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The Culvert
In 2014, during a birthday celebration in a country pub, members of historic researcher Naomi Wilkes' family are intrigued to see an old and faded, countryside photograph attached to a chimney breast entitled 'The Man In The Photo'. Despite careful studying by everyone else, the only person who can see anyone is Naomi's six-year-old daughter Francesca, who says that she can see the man's eyes, that she doesn't like him, and that he is trying to escape from a hole. In 1854, a work detail of selected prisoners from a nearby gaol arrive at Wordale Nabb in Lancashire with the intention of extending an abandoned mine to help improve the water supply to the nearby Whitewall Estate. But nobody is aware that their endeavours are going to take them through land that has for the previous three hundred years been believed to be the domain of underground demons. And the outcome for both parties, separated by one-hundred-and-sixty years, is just as gripping and terrifying.
299 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 21, 2025
About the author
Stephen F. Clegg
8 books8 followersI never intended becoming a published author...
Being an avid story-teller to my children and grandchildren I decided, not long after retiring, to write down the true events of my great, great aunt Maria, and her struggle to reclaim an estate that once belonged to our family in 1750. But the piece was so dry,and so boring, that I decided to enhance it with a few good old-fashioned villains, a vicious dog, and all manner of things that I could conjure up. The end result was a 100,000 word manuscript written for any descendants who wanted to read it.
Then fate took a hand. Whilst on holiday in Italy the following year, my wife Jay and I took a day trip to Capri, and on our return overheard an American couple asking an Italian, how to get back to their hotel. It was near ours, so we gave them a lift. We dropped them off and didn't expect to hear from them again, but, two days later they appeared at our hotel and we spent the evening together. During that time, Steve Robitaille, the man, told me that he liked English history, and I told him about my great aunt Maria, and the novel I had written. He asked if he could read it, and a week later, I emailed a copy to him in America.
Imagine our surprise, when 48 hours later, Steve told me that he'd loved the novel, that he was an Emmy Award winning film producer, and that he wanted my permission to convert it to a film script! Now, it sits with the Sony Film Corporation awaiting a decision.
That mind-blowing episode led to me getting the first novel 'Maria's Papers' published. Since then, I have been nominated for three book prizes, I became a Finalist in the People's Book Prize 2013/14 for my second novel 'The Matthew Chance Legacy', and two more have been published, 'The Emergence of Malaterre' and my latest 'The Fire of Mars' which, I am delighted to report went straight into the Amazon UK top 100 historical best-sellers list!
I have written a fifth that is currently being reviewed by my publishers, and I'm well into writing my sixth.
Isn't it amazing how events can change your life? I recently read that 'a small act of kindness creates an endless ripple that one day, comes back to you' - and for me, it did.
And who says that life is over when you retire? It's not for me sitting back and watching the television and letting the world pass me by, my mind is too active. I love the challenge of writing, conjuring up new ideas, of research, and learning new skills, and most of all? Having fun doing it!
For further info on my novels visit www.stephenfclegg.com - and for more on the true story of Maria, go to www.mariaspapers.com
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Being an avid story-teller to my children and grandchildren I decided, not long after retiring, to write down the true events of my great, great aunt Maria, and her struggle to reclaim an estate that once belonged to our family in 1750. But the piece was so dry,and so boring, that I decided to enhance it with a few good old-fashioned villains, a vicious dog, and all manner of things that I could conjure up. The end result was a 100,000 word manuscript written for any descendants who wanted to read it.
Then fate took a hand. Whilst on holiday in Italy the following year, my wife Jay and I took a day trip to Capri, and on our return overheard an American couple asking an Italian, how to get back to their hotel. It was near ours, so we gave them a lift. We dropped them off and didn't expect to hear from them again, but, two days later they appeared at our hotel and we spent the evening together. During that time, Steve Robitaille, the man, told me that he liked English history, and I told him about my great aunt Maria, and the novel I had written. He asked if he could read it, and a week later, I emailed a copy to him in America.
Imagine our surprise, when 48 hours later, Steve told me that he'd loved the novel, that he was an Emmy Award winning film producer, and that he wanted my permission to convert it to a film script! Now, it sits with the Sony Film Corporation awaiting a decision.
That mind-blowing episode led to me getting the first novel 'Maria's Papers' published. Since then, I have been nominated for three book prizes, I became a Finalist in the People's Book Prize 2013/14 for my second novel 'The Matthew Chance Legacy', and two more have been published, 'The Emergence of Malaterre' and my latest 'The Fire of Mars' which, I am delighted to report went straight into the Amazon UK top 100 historical best-sellers list!
I have written a fifth that is currently being reviewed by my publishers, and I'm well into writing my sixth.
Isn't it amazing how events can change your life? I recently read that 'a small act of kindness creates an endless ripple that one day, comes back to you' - and for me, it did.
And who says that life is over when you retire? It's not for me sitting back and watching the television and letting the world pass me by, my mind is too active. I love the challenge of writing, conjuring up new ideas, of research, and learning new skills, and most of all? Having fun doing it!
For further info on my novels visit www.stephenfclegg.com - and for more on the true story of Maria, go to www.mariaspapers.com
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
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