Target audience A FAMILY AFFAIR
Target audience A FAMILY AFFAIR asks who might find this book about two women in love interesting?
When starting a new book, every author ponders: Who is my target audience? Who am I writing for? What audience do I want to attract?
Three days after a tragic event I witnessed - such things are not supposed to happen to good Christians - I had a profound dream, a whole book laid out on a subject not at all to my liking. Homosexuality.
After a month of trying to avoid and escape the Spirit of Jesus, I "laid out a fleece". A way of testing the heart and mind of God. The fleece was left dry on a dewy night, and wet on a dry night.
And so: A Family Affair ...
This page was last updated by Bernard Preston on 15th June, 2020.
Target audience A FAMILY AFFAIR
“There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing,
say nothing and be nothing”
- Aristotle
Whilst A Family Affair is really in the genre of lesbian romance books this book is not primarily for lesbians. They have made up their minds on such matters and whilst I know that they will enjoy A FAMILY AFFAIR, and are already reading it, they are not really my target audience.
Nor is it for hard-line Christians who have also made up their minds: Lesbianism is an abomination in the eyes of God. Read no further...
I know that A Family Affair will be enjoyed by women who belong to the " women and intimacy " genre of readers, women who love a romantic and intimate yarn, but in all truth I did not write A Family Affair with them in mind either.
The target audience A FAMILY AFFAIR is for folk like me. This book is my search for meaning. What is homosexuality all about? Is it utterly repugnant to Almighty God? Is there a place in the kingdom of heaven for them?
And for many, can homosexuals bring up children who will grow up to be normal, whatever that is, adults, happy and balanced? What chance do June and Trek, Carlo and Storm have of being content and fulfilled adults?
And what of Klein-Jan, abducted by his father aged only two? Will he ever discover his roots?
Ouma Jansen
There's a simplistic teaching, utterly false, that all you have to do is give your life to Jesus and everything will be hunky dory. Just fine. Really? Ouma Jansen, a deeply committed Christian, went suddenly blind when she was only twenty-five. Worse, her evil son kidnaps her only grandson, Janet's first-born, Klein-Jan from her very home... a lifetime of guilt and remorse ensues.
I won't pretend A FAMILY AFFAIR will answer all these profound and important questions for many of you fellow seekers, but I do hope that it will add to the debate. No answers, but perhaps some of the right questions. My mind isn't made up, perhaps yours isn't either.
Perhaps you are a woman looking for a book on women and romance ... then A FAMILY AFFAIR will certainly be a new flavour of the day for you. You WILL love it, hate it, be challenged, laugh and cry with Janet and Santie and that woman of women, blind Ouma Jansen.
RAPE
The first title of A FAMILY AFFAIR was "Rape" until a good friend said she would NEVER buy a book with that title. Perhaps so.
A FAMILY AFFAIR is about violence against women, with a twist: Can a woman rape a man? Janet is desperate for another child after Klein-Jan is abducted by his father. Peter Scott would make the perfect father for her children. Only... he has no interest in a one night stand. He's totally uncooperative: he wants Janet for a life-long soul mate. Enter the date-rape drug...
INCEST
Santie on the other hand has a wonderful childhood until her mother suddenly and tragically dies of meningitis. Where else could a hot-blooded man, Klok Veentra, so easily find an outlet for his sexual passion, than ... his twelve year old daughter?
Ultimately, Santie totally, mysteriously buries her childhood, deep in her pysche; it only comes to light some forty years later after a very strange dream...
The back cover...
Backcover Book I: The Bostonians.
A Family Affair is the heart-warming trilogy about family with a difference. It has two Moms, but no Dad.
Janet has a happy childhood; it is at her Diocesan School for Girls where she first tastes the forbidden fruit. But Santie’s mother dies and the child is sexually abused by her father. Whilst at the Police College a gate slams shut, wiping all memory of her abused childhood from her mind, but leaving her very conflicted.
After studying law, their friendship blossoms whilst doing their articles but Janet is raped by their boss at a beach party. Deciding to keep the child, Klein-Jan becomes the honey in the sandwich that sweetens and cements their relationship; until the toddler is kidnapped by his father.
Darkness ensues and Janet becomes very depressed. Eventually, in desperation their gynaecologist suggests that they have another child. But how do two women conceive a baby?
Book II: Peter’s Children
Enter Peter Thomas; is it possible for a man to be hoodwinked into siring four children and be none the wiser?
Book III: The Return
Concealed in Holland from Interpol by his father, Klein-Jan now aged twenty undertakes a journey to discover his roots.
Set in South Africa, A Family Affair is both a lighthearted and easy read, but also takes an inside look at serious issues; women in love, rape and abortion. AIDS and the profound love of a grandmother also come into the equation; it was from her home that KJ was kidnapped.
It is rather more than a Mills and Boon, I think you will find. Sample a few free chapters of Bernard Preston at the A Family Affair home page from the navigation bar above.
Newsletter
Our newsletter is entitled "create a cyan zone" at your home, preserving both yourself and Mother Earth for future generations; and the family too, of course. We promise not to spam you with daily emails promoting various products. You may get an occasional nudge to buy one of my books.
Here are the back issues.
- Lifestyle and ideal body weight
- What are ultra-processed foods?
- Investing in long-term health
- Diseases from plastic exposure
- Intensive lifestyle management for obesity has limited value
- A world largely devoid of Parkinson's Disease
- The impact of friendly bacteria in the tum on the prevention of cancer
- There's a hole in the bucket
- Everyone is talking about weight loss drugs
- Pull the sweet tooth
- If you suffer from heartburn plant a susu
- Refined maize meal and stunting
- Should agriculture and industry get priority for water and electricity?
- Nature is calling
- Mill your own flour
- Bake your own sourdough bread
- Microplastics from our water
- Alternative types of water storage
- Wear your clothes out
- Comfort foods
- Create a bee-friendly environment
- Go to bed slightly hungry
- Keep bees
- Blue zone folk are religious
- Reduce plastic waste
- Family is important
- What can go in compost?
- Grow broad beans for longevity
- Harvest and store sunshine
- Blue zone exercise
- Harvest and store your rainwater
- Create a cyan zone at your home
So, who is the target audience A FAMILY AFFAIR? If you've read this far, dear reader, then it's you! Only 99c each buys you a download of three full books, A Family Affair.
Buy Book I, The Bostonians now for only 99c. For your Kindle, tablet or smartphone. The way to read books...
Books II and III are complete and will be available by the time you finish The Bostonians.
A FAMILY AFFAIR reviews
It's always useful before starting a long book to read the opinions of others. A Family Affair is nearly 200,000 words. The length of three normal novels. Do you really want to start? Read what Anne and Linda have to say, and by all means add your voice...
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