A Snippet Scene with The Camino Club Characters Diego & Shania!

In September 2020, I shared an outtake from my then upcoming novel, THE CAMINO CLUB, with the YOUNG ADULT LITERARY JOURNAL, VOYAGE!

I’m sharing that snippet here today. If you read THE CAMINO CLUB, you will remember the Queimada ceremony my group of teens experienced in Fonfría. What you would not have read was a cute moment that happened with Diego and Shania after the Queimada.

If you haven’t yet read THE CAMINO CLUB, it’s never too late to start! You can buy it wherever books are sold! Or check your local library! OR, there will be some buy links after the outtake which I will share below:

Diego Nelson in Fonfría, after the Queimada

After we drink the amazing potion Rosa and Paulo concocted, we dance our asses off until we’re all glistening with sweat. It’s the best. Even though I know the alcohol was burned off when Paulo lit the cauldron of potion aflame, I feel like I’m buzzing on a high. We all are. Glazed eyes everywhere. High on life, we are.

When I can’t dance anymore, I get Shania’s attention and nod towards the door. The cool night air beyond would be perfect right now. It would definitely douse the drink of fire that banishes evil. Ha.

Shan gives me a thumb’s up and we make our way to the door. People are everywhere, dancing in a conga line, worming their way around the room like an electric current of wonder.

“Whoa,” Shania says as we explode out into the night. “Sweet. That was so much magic, Diego. I want to live here forever.”

I don’t know if she means in Spain, in Fonfría, or in this moment, but to be honest, I’m good with any of the above.

“What is that gorgeous scent? Do you smell it?” She looks around, tries to find the source of the fragrant scent that fills the night around us. She’s hopeless. The entire outside wall of the dining hall is buried in bougainvillea.

“Do you think perhaps it could be the miles and miles of bougainvillea right over there?” I ask. “I don’t know, I mean, it could be something else?”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re a smartass, mister?”

I smile, take her hand and walk her over to the wall of flowers. She’s right. Their scent fills the air. And the moon is still close to full. The clear sky out here still gives us an entire universe of stars.

I break off a small bunch of the flowers and offer them to Shania. She brings them to her face and inhales deeply into the purplish bouquet.

There’s a loud screech from inside the dining hall, followed by cheers, laughter, and clapping. Shania looks at me. “Paulo.” The conga music wafts out into the night. I’ve never felt so electric in my life.

“Dance with me,” I say. I take the flowers from her hand and tuck them in behind her ear. I hold out my hands and Shania laughs. “What?”

“Nothing, Diego,” she says. This is everything I want right now. Out here in the near darkness, half-lit by the moon and bubbling over with all these emotions. Conga beats spill out around us. “I’d love to dance with you.” We dance, and it’s glorious. Better than the heat of the potion, the theatrics of Rosa and Paulo, and the spectacle of the Queimada ceremony combined. I’ll never forget this moment.

Here’s the link to the original posting of this outtake, as it appeared in VOYAGE. Please visit this amazing YOUNG ADULT LITERARY JOURNAL and show them some love!

As promised, some purchase links for THE CAMINO CLUB, along with the GOODREADS link:

Now be a doll and run along and grab your copy! I’d love for you to read this award-winning book!

Looking at O Cebreiro, a Gem on the Camino…

When you finally arrive at the top of the climb in O Cebreiro, Spain, you feel a great sense of accomplishment. There’s such a beautiful statue of a lovely lady waiting to greet you. You feel like you have arrived when you get there, like you HAVE ARRIVED.

There’s nothing quite like it. It’s a moment of exhilaration on the Camino de Santiago. O Cebreiro is just after the boundary marker for the Galicia Region. Once you hit that marker, you know O Cebreiro is not far.

In reality, if you blink you’ll miss O Cebreiro. But if you arrive with your eyes wide open, you’ll realize how this tiny little village on the Camino de Santiago is such an immensely integral stop along the route to Santiago de Compostela.

The town has the traditional circular palloza homes, with their granite and stone walls and gorgeous thatched roofs.

Also in O Cebreiro sits a small church with a big story. It awaits your arrival. Santa María la Real. Whether you’re religious or not, it’s a must see stop. It is said that a miracle happened in this church back in the 13th Century. A priest had lost his faith and was going through the motions of performing the Eucharist to an empty church during a tumultuous snowstorm. A man from a distant village enters the church, after walking through the impossible storm, to receive communion. The wine transforms to blood, and the wafer to flesh…restoring the priest’s faith on the spot. A nearby statue of the Blessed Virgin is said to have turned its head to witness the miracle.

I wrote about the church and its miracle in my latest YA novel, The Camino Club. I couldn’t not. The wizened sage who befriends my little group of misfits tells the tale to the kids as they visit the church. It had to be one of the stops along the way. There was a modern day priest in O Cebreiro who did SO MUCH for the Camino that his legacy can never be forgotten.

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Don Elías Valiña Sampedro (Born in Sarria, Spain on February 2, 1929 and died December 11, 1989) restored and revitalized O Cebreiro. But not only that, he’s integral to the Camino de Santiago’s recent revival. He was the creator of the YELLOW ARROWS that now mark the way for hundreds of thousands of Camino pilgrims every year. In his love of the Camino and its importance, Don Elías Valiña Sampedro has made O Cebreiro a treasure on the historic route.

If you want to immerse yourself into a fictional story that takes place with the Camino de Santiago as its backdrop, check out my recently released novel THE CAMINO CLUB. Here’s a LinkTree to buy options and reviews on Goodreads: https://linktr.ee/Kevintcraig

When you reach O Cebreiro, your journey to Santiago is far from over. The mile markers will tell you so. But have faith, it gets easier…

159.69KM to go to Santiago de Compostela…

The Camino Club Book Birthday! Places in the book…

It’s book release day! It’s a day filled with excitement and anxiety! My baby is in the world! Will they like my baby? Will my baby be okay? MY. BABY. IS. IN. THE. WORLD!!!

THE CAMINO CLUB lands TODAY!

Thanks from the bottom of my heart to CB MESSER, ANNIE HARPER, and CANDYSSE MILLER—the fabulous team at INTERLUDE PRESS/DUET BOOKS! CB made the best cover in all the world when they created the cover for The Camino Club. I get weepy just thinking about it. It’s the aura colours of the Camino itself. Exceptional! And Annie was incredible to work with as an editor! They made my little novel BETTER. And Candysse does ALL THE THINGS all at once! Amazing! I’m so thrilled with this team behind me and the little book of my heart!

Once book day arrives, there really isn’t much left to do (especially during a pandemic!), so I thought I would share some pics of places you’ll find in the book…places that made it from the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage path in Spain to the pages of The Camino Club.