemporary novel brings together family and strangers over a hot Christmas in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds - all the makings of a classic kind of New Zealand story.
"Opening with a sad incident in the past, we wonder how this will impact on the present as family members [and friends] arrive at Hillsend. There is much build-up to this holiday, especially when it comes to Nicole and Andrew. They have been together for six years, and yet their relationship seems rather rocky, to the extent that Nicole [seeks fun outside it]. Andrew, on the other hand, seems totally committed to the relationship. Yet he is a controlling sort of person with a tendency to make big decisions without Nicole's input, so the scene is set for anything to happen over the summer break.
"Then there's Amanda [Andrew’s niece] and the weighty responsibility falling on [him] to tell her about [her birth mother] Marilyn . It's quite a relief when Andrew reveals the truth of Marilyn's death and Amanda can finally grieve for the mother she never knew.
"It's very nice the way in which Amanda falls in love with Jorge [Nicole’s brother] - it may be a summer fling, or then again, it might become something more serious for the couple in the future.
"We also see more of Nicole's character as she bonds with Amanda later in the novel. As Nicole has also lost her mother, it is easy for her to empathise with Amanda in her grief.
"Thrown into the mix is a kinky American couple [Will and Lauren] who [arrive at Hillsend on a yacht and] seem determined to make their own fun with strangers. Will throws Ellen [Andrew's sister] into turmoil for a short time, but thankfully she sees sense when she realises (in a well handled scene) just how kinky the Americans and their Australian skipper really are.
"The [criminal] thread is foreshadowed very nicely - firstly, with the news that the ex-owner of Hillsend has been arrested, and then when Thea [a neighbour] sees two men in a rental vehicle. This leads naturally to what happens next.
"Meanwhile, Hillsend is itself almost like a character in the novel - a modern and beautiful house overlooking the sea, with the climb down to the bay, making the location sound quite remote. The vacation itself changes the characters in different ways - Amanda falls in love with a boy; demure Ellen has sex with a stranger; Andrew's restlessness comes to the fore; while Nicole is finally able to unburden herself as to what happened all those years ago in Milan.
"Staying at Hillsend," the assessor says in closing her summary, "seems to act as a catalyst for these characters to change or to experience something different."
I hope this whets the interest of potential readers. The novel is due for release later in the year.
As a loyal reader has recently pointed out to me, I've written “four adventure/thrillers, a morality tale, and two works with an environmental message”. This time I'm working on a story about love and family (though definitely not in the romance genre).
With spoilers removed, the following is how my manuscript assessor has summarised my work in progress:
"This contemporary novel brings together family and strangers over a hot Christmas in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds - all the makings of a classic kind of New Zealand story.
"Opening with a sad incident in the past, we wonder how this will impact on the present as family members [and friends] arrive at Hillsend. There is much build-up to this holiday, especially when it comes to Nicole and Andrew. They have been together for six years, and yet their relationship seems rather rocky, to the extent that Nicole [seeks fun outside it]. Andrew, on the other hand, seems totally committed to the relationship. Yet he is a controlling sort of person with a tendency to make big decisions without Nicole's input, so the scene is set for anything to happen over the summer break.
"Then there's Amanda [Andrew’s niece] and the weighty responsibility falling on [him] to tell her about [her birth mother] Marilyn . It's quite a relief when Andrew reveals the truth of Marilyn's death and Amanda can finally grieve for the mother she never knew.
"It's very nice the way in which Amanda falls in love with Jorge [Nicole’s brother] - it may be a summer fling, or then again, it might become something more serious for the couple in the future.
"We also see more of Nicole's character as she bonds with Amanda later in the novel. As Nicole has also lost her mother, it is easy for her to empathise with Amanda in her grief.
"Thrown into the mix is a kinky American couple [Will and Lauren] who [arrive at Hillsend on a yacht and] seem determined to make their own fun with strangers. Will throws Ellen [Andrew's sister] into turmoil for a short time, but thankfully she sees sense when she realises (in a well handled scene) just how kinky the Americans and their Australian skipper really are.
"The [criminal] thread is foreshadowed very nicely - firstly, with the news that the ex-owner of Hillsend has been arrested, and then when Thea [a neighbour] sees two men in a rental vehicle. This leads naturally to what happens next.
"Meanwhile, Hillsend is itself almost like a character in the novel - a modern and beautiful house overlooking the sea, with the climb down to the bay, making the location sound quite remote. The vacation itself changes the characters in different ways - Amanda falls in love with a boy; demure Ellen has sex with a stranger; Andrew's restlessness comes to the fore; while Nicole is finally able to unburden herself as to what happened all those years ago in Milan.
"Staying at Hillsend," the assessor says in closing her summary, "seems to act as a catalyst for these characters to change or to experience something different."
I hope this whets the interest of potential readers. The novel is due for release later in the year.
No comments have been added yet.
