I’m delighted to share the news that Little Ghosts is now (dare I say finally?) available on Amazon, Apple books, Google Books, Barnes and Noble and Kobo, and also as a paperback.
It’s been a long journey for this book, and for my family too, as I was writing it. The story was inspired by something my daughter Alba said over breakfast two years ago. I was teaching her how tricky writing can be, using my half-finished novel as an example (OK, I was moaning about how I couldn’t figure out the plot) when she said something like:
Wouldn’t it be easier if the dead person could just say who did it?
Alba then finished her Weetabix and wandered off, but I stayed, suddenly deep in thought. Later on at my desk, I abandoned the half-written book, and got to work instead on building Alba’s idea into a new story. I didn’t take it completely literally because that would make for a simple ghost story, and I don’t believe in ghosts. Or I don’t think I do. But it was that ambiguity that caught me. Could I write a thriller about a ghost who might, or might not, be there? A plot where a character could be understood as a ghost, but where their presence could also be rationally explained, without the need for the supernatural?
A few days later I had an idea fleshed out:
Ten-year-old Gale is drowning in grief after the death of his older sister Layla. Yet his parents barely notice, they’re struggling too, and their attention is dominated by a police investigation that has so far failed to catch her killer. But in this brutal world Gale has created a refuge. He spends as much time as possible alone in his bedroom, where he’s not alone, but joined by the silent, ghostly figure of Layla. He knows she’s not real – his grief counsellor has explained how she’s just a figment of his subconscious, and will fade as he gets better. But if that’s true, then Gale doesn’t want to get better. And then Layla does something completely unexpected. She tells Gale who killed her…
As I got started writing the story I came up with a name, and even created a cover with Alba on it, since she came up with the initial idea. But the more I wrote the more I felt this was a little bit different to my previous books, and I hoped, a little bit better too. To date all my books have been self-published, and while I’ve been lucky enough to connect with a terrific community of readers (thank you all!) I’d been aware for a while that it might be a good idea to try for a ‘proper’ publisher. I just needed the right book. And this one felt like it.
Like all well-developed plots, there’s a b-story to this tale. As I was writing about Gale and his sister, we decided as a family to spend a few years living in Spain. My partner is Spanish, and we wanted to give our kids the opportunity to speak both languages, and get to know that side of their heritage. So, just as I was getting into the flow of writing this book, everything got interrupted as we sold up in England and moved to a little village on the north coast of Spain. A place where we didn’t know a soul.
So really this last year has been about finding two new homes. A new beginning for the family, and the right place to root this story as well. And in both I think I’ve been very lucky. Things are going well in the new home, and when the book was finished I was delighted to sign a deal with a brand new publishing house called Storm, and to be taken on by a brilliant editor, Kathryn Taussig. She took the story, improved it, and gave it a new name: Little Ghosts, and the cover below, which I don’t understand, but love all the same.
And so, even though Little Ghosts is the tenth book I’ve written, today is the first time I can call myself a published author, which feels like a whole, and very exciting new chapter.
So I am genuinely super excited about sending this out, and I really hope you’ll give this book a try. I think Little Ghosts is the best book I’ve written. It’s certainly the most emotional, some sections had me bawling into my keyboard, but hopefully they’re woven in with tension and excitement, and there’s a twist in there that I hope will take you by surprise.
You can get Little Ghosts on all ebook platforms from the link below, and it’s available as a paperback too. For audiobook fans, the brilliant Katie Villa is working on it now, and it will be out on the 31st May.
Once again thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered the book, it should have magically appeared on your devices. And finally, I hope you enjoy it.
Gregg
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