Hello, fellow book wanderers! Currently searching for a book to dig in? Today, you might want to consider checking out an exclusive guest post by Gabriel Ammah and an extract from his debut YA book, Parent Quest: The Search For The Twin Mystery.
About Parent Quest: The Search For The Twin Mystery
A tragic accident and lightning strike changes the lives of two best friends in a magical way. After both of their parents go missing under mysterious circumstances, Neil and Cherron enlist two of their schoolmates on a journey to uncover the mystery - using social media, clue hunting and spying techniques - they uncover hidden secrets and conspiracy in the small English town of Ipswich.
(Add to your Goodreads TBR here)
(Add to your Goodreads TBR here)
Genre: Young Adult, Action/Adventure
Published by: Chontama Publishing
Purchase link: Amazon
About the Author
Gabriel Ammah was born in London in 1975, the youngest of three brothers. When Gabriel was five years old, his parents separated. His mother along with his siblings moved to South London where he would spend the best of his teenage and early adult life.
His love for reading was encouraged by his primary school teacher, Miss Taylor, who used to sit the children down on the mat, reading stories to them - sometimes with the occasional singsong with her guitar.
Gabriel’s love of music eventually saw him progress into the music industry as a producer and songwriter. He worked in this field for over ten years, with some of the largest record labels at that time.
In 2005, Gabriel welcomed his son into the world by cutting his umbilical core. Two years later, saw the birth of his daughter. It was during these years of raising his children that he learnt the art of storytelling, creating numerous short stories to put the children to sleep.
While raising a young family, working, and studying at the University of East London, Gabriel learnt the structure and importance of narrative and it’s place in storytelling. With that he decided to embark on writing his first book. Some of the experiences the characters go through in the book were drawn from his own experiences growing up without his father. This, he says, was a learning curve and a realisation that life can continue even after a tragedy.
Gabriel Ammah was born in London in 1975, the youngest of three brothers. When Gabriel was five years old, his parents separated. His mother along with his siblings moved to South London where he would spend the best of his teenage and early adult life.His love for reading was encouraged by his primary school teacher, Miss Taylor, who used to sit the children down on the mat, reading stories to them - sometimes with the occasional singsong with her guitar.
Gabriel’s love of music eventually saw him progress into the music industry as a producer and songwriter. He worked in this field for over ten years, with some of the largest record labels at that time.
In 2005, Gabriel welcomed his son into the world by cutting his umbilical core. Two years later, saw the birth of his daughter. It was during these years of raising his children that he learnt the art of storytelling, creating numerous short stories to put the children to sleep.
While raising a young family, working, and studying at the University of East London, Gabriel learnt the structure and importance of narrative and it’s place in storytelling. With that he decided to embark on writing his first book. Some of the experiences the characters go through in the book were drawn from his own experiences growing up without his father. This, he says, was a learning curve and a realisation that life can continue even after a tragedy.
Guest post
My Inspiration for Writing My Debut Novelby Gabriel Ammah
I hated reading as a child. For some strange reason I couldn’t get to grips with it. It felt like a laborious task. But I will never forget my primary school teacher, Miss Taylor. She was very instrumental in changing my attitude towards books and storytelling.
As a young adult, I found myself reading a lot more news bulletins and magazines until I stumbled on novels from Jeffrey Archer, Richard Laymon and Dan Brown. I was initially frightened by the thickness of their novels, but once I started reading, I was hooked!These three authors seemed to have a similar style of writing.They dove straight into the meat of the story without over explaining the landscape and the feel of environment the characters were in.
I chose to write for young adults mainly because my children were growing up and so were their appetite for stronger and wider content. They were not babies anymore, so the Three Little Pigs style of storytelling was becoming obsolete. I wanted to create something that was believable and relatable to children their age, which meant more research- listening to how they spoke to each other as well as their friends. My children love Harry Potter, so it came as no surprise that I was going to write a fantasy adventure book that allowed the readers to create their own imagery of what the characters should look like.I always see things from the approach that every human being has an imagination and should be allowed to explore and create a fictitious world in the safe confinements of their mind.
