Series Synopsis
The Endless Pursuit of Love and Wisdom
In essence a love story, A Life Singular is the first book in 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.
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.
Everyone has a life singular: one; unique; extraordinary.
Sales proceeds go to two Australian non-profit organisations assisting young people with their education: EdConnect Australia and The Smith Family. See the Charities page for more information.
Book 1 – A Life Singular
What do you do when you lose the one who gave your life meaning? You write about it. You tell the world how amazing it is to love and be loved by someone so special, what love helps you achieve and how it makes you stronger.
Twinned with “La Rabouilleuse (The Black Sheep)” by Honoré de Balzac.
Book 2 – A Life Found
Writing an autobiography on behalf of someone else presented Jeff with an interesting dilemma. Did he make assumptions about what Lynn would have included or should he restrict her contribution to direct quotes from her letters and diaries? He had their kids to protect, and her parents…
Twinned with “Cyrano de Bergerac” by Edmond Rostand.
Book 3 – A Life Entwined
Fame and fortune beckoned. Jeff Diamond was a success, whatever that meant… Fans followed him everywhere, reporters and photographers hid around every corner and journalists recorded his many indiscretions. A whole different world to the downtrodden streets of Sydney’s south-west, where vices were satisfied by using people to one’s best advantage.
Twinned with “L’Etranger (The Outsider)” by Albert Camus.
Book 4 – A Life Lived
So this was it… Lynn and Jeff, two young people driven to change the world together, had grasped their life singular with both hands and were not about to let go. They had the Midas touch, gifted through the virtues of reciprocity and a deepening understanding of right versus wrong.
Twinned with “El Alquimista (The Alchemist)” by Paulo Coelho.
Book 5 – A Life Tested
The world was a big place, full of good and evil, beautiful and ugly, wonder and despair. Sometimes it seemed all was lost, returning from the latest round of negotiations and attempting to balance the surreal career of a chart-topping musician with the demands of an advocate for those discarded by mainstream society. With every problem the Diamonds worked to solve, a new one would be right around the corner.
Twinned with “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevski.
Book 6 – A Life Loved
Lynn Dyson and Jeff Diamond had become the celebrity couple with the Midas touch. With their son showing every sign of fulfilling his sporting destiny and a teenaged daughter who was already driven to right the world’s wrongs, they were showered with accolades and adoration from every corner of the globe.
Twinned with “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel García Marquéz.
Book 7 – A Life After
So, their handbook for life was complete. Not a cast-iron guarantee, but a good start for anyone looking for answers. The rest was up to its readers to make their own life singular. Jeff Diamond sealed the envelope on his manuscript, content that he had fully accounted for the life which had brought him to where he was today. Alone.
Twinned with “Cloud Atlas” by David Mitchell.