It's here! It’s time! My flash fiction “Ghost of the Golf Course” is now available from Havok Publishing. You can read it for free today and TODAY ONLY using this link.
So, how was I inspired to write a story about a grumpy teenage ghost haunting a putt-putt golf course and the intrepid foursome who break in afterhours? It came the way most inspiration comes to me: right smack-dab in the middle of mundane life.
It was a gray day, drizzly and dreary with thick clouds in the sky and mist rising off the ground. I was driving home from a doctor's appointment with my sister. We passed a golf course, empty but choked in milky, swirling vapor. Immediately, I turned to her and said, "Kait, that's a ghost story in the making!"
I thought about it the rest of the day. A misty, ghostly golf course would make a spooky setting, sure, but would it be fun? Would it be funny? Anyone who knows me and my writing knows I can't tell a story without humor. And a regular golf course just wasn't cutting it. But putt-putt golf, land of giant clown mouths and miniature-sized monuments? That I could work with.
Within hours, I had everything I needed: a rule-abiding ghost girl with bad taste in boyfriends, four clueless teens, a family-fun attraction with a blood-spattered history, and a plot twist that still makes me grin. I submitted it for Havok Publishing's "redo" prompt and was absolutely, fist-pumping thrilled when I received the email congratulating me on the acceptance of my story!
Flash fiction is new territory for me as a writer, but I'm loving it. It's a way to see clever ideas to fruition without having to commit to a 75k-word book. That's not to say writing flash fiction is easy. Condensing the fundamentals of a good story (beginning/middle/end, backstory, voice, dialogue, world-building, character development, plot twists) in under 1k words is a challenge like no other, but it's a welcome break when you're neck-deep in crafting a novel. Like running hundred yard dashes vs. running a marathon. And both keep your writing in tiptop shape!
Now you know the story behind "Ghost of the Golf Course"! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. You never know what a simple drive through the mist might inspire.
(My awesome brother Kaleb and I celebrating my publication by going putt-putt golfing! And we picked red golf balls, an important detail to "Ghost of the Golf Course". 😉)