How We Came to Write Diamonds Down Under
After Desire senior editor, Melissa Jeglinski, signed Tessa Radley and Maxine Sullivan in 2006, the number of "down under" Desire authors had reached six. Melissa suggested that we might like to look at our own continuity series, so we put together some ideas and she loved our Diamonds premise, which goes something like this:
DIAMONDS DOWN UNDER is a six-book series set in Australia and New Zealand against the billion-dollar backdrop of the glamorous, but ruthless, gem trade. The series focuses on a family split asunder thirty years ago over ownership of a fabulous diamond known as the Heart of the Outback. The old feud is re-ignited when a new generation is forced to deal with secrets and scandals – and deception and desire – in the aftermath of a tragic plane crash.
The series was quite a while in the making, and during that time we had several changes in the lineup due to the authors' other commitments. We all worked together over that time coming up with the characters, the backstory, and the continuity threads which connect all the stories. The books are all done now and in production. Click on the series link to see the release schedule.
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The Blackstones' and the Hammonds' Backstory
This six-book series is set in Australia and New Zealand against the billion-dollar backdrop of the glamorous, but ruthless, gem trade. The series focuses on a family split asunder thirty years ago over ownership of a fabulous diamond known as the Heart of the Outback. The old feud is reignited when a new generation is forced to deal with secrets and scandals – and deception and desire – in the aftermath of a tragic plane crash.
Dealing with the fallout is a group of cousins, the grandchildren of Jebediah (Jeb) Hammond. Jeb fathered three children: Oliver, Ursula and Sonya. Their children - Jarrod and Matt Hammond; James, Kimberley and Ryan Blackstone; and Danielle Hammond - feature in this series.
Jeb Hammond was born in New Zealand in 1918. Along with the family business, New Zealand’s foremost estate jewellery and auction house, The House of Hammond, Jeb inherited a passion for gemstones. After the death of his wife, he left Oliver in charge of the family business to go fossicking in the Australian outback. On one such foray, Jeb found a massive pink diamond which he named the Heart of the Outback. The stone’s size, distinctive colour and exceptional quality made it a rare and extremely valuable find.
When a brash young mining entrepreneur named Howard Blackstone heard about the diamond, he sought out and befriended Jeb. Although a generation apart the two men shared a driving desire to find more of the rare pink diamonds. Keen to secure the exploration leases held by Jeb, Howard romanced the older man’s daughter Ursula and unexpectedly fell in love with her. Jeb approved the whirlwind romance and marriage. He stayed in Australia close to his daughter and son-in-law while pursuing that elusive diamond pipe. Jeb’s much younger daughter, Sonya, also came to live with her sister Ursula, made her home with the Blackstones and was schooled in Sydney.
Several years later an ailing Jeb gifted the Heart of the Outback diamond to Ursula after she gave birth to her first son and his first grandchild, James Hammond Blackstone. Oliver and his wife Katherine had been trying, unsuccessfully, to start a family for years and so Oliver felt this like a double-blow. His favoured sister got the gift of a baby AND the fabulous rock! From the start he had distrusted Howard’s motives in befriending Jeb and marrying Ursula, and the knowing glint in Howard’s eyes as he sat by Jeb’s hospital bed aroused further suspicions.
On his death-bed Jeb signed all the mining leases over to Howard Blackstone, confirming Oliver’s suspicions. Although he inherited The House of Hammond, Oliver felt his brother-in-law used undue influence to gain the most valuable asset – access to diamonds of immeasurable value. At Jeb’s funeral, Oliver accused Howard of being a greedy opportunist of the worst kind. He vowed to get control of the diamonds come hell or high water, thus setting in motion the feud between Hammonds and Blackstones.
Howard had The Heart of the Outback stone cut into five pieces and fashioned into a stunning necklace he called The Blackstone Rose. He encouraged Ursula to wear it at every opportunity, an ostentatious show aimed at building the Blackstone name in Sydney society. He even used an image of the big pink diamond as the logo for his new company, Blackstone Diamonds, whose exploration was already yielding promising results. Oliver was incensed, but his wife admonished him to not let bitterness eat him up as they were attempting to start a family through adoption.
Howard started mining and his second child, a daughter, was named to celebrate the discovery of a rich diamond pipe in the remote north-west region of Australia known as the Kimberley. Howard’s triumph, however, was short-lived. Less than a year later his son was abducted and disappeared without any ransom note or clues. Ursula’s grief was compounded by post-natal depression after the birth of their third child, Ryan, and she shut herself off from her husband and two young children.
