Ghosts, True Love & the KGB—Your Best Travel Stories

To celebrate my new travel mystery After the Ferry, I asked you to share your own gripping travel stories. Here are the four best entries who've just won a copy of the book!

 Turkish Delight by JLV

"At 42, recently divorced, I met and fell in love with a man from Turkey. He went back to Turkey without saying goodbye. Having never left the USA, I bought a one way ticket to Istanbul, applied for a short-term teaching job, said goodbye to my family and left. I did not tell my lover my plans. After doing my teaching gig, which was a wonderful experience, I tracked down my lover and, two weeks later, we were married. We have been married 10 years now. I was so scared not knowing what to expect in a foreign country and not knowing my lover's feelings. I have never regretted my decision."

 Spy Kids by Mike B.

Three friends and I were, unbeknownst to our parents, traveling through Germany and Austria—in 1967, at the height of the Cold War. We were 16 and 17 years old—riding rented Vespa scooters during the day and camping in remote areas at night. On the 4th night, we were arrested (by non-German-speaking military men; I couldn't understand them). The charge was 'suspicion of espionage.' We found out soon that we had ventured into Communist controlled Czechoslovakia at an unmarked rural border crossing. We were in the custody of the Soviet KGB. . . "

A Near Miss by Nancy Marte

"I travelled to Jamaica by myself after my friend cancelled at the last minute. Met a guy that worked at the resort I was staying at and he invited me to a party with some of his friends. I had the funny weird stomach butterfly feeling so I told him yes as I did not want him to be suspicious of me, then changed rooms at the resort and stayed away from the area he was working. This was in the 1980s. Never regretted this decision." 

Spirited Away by Sammi K

"Went on a Ghost tour on the QEII Long Beach, California with my daughter and granddaughter. When we got to the swimming pool area, they turned off the lights and boy was it really dark.  While we listened to the story, something grabbed me but I couldn't see what. When the lights came back on I didn't see anything. I left the area rather quickly and won't be going back."

Thank you to everyone who took the time to send in their travel stories. I loved hearing your tales of shady travellers, feisty friends, unexpected soul mates and seriously close shaves. I'm sorry I can't give you ALL a lovely prize, but I have chosen FOUR winners instead of three, as promised. So, it's a big CONGRATULATIONS to the subscribers, above, whose stories all captured my imagination. 

You have all just won yourselves a FREE copy of my latest eBook AFTER THE FERRY. I'll be in touch soon with details on how to claim your prize.

Everyone else can grab their own copy by clicking here.

Happy reading, everybody!

xo Christina

The Real Story Behind My New Mystery THE FERRY MAN (out soon!)

A young backpacker meets an alluring stranger on a ferry to the Greek island of Santorini. When he gets off miles from her destination, she has to make a terrifying choice. Will she jump ship with him and desert her travelling companions? Or stay safely onboard and miss what might be the love of a lifetime? 

This is the story of one woman, two lives, and the consequences that lead to murder.

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

The year was 1991. I was in my early 20s. A wide-eyed backpacker fresh from Sydney, Australia, with an old school friend beside me and a team of American Lacrosse players we'd met up with somewhere in Europe. We were en route to Santorini, on the deck of a ferry, laughing, flirting, having fun.

Then, in the middle of the eight-hour journey, one of those US players struck up a conversation with a total stranger, another Aussie woman with an alluring smile. He was instantly smitten and before we knew what was happening, he was deserting us all and jumping ship with her on a completely different island.

Now remember: This was BEFORE mobile phones, before instant messaging and GPS. It was back in the days when you still had to book a call from a Greek post office if you wanted to phone home. It was another time and era and so his decision to abandon us for a relative stranger was a brave and potentially risky one. And yet we all laughed and waved him off as if it was just a lark. 

To this day I don't know how it went with that Aussie girl and if he ever caught up with his mates again. But I do know that choice he made has haunted me ever since.

Over the years, I started to wonder, what if?

• What if the man who abandoned his mates had been a woman, a young and vulnerable one? 
• What if the stranger she jumped ship with was a man who turned out to be a monster? 
• And what culpability did WE all have, not pulling our friend back to safety?

Have you ever made a risky travelling decision? If so, you'll relate to this book. It's the one I've been madly typing for the past nine months (but conjuring in my head for almost 30 years). It's a ripper of a tale and I look forward to sharing it with you very soon. 

Unlike anything I have written before, it's a little less 'cozy' and a lot more 'thriller/suspense', with a dash of Gone Girl and a Sliding Doors-style twist. It's now with my editor (love ya work, Annie!) and is due out next month. 

For more on this mystery, a cover-reveal, and your chance to win FREE COPIES, just keep an eye on future newsletters.

Until then, happy (safe!) reading everyone.

xo Christina