Amy Brunswick is a shy kid. Ignored, bullied, socially inept. On a fateful Saturday afternoon, her parents discover that Amy has made a new friend called Charlotte. However, much to their chagrin, Charlotte is imaginary. Ignoring what is right for Amy - to minimise the risk of looking like bad parents - they force their daughter to visit a psychologist, concerned for their reputation. Soon after, strange incidents begin to occur...
What happened to Ted, the boy who made Amy's life a living hell? Why is Amy so suddenly aggressive? And what are those strange noises that plague the family home?
As the parents start to confront the problem, they realise that Charlotte is here to stay. And no one will stop her from being Amy's friend.
Genre: FICTION / HorrorCharlotte was meant to be a standalone story, but this title received significant critical acclaim upon release. As a result, it quickly became a trilogy with Awakening and Amy, to form The Charlotte Chronicles. The sales from this title convinced me that I could make a full-time living from my writing.
Highest Amazon Chart Position: #3 in Horror/Thriller/#5 in Psychological
Despite never hitting the #1 spot, this was my third title released on Amazon. For an unknown author (at that point), I'm very proud of this accomplishment. Of all my titles, Charlotte is the one that still sells routinely, in both ebook and print. It's my bestselling title at conventions. Of all my titles, The Charlotte Chronicles is my most demanded for a foreign language translation.
"Put this in your mouth."
"What is it?"
"What does it look like?"
Ted Fox didn’t reply straight away. The boy rolled his tongue in his mouth, slapping the inside of his cheek, contemplating his answer. "Metal?" He gulped, his sweaty jowls wobbling. His eyes widened in absolute terror.
Why was she doing this? Why him?
Pretty obvious, isn't it? You picked on her. This is payback.
Don't pee yourself in front of a girl. That'd be the worst.
Ted's eyes followed Amy Brunswick, a nine-year-old girl with a chip on her shoulder and a small sliver of metal between her dirty fingers.
"Nothing gets by you, well done. Yes, Ted, it's metal. A razor blade, to be precise. You know, my dad keeps a pile of these in his bedroom drawer. I've seen him shave with them before. I've seen him cut himself and brush it off as it were nothing. My dad is the bravest and most selfish man I know."
Her eyes brimmed with an innocent anger, one born of several months of abuse at Ted's hands. However, Ted noticed more. He could see something not entirely…normal. Amy was a sack of shit, a sad-case, a geek. She didn’t have the balls to pull crap like this.
Right now, she had more balls than Ted.
Amy Brunswick slid the blunt end of the blade along Ted's cheek. The blade angled down, the dull edge imprinting a small scratch on the chubby boy's blemished skin. He shivered and a drop of sweat rolled down his burning cheek. Amy spoke. "Now. Put it in your mouth."
"Why?"
"Because I told you to. Are you disobeying me?"
"No but…"
"So do it. Now."
"I don’t want to."
