Saying Goodbye to Colin and Martin

Guest post by Drew Hunt ...

It was with mixed emotions that I said goodbye to Colin Rogers and Martin Kellam. Remaining with the same characters over a series of stories (four in this case) tends to stunt my creativity. I thought I’d struggle to find something new and interesting for them to do. From the events of the third book Colin and Martin’s Australian Christmas, I already had a basic outline of what would happen -- they will leave Great Britain to begin new lives down under. But when I sat down and began to type, things went in a direction I didn’t expect.

Colin and Martin’s Goodbye Christmas is, as you might guess, about saying goodbye. No, neither man is on his deathbed. Recently my sister and her family emigrated to Australia and I found myself exploring my feelings surrounding that. It made the piece a little darker than one would expect for a Christmas story. Goodbyes are bitter-sweet, yes, there’s the excitement of beginning something new, but there’s also the pain of parting from loved ones.

As always, I had fun describing Colin’s child-like enthusiasm for Christmas, and how Martin has to go to increasingly elaborate lengths to keep Colin and his presents away from each other until Christmas morning.

Because Martin is totally blind, Colin always struggles to find interesting gifts for his man. Plus this year whatever they give each other has to fit in their suitcases.

Each man deals differently with the prospect of leaving Great Britain. Martin is estranged from his family, so there’s little holding him back. Colin is the centre of Martin’s world, so wherever Colin is, that’s where Martin wants to be. However, leaving is harder for Colin. He’s close to his parents and when his mother confesses a secret at the Christmas dinner table, the two men’s plans to emigrate are thrown into doubt. To be honest, as I wrote out these scenes, I didn’t know whether Colin and Martin would go or stay. You’ll have to read the story and find out what they decided.

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Drew Hunt
drew-hunt.co.uk