Howard threw a lavish party for Ursula’s 30th birthday. The guest list was massive and peppered with friend and foe alike as well as employees of Blackstone Diamonds. Even Oliver was persuaded to come over from New Zealand, at his wife’s insistence. The couple had adopted two beautiful sons, their life was happy, and Katherine wanted to end the bitter dispute. But during the course of the evening The Blackstone Rose necklace disappeared, and Howard accused Oliver of stealing it. The argument grew ugly and vicious. Howard accused Oliver of organising the abduction of his son, which was the last straw for Oliver. His last words to Howard - ever - were: “Diamonds that belong to the Hammonds I would take from you in a heartbeat, you bastard, but never a child.”
Despite exhaustive investigations, no one was ever charged with the theft and the necklace was never found. Due to a loophole in the policy wording, the insurance company refused to pay out and Howard continued to blame Oliver, strengthening the animosity between the two men. Their children grew up on opposite sides of the Tasman, their perception coloured by their respective father’s version of events, and until they started working in the industry the cousins had no contact .
Twenty years later, after the breakdown of her marriage, Kimberley Blackstone took up an offer of employment at House of Hammond and Howard was livid. He attempted to lure his daughter back to Blackstones, and in a heated exchange he called her friend and boss Matt Hammond “a thief, like his father” (stealing her, the same as Oliver stole the necklace.) In return she accused him of stealing the Hammond mining claims from a dying man, and an outraged Howard returned home to write her out of his will.
Already simmering after walking in on the end of this exchange, Matt’s animosity is further sparked when he hears rumours that his wife Marise has been seen in Howard’s company. Their marriage had been rocky for some time, but Marise is supposed to be in Australia dealing with her recently deceased mother’s estate, not socialising with her former boss. In retaliation, Matt seizes the opportunity to buy a 10% stake in Blackstones from William Blackstone (Howard’s brother), a hostile move that gets right under Howard’s skin. This time he is determined to crush the Hammonds for once and all, and through Marise he has the means to do exactly that.
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The Blackstones of Sydney:
Howard Blackstone is the pivotal force around whom the series revolves. As a young mining entrepreneur, he befriended Jebediah Hammond and married his daughter Ursula to secure Jeb's diamond-rich mining leases in outback Australia. Even after death Howard manipulates those left behind, not only through his will but also via the legacy of his actions during his last weeks alive.
At 63 he was still a fit, handsome, charismatic ladies' man. He was fabulously successful in business, first with his brothers at Blackstone Opals and then with his own company, Blackstone Diamonds. His views were black and white, he didn't forgive or forget, and while some questioned his ethics he never crossed the line of legality. Many believed him too ruthless and unyielding to love, but they were wrong. Howard genuinely loved his wife and his children, but their equally strong personalities set them at odds up until his death and beyond.
Ursula Blackstone (nee Hammond) married Howard despite her brother Oliver's warnings. Her husband devoted much of his time and passion to establishing the Blackstone name in business and society but the birth of their first son, James Hammond Blackstone, cemented the couple's love. Two years later her happiness was shattered by the child's abduction, and Ursula spent the rest of her tragically short life blaming herself for his loss.
Neither Howard nor her other two children could help her out of her deep depression. One of Howard's attempts was a lavish 30th birthday celebration, but the disastrous party climaxed with the disappearance of the Blackstone Rose necklace. Howard accused her brother, Oliver, of the theft and the abduction of James. A year later Ursula walked into the ocean and didn't come out.
Kimberley Blackstone was born January 1976, the second of Howard and Ursula's children. She was still a baby when her brother disappeared and her mother sank into a deep depression that ended in suicide. Kimberley learned as a child that the only way to win Howard's favour was through his beloved business, and she set her sights on a future working beside him at Blackstone Diamonds.
Kim is 5' 8" with serious curves, green eyes, and long dark hair often worn pulled back. Her looks are strong and dramatic; she dresses with stylish simplicity but adds striking jewellery and shoes. Divorced from Ric Perrini and estranged from her family, she is devoted to her career in the jewellery/ gemstone industry. Passionate and intense, unafraid to speak her mind, Kim appears confident because she's adept at hiding her vulnerabilities.
Ryan Blackstone heads up the retail division of Blackstone Diamonds (the jewellery stores) and intends to succeed his father as Chairman of the Blackstone's board. He is tall and broad-shouldered with dark green eyes and jet-black hair. Only 31, he has already acquired a ruthless cast to his tanned features.
The youngest of the Blackstone siblings, he has grown up in the shadow of his elder brother's kidnapping, but views himself as his father's heir and successor. Birth order makes him subservient to Kimberley, and of course there's Ric Perrini, Kim's ex-husband, the man his father so admired. But Ryan will stop at nothing to get what he wants -- to be in charge of Blackstone Diamonds.
Vincent and William Blackstone are Howard's elder twin brothers. Vincent has always been the quiet, thoughtful twin, whereas William is outspoken and gregarious. Together they head Blackstone Opals at Coober Pedy, although both brothers backed their brother's fledgling diamond exploration company from the outset. Their share of Blackstone Diamonds turned into an extremely valuable asset. After a falling-out with Howard, William sold his 10% stake to Matt Hammond. Vincent retained his shares and his position on the Blackstone Diamonds board of directors.
