• Short Stories

    Kept Promises

    Three years later (January 2014), I see so many flaws in this story but I still enjoy it and hope you do too. Visit St. Somewhere Journal for the full story.

  • Notes From Ghana

    Asantehene – the King’s Name

    In the Ashanti kingdom a newly elected king, the Asantehene is required to change his name and adopt a “stool name” (the King’s seat of honour is a stool not a throne). The reason behind this practice is simple. The king has a past. He was once a “small boy”. This boy grew up, went to school, had friends, made…

  • Notes From Ghana

    Go straight …. straight

    I hear it is a beautiful place: a crater lake and Ghana’s largest natural lake. We managed to glimpse Lake Bosumtwi in between the trees as we wandered around the back roads of the Ashanti Region. It was an uncomfortable yet enjoyable drive through the bush. At one point we were driving on a track in the middle of a…

  • Notes From Ghana

    Slave Castles in Ghana Part 2 – Living the nightmare

    Click here if you missed Part One We walked into the room, about twenty of us, chattering and laughing. Our guide shepherded us into the stone walled room and, when we were all inside, he slammed the door shut. The room was immediately pitch dark except for a single slim stream of light from a crack high up in the…

  • Novel Spaces

    Singing in a Strange Land

    I have been living in Ghana for ten months now. My friends and fans are always asking me, when will you write a story based in Ghana. I never voiced this answer, but in my heart, the answer has been “never”.

  • Notes From Ghana

    How much is that?

    Yesterday afternoon I passed by a store on the roadside selling bunches of coloured straw. I needed one to put in a vase. I parked the car out of sight, put 2 cedis (US$1.30) in my pocket and walked to the stand. I picked up one of the bundles and looked it over critically. “Good morning, madam, you are welcome.”…

  • Notes From Ghana

    Gone Native

    I was at the children’s school waiting patiently outside of the administrative offices … ok, not so patiently, but anyway, I was waiting to get a form signed and stamped. A caucasian lady came in towing a small boy. She looked around her at the many closed doors. She approached me.

  • Notes From Ghana

    The Lumber Market

    I belong to a spouses group in Ghana that has committed to assist a very poor school in Accra by outfitting them with new desks and chairs. I ended up with the task of accompanying the carpenter to purchase the lumber necessary to build the furniture. It was quite an adventure, so the next time you pop into a hardware…