Diary of a Part Time Ghost by Vered Ehsani

 Kindle price: $2.99


 Available from: Amazon Kindle


 Author's website: www.veredehsani.com








In the first book of the ‘Ghosts & Shadows’ series, fifteen-year old Ash wants nothing more than to be a normal kid and avoid trouble. Then his birthday gift transforms him into a ghost and zaps him back in time to the beginning of the American Revolution. If he thought that was bad, it’s about to get a whole lot worse. Ash must rescue his ancestor from one danger after another, including an implacable enemy who controls the very shadows. What starts out as a brief experiment in time travel rapidly changes into a race for his very survival, and Ash is running out of time. Despite his efforts to stay out of trouble, Ash finds plenty of it. As he moves through one shadow-plagued adventure after another, Ash gradually discovers that true power lives in the most unexpected place: himself.

Bio: South African by birth, I have lived in Kenya the past 11 years with my husband and two children. In between writing and breathing, I also work at the United Nations Environment Programme.


Excerpt: 


This is the part when things go from so-so to way-out not good.

I stared across the room toward the darkened eating area; the light above the sink cast a shadow of the kitchen table unto the wall. Sitting around the table’s shadow were four humanoid shadows. And guess who their faceless heads were staring at? Could it get any worse than that? Oh yeah, you bet it did.

They were watching me. They had no eyes but I knew they were watching me. I glanced down; my shadow lay on the ground as it should, connected to me and not moving about independently. Good shadow.

I looked up in time to see the four not-so-good shadowy images of my parents and two youngest sisters stand up from the flat table. I pressed my back against the counter by the sink and felt cold water seep through my T-shirt. The shadows began to lazily stretch up the wall, toward the ceiling.

“What do you want?” I whispered, but my throat was so constricted that my voice came out as a squeak.

The four forms darkened, and their fingers elongated, drifting along the ceiling toward me. Barely able to breath, I eyed the light switch panel located beside the doorway leading to the rest of the house, and began to inch toward it. That seemed a smart thing to do. One of the shadows thought so too. It flowed along the walls and completely covered the panel and surrounding wall. To turn on all the kitchen lights, I would have to stand right in front of the waiting darkness and touch it, and even then I wasn’t sure if the lights would chase away the creatures, whatever they were.

I stopped moving and tried not to look toward the only other avenue of escape: the door leading to the outside of the house. Above me, the writhing black mass of fingers had reached the edge of the ceiling and began to creep down the wall toward the sink and me. The whole kitchen seemed darker, colder.

Interview with Vered Ehsani

What will readers like about your book?

Ash, the main character. He’s real. He’s not smooth, confident or particularly brave. He’s just trying to be a normal kid and he would prefer if the world would just leave him alone. He also has a slightly sarcastic sense of humour and talks to himself. There’re also enough spooky scenes and adventure to keep the blood moving.

Why did you self publish?

I was fed up waiting around for someone else to decide to publish my story! And I really wanted to see all my work finally out in the world.

What is your writing process?

I tend to get my ideas for characters, scenes and even the whole story at odd moments – while I’m jogging, working at my day job, trying to fall asleep etc. Sometimes, I will see a scene unfolding while I’m daydreaming. Other times, characters will start a conversation in my head. Yes, I know that sounds a little on the weird side of normal. Then I start sketching things out on scraps of paper, and when I get time, I type the ideas out and start writing.

How long does it take you to write your first draft?

Well, it’s hard to say, because I’m also working and so I don’t get a large chunk of time to write it all. So the first draft took about a year, spread out and in between working and kids’ stuff.

What inspired you to write this particular story?

For a while, I had been thinking about writing a story for teen readers that would be a fun adventure with a character who wants to do the right thing but isn’t always sure he wants the hassle that comes with that. Ash, the main character, and the basic structure of this book popped into my mind while on a trip to Vancouver with my family.