I started this as a Facebook post, but it got too long. :D

I just sent Unexpected to the lovely Lauren for editing. This was a tough book. I had to get my head back into the Friends series after In a Lifetime, which was hard. Then, I'd made allowances for my trip to Australia knowing I wouldn't get that much done.

What I didn't account for was my dad's health declining so quickly. We've lived with his various illnesses all my life. He was exposed to chemicals in Vietnam (good ol' Agent Orange), and after my youngest sister was born, he had glandular fever which the doctors say made things worse. After that he developed CFS which left him tired, and when he was up and about, he had continuous pins and needles in his legs.

When I was 19, he had a series of heart attacks, followed by a minor stroke after which he drove himself to the hospital rather than bother my mum. And then he was diagnosed with emphysema.

Emphysema is a cruel disease. It slowly takes away your capacity for breathing until you struggle just to get some air in your lungs. When Dad discovered the internet, he also from searching, found a drug that was being trialled and managed to get on it. The difference in him was incredible.

However, nothing lasts forever, and about a month ago he was taken to hospital having trouble breathing. After this, it seemed nothing would make him better, and to cut a long story short, my father died yesterday, aged 74.

There's a scene in  Unexpected that I drew on my own experiences of one of his illnesses. And I will be making a donation to the Asthma Foundation of New Zealand, who educate and support patients with COPD which Emphysema falls under.

Unexpected is dedicated to my dad. Despite his failing health, he was one of my biggest supporters, and although we lived in different cities, I'll miss him terribly.