My book, Ghosts of Gannaway, is a true story.
Well, except maybe for the ghosts. That bit I took a few liberties on. Unless you believe in that sorta thing, of course.
And the Indian curse...naturally I made that up. But other than those two things, the events in Ghosts of Gannaway actually happened.
Okay, okay, fine! The murders depicted in my tale are fabricated. Or are they?
All in all, though, Ghosts of Gannaway actually occurred. (If you overlook the haunted museum, the moving statue, the ghostly miners, the yellow-eyed fever, the spectral visions, and other minor details. Man, you guys are nit-pickers. They call it historical "fiction," for a reason, you know! Don't make me come over there!)
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| The real haunted museum |
My wife says I exaggerate. That's her gentle way of calling me a drama queen (which I've been labeled before. As if!). Others less nicely inclined call me a liar. Since I'm a writer, I call it artistic license.
So, at the end of the day, Ghosts of Gannaway actually happened. Every bit of it.
Couple of weeks ago, I was talking to my fellow horror-loving sister-in-law and she and I agreed that ghost stories are what creeps us out the most. But I also realized that's only true in entertainment. What really scares me is the evil inherent in humanity and what extremes people will go to in the pursuit of money.
Ghosts of Gannaway tackles both of my biggest fears: ghosts (fun and fictional!) and the greed that destroyed the town of Picher, Oklahoma upon which my book is based (not so fun and true!).
My book is a sweeping historical ghost tale full of curses, scares, Native-American
rights, one of the first feminists, greed, suspense, hissable villains, noble
heroes, hippies, union strikes, violence, animated statues, haunted
museums, pollution, and love that transcends death.
And it's all true. Every last word. I swear!*
*Disclaimer:
Author Stuart R. West is a professional liar, fraud, phony, and cheat.
Everything he says should be taken with a grain of salt. Do not attempt
to believe what he says while drinking or taking medication. Do not
listen to him while driving heavy machinery. Should baldness or erectile
dysfunction occur after buying into Stuart R. West's chicanery, consult
a lawyer immediately. Should sleeplessness occur due to nightmares from
reading Ghosts of Gannaway, well...then the author's done his job.
Visit lovely Gannaway, Kansas today. You're only one click away.
For those electronically challenged, here's where you can get the fancy paperback: https://amzn.to/2O96vxQ
My new book, Ghosts of Gannaway, is a sweeping historical ghost tale full of curses, Native-American rights, one of the first feminists, greed, hissable villains, noble heroes, hippies, union strikes, violence, animated statues, haunted museums, pollution and love that transcends death.
But mostly it's the tale of Picher, Oklahoma. Oh, sure, I moved the events just over the borderline to my fictionally created tale of Gannaway, Kansas. And the characters in the book aren't real. But some of them do represent archetypes of the long passed citizens of Picher, Oklahoma.
Very few people reside in Picher now. They can't. Because of the zinc and lead mining boom of the '30's, the town is now a death-trap. In more ways than one. The water's tainted. The air is polluted with poisonous particles lifted off the chat piles. The very few structures still standing have been torn apart by tornadoes. The township were forced to move. Or die. Of course there're still a few stubborn folks who reside there. None too friendly either, I might add. You might just see a few Confederate flags flying high in the dilapidated living quarters, good reason enough not to linger.
But Picher was once one of the most prosperous towns in the Midwest. How do I know? I researched it. It was the most exhausting book I've written yet and I won't be attempting that amount of research again. Not only does the book take place in 1935 but there's a dueling timeline in 1969 with all sorts of characters, plot-lines and ghosts crossing paths. Whew. During the final edit, I nearly had a panic attack when I caught a character in 1969 saying, "That sucks!" Um, no, just wasn't done.
So...stupidly, I set the tale in two timelines I knew next to nothing about. I researched clothing, slang, lifestyles, food, autos, the effects of the depression. Then I had to find out about mining! Would you like to know about mining? Neither did I until I realized the book called for it! Now that info's stuck in my head! (Don't worry. I detailed only the pertinent information to the story, no boring lesson on mining here!) I found out about hippies and soul hand-shakes and the movements going on. I dug deep into unions and the violent labor strikes of the '30's. I learned about the plight of the Native-Americans in the Midwest going back years and years and years and...
Just too much. But I hope the research paid off. I tried to make my ambitious tale thrilling, chilling, exciting, action-packed, scary, even a little romantic. Let me know if I succeeded!
Act now, tell me later! For a small window of time, Ghosts of Gannaway is available for .99! That's a whole lotta' research and thrills for under a buck: One click away!