In this first installment of my debut book Parent Quest, I drew from my experiences as a young adult and the interactions that I had with friends, teachers and family members. I then thought of the likelihood of my children not knowing where I was and what resources they would use to try and find me. That coupled with mysterious powers, suspense and teen horseplay made writing this book fun.
Children go through so many new experiences growing up. So within this book, I touch on some of the complicated issues and dilemmas they could potentially find themselves in. Themes like bullying, arguing, loneliness and problem solving all make up what is an interesting read and I hope it reaches out to a multitude of young people.
A friend asked me recently why I chose Ipswich as the main location of the book. My answer to that was simply, “I love the place.” It has so much history and some of the old architecture around the town reminded me of places I used to visit as a child.
One of my hobbies is traveling, so you will find in my future books elements of weird and interesting traveling experiences that make life adventurous. J
Excerpt
There was a knock at the door that distracted Neil from his gaming console. He turned his head round and craned his neck, peering through the side window to catch a glimpse of who was interrupting his afternoon. Unsuccessful, he quickly walked over to the front door, hearing a familiar laugh outside that reminded him of his neighbour and friend Cherron.
Cherron was a down-to-earth, full of life, twelve-year-old born in Ipswich. She was smart, sporty and very popular in school; sharing her many talents to help others become just as good as she was.
As Neil opened the door, Cherron pounced on him with hugs and kisses, much to his disgust. “What are you doing here?” Neil asked rudely. “I thought you were going out with your girlfriends after school?”
“Well, I was going for a bike ride down to the canal but mum said I couldn’t go because it reminded her too much of what she used to do with Dad. You know she’s still finding it difficult to function without him around, right?”
A few years before, Cherron’s father, John, had mysteriously gone missing from work. At that time he was working as a senior accounts manager for a mobile phone company. His wife, Cherron’s mum Linda, a professional brand marketing manager for the same firm, suspected that his disappearance was somehow work related or at the very least work influenced.
“Yeah I know, but you also know I like to relax after school, so this better be important…” Neil sighed. “Come in then.”
As they made their way over to the living room overflowing with all the gadgets known to man, Cherron put her hand on Neil’s shoulder excitedly. “I’ve found a clue that could help find my dad!”
“A clue?” replied Neil. “Your dad’s been gone for a long time now. Why do you want to dig that all up again?” he continued without any regard for her feelings.
“Well, as I was sitting in my room last night doing research for my school history project, I thought, why not turn searching for my dad into a personal project as well? I spend so much time studying and investigating other things, why shouldn’t I do something that’s meaningful to me? It’s not like you don’t understand what it feels like, not to have your mum around,” Cherron said sarcastically.
Around about the same time, if not the same time as the disappearance of Cherron’s dad, Neil’s mother Evelyn also went missing without a trace. The missing persons report filed at Woodbridge police station hadn’t turned up any clues as to where she could have gone. Long after the police stopped searching, Neil’s dad Nathan continued desperately to try and locate her, but to no avail. Nathan was aware that as a freelance journalist, Evelyn’s job was often very risky, sometimes investigating or covering stories of corruption within corporations and governments. But Nathan, wasn’t aware of any active investigations she’d been working on at the time she’d gone missing, which made her disappearance that much harder to handle. Nathan had been increasingly struggling with all that was going on and buried himself in his work; spending less and less time with his son as a result. To compensate for the lack of attention he was giving Neil, Nathan spoilt him with all the gadgets he could possibly want.
“I try my best not to think about her anymore,” Neil muttered. “She knows where we live. She could have at least written a letter or something by now.”
Cherron looked puzzled at his response. “Don’t you care?” She said in disbelief.
“Aren’t you interested to find out what could have happened to her, or at least find out if she’s still alive?!”
Walking over to the desktop computer squashed in next to Neil’s impressive, state-of-the-art home theatre system, Cherron sat down and proceeded to log onto a website dedicated to missing persons. After going through a long list of profiles, she landed on an image of a young girl. In the background was a figure of a man that resembled her father. In the photo he was holding a candy bar in one hand and, in the other what appeared to be a woman’s hand; although she was slightly out of frame.
“You see, this could possibly be the first clue in ages… I know it’s a long shot but it’s my only hope right now,” Cherron said sadly. “I’d really like you to help me Neil. We could do this together; our own secret investigative bureau.”
