The Black Coach

And no, I don't mean a person - guess most Americans would think that 'coach' means someone who coaches a sports team. But in British English 'coach' also means a means of transport, i.e. a carriage.

The said black carriage is the leading thread in my latest novel, which is slowly getting towards its ending. I hope to finish the story in the course of the following month, and then of course it goes to the publisher and that also takes some time, with the editing and rewrites and such.

But right now I have all of the story right in my head. I began this novel after writing a bunch of short stories for Halloween. One of these was named 'The Black Coach' as well, and it even had two different endings.

The original short story is situated in the village of Pickering, in Yorkshire. I don't know if such a place exists, but it sounded English enough to use in my story. The villagers there believe in the devil, who rides a black coach at nights and carries away the maidens...

So some time later I thought, why not make a full novel of this? Write the story behind the village legend. And thus I developed the character of Maggie (Margaret in full), who lives in Victorian England. She is orphaned. In those days orphans were often placed in work houses, but Maggie is lucky in the fact she is only sent away as a servant for a rich family in the town of York. Alas, her employers are not very nice people and at long last Maggie runs away.

But the weather is nasty and she is near to starving. Somewhere on the road she succums to the forces of nature. Hours later a (black) coach passes by and the person in it is Neil Harrington. He saves her from impending death by taking her to his home and giving her a place to stay. Maggie is very thankful to him, but she soon learns the house has hidden secrets.

And some time later, a girl is found murdered near the village. A vile death, something matching the acts of Jack The Ripper. Not much later, another body is discovered.

You see where it's going? I won't tell too much, because I'd appreciate you'll read the full story once it is published. I can promise you though there is a nice romance in it, and of course also a true villain, who doesn't escape his dues at the end of the story. I believe in happy endings and girl gets boy to finish.

Watch out for more news about his upcoming novel...