Elvira’s Ghost

Elvira’s Ghost. A short story.

The inspiration for this story came, like many things, by chance. I read part of a newspaper article, whilst researching for Mass Murder, stating that in some of the remoter parts of inland Galicia the Guardia Civil get more reports of crimes committed by ghosts or spirits than reports about crimes committed by people. That sparked a train of thought that led to the story. It’s a thriller in which Elvira has to find her ghost before he finds her.

I wrote it as a short story for two reasons: I wanted a reward system for people who join my mailing list. These days we are bombarded by emails, hundreds of emails, usually wanting something from us. I want to get away from that. Of course, from time to time, I will suggest that people buy my latest book, but more than that I wanted to make sure that mailing list members got something in return. The occasional free short story seemed appropriate.

The second reason was to focus on the character of Elvira, although she does appear in both Pilgrim and Mass Murder, I hope in the future she will have a more central role. She will play an important part in ‘Vanishing Point’ which will be book three in the series.

The story starts on the pass through Os Ancares somewhere close to O Cebreiro. If you have ever driven on that road in bad weather you will know how the mist and shadows can be a real problem, and how they move around. For long stretches there is a sheer drop to one side of you, despite it being a good road with little traffic, care is needed.

I enjoy writing short stories, they are quite different to full length novels, and it feels much more like telling a story to a friend.

Elvira’s Ghost is free if you join my mailing list, or 99p on Amazon

Mass Murder is Book 2 of the Camino de Santiago Murders, will be published next month. By the time that you read this it will be available for pre-order on Amazon.

New Website

One thing about being in lock-down for two months, is that it gives you a bit of thinking time. I have decided that I need an author website. It’s something that I have been putting off for ages. For many people the technical aspects of publishing are not too difficult, certainly the generation after me have been brought up using the necessary terminology. I, so far, have found every step to be frustrating. I am in no way a technophobe. I love the possibilities that technology offers, what I don’t have is the background. I don’t speak the language, the culture is alien and so far my attempts have been dismal.

I should know how to do this though, I relocated to Spain ten years ago and had to learn a new culture and a new language. Even now my Spanish isn’t fluent and I can’t cope with dinner at 10pm followed by a concert or a party, or not too often anyway. I will never be mistaken for a native, but I do have coffee with my neighbour, chat with Spanish friends in town, eat in the restaurants, and use local shops all without much thought. In other words, I know enough to integrate and join in.

I am hoping that this venture into a career, which is rooted in technology, will work in the same way for me. That even if I am never an expert, I will learn enough to be part of a community of Indy authors, and to have books for sale which people don’t think twice about buying. Every day I learn a bit more, so if you do find something of mine, books, blog pages, website, which looks odd, please be patient. Don’t assume that I don’t care, I do. I just haven’t learned how to do it properly yet.

I hope that you will visit often, because once my skill level catches up with the scope of my imagination there are an infinite number of worlds for us to explore together.