A Mysterious Oklahoma Outlaw

Fiction is fiction but fiction also has elements of non-fiction as is the case of By the Fright of the Silvery Moon and a mysterious Oklahoma outlaw.

You see, the plot of Fright centers around a secret about Granger’s Mansion. Because of that, several people’s lives are in jeopardy. (Well, if the truth be known, a bit more than just jeopardy.) Here’s the dilemma: it is hard to find any actual facts about this particular outlaw. My brother has a book which contains more information than I’ve found any place else. Of course, a person who lived about 150 years ago and about which nothing much is known is bound to be shadowy and mysterious. Which, come to think of it, is perfect for a cozy mystery. I just want the facts I include to be actually that–factual.

Anyway, that’s part of the fun of writing–hunting down people who have been pretty much lost in the mists of time.

Would you believe in By the Fright of the Silvery Moon, Ned buys a church? Well, she does. Now, what in the world does she want with a church? What will she do with it? She wonders the same thing and could hardly believe her ears when she said she wanted it. But, the church is old and it does have its own cemetery and it has been abandoned for years and…you begin to get the picture.

It’s fun getting some actual happenings into fiction. For example, last December in northeast Oklahoma, the Illinois River, Barron Fork Creek, all the branches and streams flooded! I mean, there was a mind-boggling amount of rain that fell and the floods reached levels never before recorded. When I drove to Tahlequah in January along highway 10, I could hardly believe my eyes…the water had been across the highway, and high up on the bluff on the other side of the river. Debris was still caught in trees that were far above the height of my car.

So, I took that historic flood and worked it into the fourth and newest Darcy and Flora mystery, Grave Heritage. Only, in the book, it was the Ventris River and Lee Creek that flooded. It posed danger and a real threat to Darcy and Flora, but in a strange twist of fate, helped saved their lives.

Today, the Cozy Critters will be here. It’ll be our last meeting before Christmas, maybe the last of the year. I want to read my latest chapter of Fright to them and ask for input. I’ve a distinct feeling Peg has her iPad back up and running and has been reading a lot of books! Inspiration may have hit Jane in the wee small hours and she penned another poem. And, Carolyn always has poetry, a story, her latest children’s book, or delightful pictures to share. Nancy is kicking up her heels in warmer climes but we’re glad she is getting some time off to relax.

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