LEGENDS 4 Now Available for Preorder

It’s here! It’s here! Well…almost.

Click here to preorder Legends of the Mountain State 4: More Ghostly Tales From the State of West Virginia.

It’s an honor to be in this anthology — reportedly the last in Michael Knost’s successful West Virginia regional ghost series. My story is called “Blue & Gray and Black & Green” and is based on the haunted residence of General Jenkins, also known as Green Bottom.

This is a ghost story of a different color for me (ha! No pun intended, but it’s hilarious just the same) as I had certain limitations. I could not refer to any persons living or dead (with the exception of General Jenkins, obviously, and even that only in passing or obscure reference). There is also a considerable LACK of information on Green Bottom on the internet (beyond a couple of paranormal investigators and those who have copied & pasted from their observations). To make matters worse, the US Army Corps of Engineers shut down Green Bottom a few years ago for renovations, and it’s still not open, so GOING to the actual site and taking a tour was also out of the question.

Luckily, my Google-Foo is strong, and I uncovered an obscure brilliant archaeological video special all about the house. I took notes frantically, like a mad collegiate edging for a 4.0. While I could have written the story without it, being intimate with the long history of the house and the surrounding area made the story–and the characters–all the more real for me…and hopefuly, will for the reader as well.

So how is this story different? It is not your typical haunting. Instead it asks: Who haunts the haunts? The story gets the first part of its title from the area’s well-known and colorful (!) Civil War history. The second part of the title refers to Green Bottom herself, and the black, malevolent presence that has infested its walls…

I am super excited about this anthology (this has been the Year of Anthologies, hasn’t it?). Woodland Press is taking pre-orders now and books will ship by Oct. 18th, 2010, the same week as the national release of “Legends of the Mountain State 4” at the West Virginia Book Festival, Oct. 16 – 17th, held at the Charleston Civic Center, Charleston, WV. Be sure to preorder a copy…and at the very least, click through to check out my awesome ToC (table of contents, Mom) mates.

It’s never to early to get your scare on!