James Carnarvon

Daniele and his friends came through their final exams tired, but largely unscathed. They were so busy doing battle with written and oral tests that the time fairly flew by. Before they knew it, it was Friday again, and the school holidays were almost upon them. With no more tests to sit and no more lessons to learn, the outgoing students were allowed to spend their final hour of school out on the picnic terrace, supervised with only half-hearted attention by their class tutor of three year

Indeed. One might ask what is the nature of these relationships? Thanks for commenting. 😄

Is this your new technique? To comment in riddles and allusion? 😂

Careful, you're turning into Dani. He, too, likes to exclaim in threes. Wait... we haven't got to that one yet! 😅

Giaco isn't the only one having his ego stroked here, @Summerabbacat! 😘 Well, thank you. Ever since I put Ravello on a pedestal in The Summer of the Firefly (at least until the end of the story, ahem), I've been trying to demystify the place a little: first by exploring the limited career prospects for young people with Toto's generation, then having my characters' parents working long and unpredictable hours, and, of course, by shoving poor Dani back into school now and then. In my own life, I've only ever experienced Ravello as a holiday destination, but I enjoy trying to understand the reality of it. I'm glad 'the mundane reality of education' captured it for you! Well, I do have a weakness for weird and wonderful wordplay! 🙃 Dani is humble. He persistently underestimates and underplays the power he wields or could wield over other people, including Giaco. It's one of the things that makes his character such a pleasure to write. Much is being made of Giaco's confusion. I wonder how this is going to develop? 🤔 Well, when Enzo was a purely antagonistic character, I used to describe his face as "brutish". As he has moved into a greyer area, I had to soften the description a little! Viva team Darco! 😅 This love triangle will be resolved, but it wasn't easy. What to choose? Dani's crush with a demonstrable interest in girls turns out to be 'the one'? Wish fulfilment. The underdog with the ambivalent history wins the boy of his dreams? Wish fulfilment. Neither of the above? Surely too disappointing. By the end, either team Diaco (if there is such a team, haha), team Darco or both will be disappointed... but I hope to soothe the disappointment a little...

Aw, but I thought Enzo was reformed? Mm-hmm...?😉 The boy who wouldn't grow up, eh? I see where you're coming from. I look forward to seeing your reaction to the next chapter...

Ah! Anyone would think I plotted this before I wrote it. 😅 I sense speculation! (I love it) An interesting take. They certainly contrast one another. I would say more, but I think I should let the story do the talking. And yet my own teen is going to a leavers' prom this year that seems, to me, to have been lifted straight out of the US teen movie playbook! The whole thing seems incredibly awkward to me. Strange how our cultures end up feeding off one another. My school had a formal leavers' dinner instead. Not a prom, thank goodness... I would have hated it...! Yes, poor Marco. He originally said something else, but I realised I had given someone else almost the exact same line in Ch.13. The later chapter won out. The perils of writing a long story over an extended period of time... you can easily end up repeating yourself!

Ah, I get you. Youthful exuberance! Check.

Sorry, bit of a slow-moving chapter here while I work to set everything up - but don't worry, by the end of Ch.3 things will really be kicking off!

And so began the dying days of middle school. The third-year students veered between anxiety over the final exams, which still stood between them and their school diploma, and excitement over the leavers’ disco and the school holidays still to come: three whole months of total freedom amidst the endless days, blue skies and soporific heat of the summer. The school that had been Daniele’s home from home for three years was a sleek, modern building, carefully concealed behind a high ston

Thank you so much. I have so many characters now, and the only one I've managed to (partially) write out is the wonderful Claudia! All the people featured in this chapter have a part to play in the story, however small. A big birthday gathering was the most effective way to re-introduce them all, to show how things settled down after The Star in my Eye and to paint a brief picture of all their relationships as they currently stand. It's also a nice contrast to Dani's first appearances in the Ravello series, when all he really had was his parents. I would hardly describe my writing at this stage of the story as pacey, let alone frenetic, but I'm glad you enjoyed it! Chapter two may not be quite so great... still quite a bit of setting up to do... but from chapter three onwards the story will really kick into gear. Astonishingly deep and intimate feelings expressed by Giacomo, eh? That's a turnaround... 😉 It's a little detail that I like to include that speaks to the reality of the place. Ravello isn't perfect, and the feral cats are a very observable feature. On my most recent visit I saw more of them than ever. There's a charm to them, but it's also apparent that they live a tough life. EDIT: And yes, Dani did say that he likes cats! I tend to forget that. Haha! Aside from Gianni liking the Pet Shop Boys, I don't have a very strong sense of my characters' musical tastes (which is surprising given that I'm constantly listening to music myself). But, why not? Let's say that Dani likes ABBA... why, he probably has Ring Ring as his mobile ringtone! 😂

It's all clear to me now - my next story should describe a romance between a lemon and a cicada!

Uhh, why is there no 'groan' reaction?

Actually, it's just a story about selling pastries. Each chapter will devote 6,000 words to the next variety.😉 😁 Thank you @drsawzall. Your enthusiasm and anticipation really made me smile! Fireworks? Let's hope so! I hope I don't disappoint. I'm really grateful to still have your attention, thank you! That goes for you, too, @raven1, since I didn't quote you specifically earlier. Your observations are on point. Sorry, just a question of timing!

