About the Book:
Fifth in Epic 7-part Series: Love and Loss, Celebrity and Secrets The Endless Pursuit of Love and Wisdom In essence a love story, “A Life Singular” is a seven-part contemporary fiction serial. Recipient of a WILDsound Review Award (November 2015), official selection for the New Apple Awards for Literary Fiction (October 2015) and a Shelf Unbound Notable Book of 2014 (December 2014), “A Life Singular” follows a successful rock star while he writes his autobiography after the tragic loss of his soul-mate. The books’ themes are triumph over mental illness, the choices we make between right and wrong, and how one affects the other over the relentless passage of time. Sales proceeds go to two Australian non-profit organisations assisting young people with their education: EdConnect Australia and The Smith Family. Dealing with some of the more complex social justice issues of our age, the universal theme of love and our fascination for celebrity spirit the reader behind the scenes of a superstar family who are plunged into grief, proving that there are always many sides to a story we see in the media. The important events in our public lives are always overshadowed by the backstory’s real truth. Part Five Synopsis Lynn Dyson and Jeff Diamond had become the celebrity couple with the Midas touch. With their son showing signs of fulfilling his sporting destiny and a daughter who was already driven to right the world’s wrongs, they were showered with accolades and adoration from every corner of the globe. How had this nobody from the wrong side of the tracks got so lucky? With his dream girl by his side every step of the way, the superstar’s multi-faceted career knew no bounds. Politicians clamoured for photo-opportunities, the press fed well on each persuasive controversy, and the success of their business empire funnelled millions of dollars into worthy causes. No wonder they had been an assassination target! Jeff’s autobiography foretold this omen with twenty-twenty hindsight, his open wounds smarting with each obvious opulent and outspoken occasion. “The higher you climb, the harder you fall.” This tedious cliché rang true for the father as he captured his teenagers’ many exploits for posterity. He and Lynn had dared to scale enormous heights, paying the ultimate price far too soon. Had it all been worth it? The book held these secrets, painstakingly transcribed by a man who couldn’t wait to find out what was to come. Whether taken from his lover’s journals, the children’s memories or the cataclysm of poetry pouring from his lonely heart, the months leading up to his latest challenge had legitimised every decision the forever couple had ever made. He only hoped the same good fortune would hold true in the next lifetime.
Read an Excerpt:
Featured in April/May 2016 Issue: American Scences
“The songwriter stocked his lungs full of air, ready to put the world to rights. ‘So… Where are we?’
‘Together, I hope,’ Lynn replied, moved to tears again. ‘I’m so sorry, Jeff. I mean it. I was wrong, and you’re completely right.’
A strange mix of satisfaction and relief rendered the philosopher unsteady, and he shook his head to stave off the vertigo. Of all the myriad mots justes darting around his mind, not a single one made it past his vocal cords. The couple stayed motionless for a few seconds, as if two paintings of the same landscape were fusing together from different perspectives.
Breaking the spell, Jeff leaned forwards and kissed his wife’s chilled lips. ‘Merci, mon amie. Y’know, I don’t think there’s anything else to be said, is there? Let’s get out of here and leave all this suffocation behind. What did you arrange with the others?’
Lynn pulled back in surprise, smiling eyes shooting downwards from his face to his crotch. ‘Don’t you want to go to the hotel?’
‘Angel, I’m not nineteen anymore,’ the red-blooded star scolded, wagging his finger at the preposterous suggestion. ‘Give me credit for an attempt at self-control at least, will you?’
Smiling, the compassionate woman stood tall and hugged her larrikin husband, wrapping her arms around his torso. Belying his previous statement, he secured her lithe frame with hungry hands while his mouth smothered the grin from her mouth, relishing her relaxing into his strong grip.
‘But what about my self-control?’ she asked, running her fingers along the swollen front of his jeans. ‘Am I allowed to want to take you to bed?’
‘Oh, yeah. Absolutely you are,’ Jeff snarled, ‘but first there are dos pequeñitos preciosos back home who’d give anything to hear us smile.’
Tears of guilt welled up in both pairs of eyes at the poignant phrase which had slipped so nonchalantly out of the poet’s mouth, and the conjoined parents clung to each other in desperate deliverance. The wise man stroked his dream girl’s long, golden hair as she sobbed on his shoulder, a dainty knock on the dressing-room door ignored while they enjoyed this sublime interlude. The delightful image of the children hearing their parents smile was far too powerful to dismiss too soon.”