Off The Moon 2009 Blog Tour - Family Relationships

CRR Blog Tour – November 2009
Host: Lizzie Starr  Nov.25
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Family Relationships
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Hi Lizzie! 

Thanks for having me at your blog! I read one of your posts on someone’s blog the other day where you mentioned how your Keltic books inadvertently became a family saga. Today, related to that thought, I’m going to make a bit of a confession about my new book that I haven’t yet. In time..

Family is a huge theme in all of my novels, either with direct involvement or with family background that affects a character’s thoughts or actions. Sometimes both. In “Finishing Touches” Jenna marries young to escape her parents who have little to do with her. In the Rehearsal series, Susie loses her mother young and her father, who she adores, travels for work, leaving her with a friend of her parents she can’t connect with. One of the main male characters is nearly smothered by his single mom and the other escapes home to get out of a situation that gets out of hand. All of these characters show the results of their family lives within their current stories. There is also interaction with certain family members within the novels.

Like Lizzie, my original intent was not to build a family saga, but the Rehearsal series is becoming one, as well as focusing strongly on romance and friendship. In fact, it’s becoming such an invasive theme, that not only will one of its characters be the MC (main character) of the sequel, but she also jumped into Ryan’s story as I was writing it.

Here’s the confession: Dani, Ryan’s best friend in “Off The Moon,” was pulled from the Rehearsal series. She actually pulled herself in, as I had no intention of doing so while planning the book. As Rehearsal begins in 1974, and this one is a contemporary, Dani grows up not only in the world of music, but also with readers who follow my work. References to bands in “Off The Moon” come from the series. It’s not at all necessary to read the series in order to follow “Off The Moon” but the whole background story is available for Dani and Raucous. I should say it’s currently half available. Two of the series of four are out. The third is my next book-to-come.

Back to Ryan and family, his brother is a prevalent minor character and the loss of their father in Ryan’s teen years makes the brother relationship different than it would have been. Will is six years older and has taken over as a father-figure through the years. Now that Ryan is an adult, they have to readjust. Ryan’s relationship with his mom is also an interesting one. As his personality is very two-sided, so is the way he reacts to his mother, as well as to most of the authority-type women around him.

Kaitlyn’s relationship with her family is even more complicated, but I can’t say much here for fear of giving away the story. ;-)

What do you, as readers, think about family backgrounds in novels? Do you like to see them? Are they interference to the story? I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.


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