The Sydney Hammonds:
Sonya Hammond is the late-in-life surprise child of Jeb and Ingrid Hammond. She was only 12 when her sister Ursula married Howard Blackstone and, with her father's blessing, she moved into their Sydney home to attend a posh Sydney school. She fell pregnant at 19 and remained in the Blackstone home to bring up her daughter Danielle and to care for Ursula's children. She also adopted the role of hostess for Howard, but disputes the rumours that she was one of his many mistresses.
Now 48, Sonya is tall and willowy with warm brown hair usually worn pulled back, sculpted eyebrows, wide eyes and Patrician features. She is always elegantly attired, no matter the occasion. She has a certain reserve but those who know her would not call her cool. She chairs several charities, likes gardening, and has an immense love and pride for her daughter.
Danielle Hammond, 27, is Sonya's daughter. At five-ten, with an athletic toned body and masses of coppery curls, Danielle is no shrinking violet. She has golden eyes, lightly tanned skin with a dusting of freckles and a wide full mouth which smiles often. In the rarified air of the Blackstone mansion in Sydney, she makes an effort to conform and might tie her hair back and tone down the size of her earrings.
However, at home in Port Douglas, Northern Queensland, it's all about mood and luxuriating in being anonymous. Tank tops and sarongs, long flowing skirts and bolero tops, or cut-offs and frilly white blouses -- Dani loves clothes. She loves Port, too, for its transient population, beautiful beach and the sultry steamy heat. She lives in a tiny apartment at a resort just outside of Port Douglas where she is happy and busy designing and crafting unusual jewellery pieces under the Dani Hammond name.
The Auckland Hammonds:
Oliver Hammond, 62, has thinning grey hair and brown eyes. The eldest child of Jeb Hammond, he took over management of House of Hammond, New Zealand's most prestigious jewellery business, when his father decided to go prospecting in Australia. Happily married to Katherine, they tried unsuccessfully to conceive for many years before adopting two sons, Jarrod and Matt.
Oliver can be quick to anger and has suffered with high blood pressure for years, mostly brought about by stress in trying to be better than Blackstone Diamonds, especially since Blackstone Jewellery has started opening stores in New Zealand. Five years ago he suffered a stroke and has since lived with his wife in a luxury assisted living retirement complex on Auckland's North Shore. Wheelchair bound, he understands the world around him but can no longer communicate clearly.
Katherine Hammond, 61, wife of Oliver and adoptive mother to Jarrod and Matt. Katherine is a homebody and unfazed by the beauty and glamour of the industry her family moves in. She's a practical woman, unflappable and supportive. Of average height and build as a young woman, she's grown fuller figured with age but still remains quietly elegant in style. She had blonde hair that has silvered to grey and light blue eyes. She loves spending time with her grandson, Blake, but that time is limited as she is the primary caregiver for Oliver.
Jarrod Hammond, 34, 6', very handsome with short dark hair and blue eyes. Jarrod is a successful property lawyer who lives in a high-rise apartment building in the heart of Melbourne. He's always had an affinity with this city, having been born here before being adopted by the Hammonds and moving to New Zealand. He is extremely close to his younger adopted brother, Matt.
Matt Hammond, 33, sandy blond hair, and the kind of skin that tans well. Has steel grey eyes that can be as cold as diamond chips when he's angry, yet glitter with passion when aroused. Six feet tall, he is neither overly muscular nor lanky. Matt is seen mostly in business attire, tailor-made to his athletic frame. Adopted by Oliver and Katherine Hammond he is honour-bound to clear the Blackstone slur on his adoptive family's name. Lives in the Hammond family home in Auckland's exclusive Devonport with expansive views of the inner harbour and Auckland city.
Marise Davenport-Hammond. Beautiful, willowy, red-haired Marise had a reputation as a charmer. Always with her eye on the main chance, she worked in sales and marketing for Blackstone Diamonds before snaring Matt Hammond after meeting the handsome millionaire at a diamond trade show. Although she believed she loved Matt, something was missing. Not even the birth of her son, Blake, could fill her heart or contain her restless energy. Marise was always hunting for something new, something more, something else, and that led to her death in the same plane crash that claimed Howard Blackstone's life.
Blake Hammond is the son of Matt and Marise. Dark-haired, stockily built, Blake is average height for his age (three years, eight months.) He attends a Montessori preschool in Auckland. Usually a bright, confident and talkative child, he's been withdrawn and clingy since his mother's departure and subsequent death. Blake loves his daddy but tends to hang back from him because he goes away so much. Never certain if his daddy is coming home again, he has transferred his affections to his new nanny, Rachel, and has started to call her 'mummy.'
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Who's Who on the Hammond-Blackstone Family Tree: