How it all began

Thanks to Flavia for getting this up and running.
The intention of this blog is to keep interested parties up-to-date with how the trilogy is going. But first, an explanation if you've come across this blog serendipitously.

I have been teaching Shakespeare for twenty years (and first discovered him at high school - yay). I've always wondered what happened after the play 'Macbeth' ended. It has been a question I've posed to my students and myself many times. I have also been writing for about fifteen years and, with over twenty books published from a range of genres (YA, plays, English text books, texts of Shakespeare, parenting etc etc), I thought I would finally throw myself into this project.

So, what did happen after the play ended? You might think there was no one left of any interest but one character came so vividly in a dream to my one night, I knew I had a story - and a big story it was going to be.

This is the story of Fleance, Banquo's son, who escaped Macbeth's attempt to murder him.The novel begins ten years later in the northern woods of England where Fleance has been living, not revealing to anyone who is truly is. He is madly in love with Rosie but, just recently, he has been having terrible dreams and visits from his dead father reminding him that the last words Banquo uttered before he died were " Fly, good Fleance Fly that thou may'st revenge."

What's a boy to do? In the beginning, the first 15 chapters were picked over by a group of prolific readers whom I affectionately call 'The Babes' (not because they are drop dead stunning - because they are - but because I adore them as if they were my girls - intelligent, articulate, every mother's dream). They have very strong opinions about the characters and used this blog site to discuss the story so far.

The first in the trilogy was published in New Zealand in early October 2009, debuting 3rd on the best sellers list. Book two was published in 2010 and book three will be out April 2013.

The next big thing? Watch this space.

A movie? Oh yeah!