BOOKS
LADY SPLASH
Writing the series about Cassidy Blair and co in anticipation of the launch of The Lady Splash.
Cassidy Blair has been described by The Sydney Morning Herald as ‘a character with whom the reader expects to have fling but ends up having a relationship.’
As Cassidy’s writer I find myself both protective and alarmed by her behaviour. She just loves trouble, and sometimes it’s a hell of a lot harder to bail her out than others, the equivalent of painting yourself into a corner with superglue.
I sometimes wish she’d just spend a week curled up with a good book, but she’s just not the type, unless she’s recovering from the myriad of injuries she routinely suffers – the poor girl bruises like a mango – such as escaping from a locked cupboard in a strip joint or the hands of a deranged guy dressed in a bear suit. Despite the fights, impromptu wrestling and near-death experiences, it’s the googly plastic eyes from that bear suit that still make her flinch.
She’s braver than I am, and yards of glamour magazines cooler, but we share a love of mysteries, romance, animals, secrets, grossly anti-social curiosity and an expensive addiction for luxe underwear. She has a rather feisty relationship with local cop, Sam Tasker, but her real weakness is for her parrot, Jock, and her new dog, Hound (nee: HellHound).
She always fights her own battles, despite the fact that Sam, or one of her pals (some of whom have turned out to be deadly thugs), could come to her rescue. The thought just never occurs to her and I’m rather proud of her for that.
Through the adventures of The Vodka Dialogue, The Happiness Punch and The Millionaire Float, Cassidy Blair has learned how to be a halfway decent friend, how to kick high and hard, how to inflict the playground inspired death-grip pinch, and to always carry spare underwear and a universal handcuff key, but she still can’t cook, or fit into her old jeans.
So now she’s decided to make a five year plan:
- Save money
- Teach Hound not to eat her bras
- Find out if Sam is serious about, well, getting serious
- Take up Ned’s offer of fulltime employment despite the fact that she doesn’t know what driving an armoured van has to do with being a personal assistant
- Get fit
Now what could possibly go wrong with that?
The Lady Splash will be published by Hodder through Hachette Livre Australia in July 2006