Neil sighed, “I guess it could be a good idea, but try not to get your hopes up, it could turn out to be nothing after all…”
“So you’ll help me then?!” Cherron burst out excitedly.
“Only if I can find my mum too,” he replied.
They shook hands like they’d just signed a multimillion-pound business deal, and with that they got to work sifting through the profiles of other missing persons.
Cherron was a down-to-earth, full of life, twelve-year-old born in Ipswich. She was smart, sporty and very popular in school; sharing her many talents to help others become just as good as she was.
As Neil opened the door, Cherron pounced on him with hugs and kisses, much to his disgust. “What are you doing here?” Neil asked rudely. “I thought you were going out with your girlfriends after school?”
“Well, I was going for a bike ride down to the canal but mum said I couldn’t go because it reminded her too much of what she used to do with Dad. You know she’s still finding it difficult to function without him around, right?”
A few years before, Cherron’s father, John, had mysteriously gone missing from work. At that time he was working as a senior accounts manager for a mobile phone company. His wife, Cherron’s mum Linda, a professional brand marketing manager for the same firm, suspected that his disappearance was somehow work related or at the very least work influenced.
“Yeah I know, but you also know I like to relax after school, so this better be important…” Neil sighed. “Come in then.”
As they made their way over to the living room overflowing with all the gadgets known to man, Cherron put her hand on Neil’s shoulder excitedly. “I’ve found a clue that could help find my dad!”
“A clue?” replied Neil. “Your dad’s been gone for a long time now. Why do you want to dig that all up again?” he continued without any regard for her feelings.
“Well, as I was sitting in my room last night doing research for my school history project, I thought, why not turn searching for my dad into a personal project as well? I spend so much time studying and investigating other things, why shouldn’t I do something that’s meaningful to me? It’s not like you don’t understand what it feels like, not to have your mum around,” Cherron said sarcastically.
Around about the same time, if not the same time as the disappearance of Cherron’s dad, Neil’s mother Evelyn also went missing without a trace. The missing persons report filed at Woodbridge police station hadn’t turned up any clues as to where she could have gone. Long after the police stopped searching, Neil’s dad Nathan continued desperately to try and locate her, but to no avail. Nathan was aware that as a freelance journalist, Evelyn’s job was often very risky, sometimes investigating or covering stories of corruption within corporations and governments. But Nathan, wasn’t aware of any active investigations she’d been working on at the time she’d gone missing, which made her disappearance that much harder to handle. Nathan had been increasingly struggling with all that was going on and buried himself in his work; spending less and less time with his son as a result. To compensate for the lack of attention he was giving Neil, Nathan spoilt him with all the gadgets he could possibly want.
“I try my best not to think about her anymore,” Neil muttered. “She knows where we live. She could have at least written a letter or something by now.”
Cherron looked puzzled at his response. “Don’t you care?” She said in disbelief.
“Aren’t you interested to find out what could have happened to her, or at least find out if she’s still alive?!”
Walking over to the desktop computer squashed in next to Neil’s impressive, state-of-the-art home theatre system, Cherron sat down and proceeded to log onto a website dedicated to missing persons. After going through a long list of profiles, she landed on an image of a young girl. In the background was a figure of a man that resembled her father. In the photo he was holding a candy bar in one hand and, in the other what appeared to be a woman’s hand; although she was slightly out of frame.
“You see, this could possibly be the first clue in ages… I know it’s a long shot but it’s my only hope right now,” Cherron said sadly. “I’d really like you to help me Neil. We could do this together; our own secret investigative bureau.”
Neil sighed, “I guess it could be a good idea, but try not to get your hopes up, it could turn out to be nothing after all…”
“So you’ll help me then?!” Cherron burst out excitedly.
“Only if I can find my mum too,” he replied.
They shook hands like they’d just signed a multimillion-pound business deal, and with that they got to work sifting through the profiles of other missing persons.
So what do you think? I think this will be an exciting read. I am drawn to read debut novels because it's like digging up an undiscovered treasure. Do you like discovering debut novels as much as I do? What are the latest debut novels you've read recently? Hit me up in the comments.