My prologue is so good we're all talking about the weather. 🤣

@Summerabbacat I'm glad Giacomo impressed you in this chapter. Keep watching him, because this story is very much his moment. As to your little mouse, I can't comment on who will or won't end up at Dani's side, but I can promise you that he will have a chance to roar. I'm ashamed to say I never considered that. Let's say that they are! Anyway, it's great to have you back on board and I'm sorry to hear you've been unwell. Here in the UK, temperatures have been struggling a bit throughout the spring and we're still below 18C most days. However, there's finally some improvement in prospect now. I hope the summeriness of the rest of the story will help you through the first part of the winter! It will take me about a month to post this story at my preferred rate of a chapter every two days.

Thank you for the first few comments, guys! I think it's fair to say that this story is directly inspired by previous reader reactions to Giaco's character here at GA. Personally, I feel like I've always known where Giaco is coming from in his heart, but he has continued to challenge and confuse readers, which was admittedly sort of the intention. I've seen Giaco described variously as 'all about himself' and 'a manipulative prick teaser' who is 'well aware of his magnetism and uses it to his advantage', but also as 'a far more sensitive boy than he had previously let on'. And then, on Ch.11 of Lanterns in the Dark, @drpaladin posted this: Well, in this story I can promise that there will finally be a reckoning in relation to Giaco's feelings and motivations. As well as being the perfect way to characterise Giaco at this point in the story, this comment amused me greatly, for reasons that will become clear in a couple of chapters' time. Based on my previous work, some of you may think you know how this story is going to unfold, and not without good reason - but, this time, I was writing to a five act structure, not a four act structure as in my previous longer stories. That requires a little more complexity in plotting, and I can promise you a few surprises and twists and turns along the way.

Oh, if only you knew!

This is the kiss Daniele mentions in passing in chapter 9 of The Star in my Eye. I didn't think you guys would forgive me if I let it go by without dramatising it! Anyway, it sets the scene.

Welcome back to Ravello, dear readers! I hope you enjoy your stay. This is my longest story to date and my first one to include a prologue. I suppose you could call this book volume three of the 'Dani trilogy', in which I will finally provide some definitive resolution to his ongoing storylines. Please forgive the extra wordage in the first two chapters, as I have a lot of recapping to do to remind you of all the characters and the key events of Dani the Hero and Lanterns in the Dark. As usual, I'll be posting new chapters every couple of days, although the last two chapters will probably be back-to-back. This chapter takes place on Dani's birthday, 26th May [2019]. I would have loved to launch the story on that exact day, albeit with the addition of a few years, but I couldn't bring myself to wait another twelve days!

Six Months Ago The cosy little bedroom is in semi-darkness, lit only by the soft glow of two table lamps. The window is closed and shuttered, keeping them safe from the uncharacteristic winter cool that has settled over the terracotta rooftops of Ravello, high in the mountains above the rugged Amalfi coast. Daniele Ferrero, aged thirteen and a half, has seen this room many times, but he has never slept here before. Dressed in his winter pyjamas, he lies back on the pull-out mattress ne

“Catch, Dani!” Daniele glanced up just in time to see the football powering towards him. His blue eyes widened in shock as the ball drove into his arms which, miraculously, were already outstretched and waiting. Thrown off-balance, he fell backwards, landing on his bottom in the sand, blinking in total surprise. In the shallows, his friends Giacomo, Emilia and Luca dissolved into giggles. “Where were you?” Giacomo panted, once he had managed to draw breath. “I…” Daniele repli

A novel in fifteen chapters. Fourteen-year-old Daniele Ferrero and his best friend Giacomo are finally finishing middle school. As they embark on the endless summer holidays amidst the mountains and olive groves of Italy’s Amalfi Coast, they begin to grow closer. But will Giacomo prove worthy of Daniele’s affections? Meanwhile, Daniele’s other best friend Marco is waiting in the wings, and he suspects that Giacomo’s motives are anything but selfless.

Wonderful poems again. I know nothing about the form, but I love the relationship with nature that comes across so vividly here. As a cat person, I particularly liked the poem about Som. Your photo surprised me though. With a name like that, I expected her to be well, orange… (although thinking about it I think ginger fur is more of a male trait in cats). In terms of a personal perspective contained in the poem, my favourite was probably “stay hidden, except from me”. It conveyed a feeling and appreciation without having to spell it out.

Yes, Gianni fails as a parent because he's not emotionally prepared to raise a young child with Sami's needs. One can hope that he and Angelo will do better with Marco, a more grown-up, independent foster son whom they are better equipped to support and understand. It wasn't easy writing a story in which the main character fails like this! Especially a character with as much reader investment as Gianni. I like to think that the ending offers some hope for redemption - he does make the right decision for Sami (in fact for all three of them, as you said) by giving him up, and he means to do the right thing by Marco. You won't be waiting too long for the next story - it's already coming along well... Thanks for reading and commenting!