Sing to me, my heart, of love. Cry through simple tones of sorrow. Soar above despair and fate, lilting solace, sweet repose. Sing to me, my heart, of a life lived knowing tenderness that comes with tasting fear; a hope that comes when all hope is gone. Only thirst can be quenched. Only hunger fed. Despite the pain, the cruelty, anger and misunderstanding, this is a story about love. It's about a struggle to find love among the faces in the crowd, to choose love against the darkness within, and to love those we should - deliberately and without hesitation.

... and so begins my first novel - started in earnest this month - hoping to publish next year. I have the framework set out, and basic ideas for structure, major characters, events. The outcome, though, is still a mystery to me. I'll have to let the characters tell the story, and find out for myself what happens to them. It's set in Sydney over a long weekend in March and examines the relationship between a man, who is rediscovering his identity - and his teenage son, who is starting his journey towards manhood. It explores their emotions through the people they encounter, holding up a mirror to their souls. Yes, it is obviously inspired by Homer's Oddyssey and James Joyce's Ulysses - but I hope it will be a little more accessible to the modern reader than those great works. It is also an exploration of the people of inner Sydney and life lived on the edge of society.

Over the next few months, I'll be posting little snippets of this novel. It's current working title is Odd Man Out. Yes, another link to Homer, but also the title of an early James Mason movie set in Northern Ireland - directed by Carol Reed (another coincidence!) based on a novel by FL Green. This novel has nothing to do with the troubles in Belfast, but I like the theme of how a dysfunctional society can affect the relationships among the people within it. Maybe there's a little of that in this one too.

Tony