Summary of "Patti Canella"

Patti (Pat) Canella was no ordinary girl; coming from rural Ohandsworth to Middleton, the move to the city should have been a shock for the country girl, but it was her ideal setting. From her teens she knew how to shoot, could hold her own against most boys in a fist fight, and was not afraid to either 'kick ass' or 'cuss', if she felt the need. In her words "You rile this gal, and she'll go wildcat on your ass".

Middleton PI Pat Canella, was called to a hold out, and after a savage gun fight ends, she is left looking at her dead former partner. 

The story traces Patti from the start when the men called her Nancy Drew, to be fully accepted by the men.

With the help of a ghostly ex-cop Dennis she solves some cold cases. The first being a double shooting which led to the death of Dennis.

After struggling to rescue a bus load of people stranded in the desert, Patti decides the quiet life is too much, and heads back to the city, where she has to contend with her own ghosts now.

One click from oblivion

In March of 2011, I started the story, the idea was a young girl Patti sat in her dingy office getting only dead cases. When a man comes in looking for Pat Canella.

"Here I am," Patti  says "I guess you thought of a big Irishman or an Italian with a flick knife. I used to have Patti on there, but tired of chasing ponies".

The story sat on the scheduler for ages doing nothing, so I put it in the trash section. Out of sight, out of mind.

In October, out of sheer stupidity and not thinking of winning I entered a competition at the Merrill collection in Toronto. The prize, a pre-made cover. 

As the date passed for closing, I did not think anything more, until I got an email. I had won the cover.

I had a look at the cover, and there was my story line. The picture was of a young lady holding a smoking gun. I went back to the trash file and luckily, the start of the story was still there. With some dusting off of the webs, and a bit of prettying up. Pat Canella was reborn.

Irony is the story that almost was not, is now creating a growing fan base on Bookrix and Facebook.

Alan Ghostman Place