My reasons for writing - Melanie Dent

I asked fellow writer and author, Melanie Dent Lynchcliffe series, to do a guest post for the blog. you can find out more about her and her book later on in the post.

I started writing when I was quite young and my teachers always liked my style. I wrote poetry in my teens; teen angst and unrequited love sort of stuff. But I always wanted to write a book, I had several ideas over the years but nothing that captured my imagination enough to follow through with.

When my partner David died in 2008 I wrote a couple of poems trying to make sense of it.

I found myself thinking about cuckoos one day. The fact that a cuckoo chick is never raised by its own parents and thought about the number of kids who are raised by strangers because, for whatever reason their birth parents can't take care of them. The plot grew from there and the idea fitted a birth in the late Victorian era as childbirth related deaths were commonplace then.

I then developed the idea of a cross-class romance and the Titanic came to mind and that was it, I was off and I knew it would not fit in just one book as the series had potential.
I know it's a cliche but my characters have become good friends and I know them pretty well. I know why they are as they are, what makes them tick, what arouses or angers them and I share their triumphs, losses and disappointments.

I did not originally intend to write adult novels but they took an unexpected turn. I have no problem writing about sex. As I was dealing with adult themes such as rape, infidelity, illegitimacy and bereavement I thought I might as well take the adult angle. Lewis FRanklin is a man who falls passionately in love late in life. The whole series is essentially about love and passion.

I dedicated the first book to David's memory and I like to think he is proud of what I have achieved and how I have learnt to live without him.

Now 8 eBooks later I am planning to self-publish with Lulu and have approved 3 books for distribution. it's a case of watch this space from now on.

Links to her sites
http://lynchcliffe.wordpress.com/lynchcliffe-kindle-store/
http://lynchcliffe.wordpress.com/about/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lynchcliffe-Cuckoo-novels/310116522349057