bunks

Posted by admin | April 17, 2019

My wife and I rearranged our living room a few weeks ago. During this, we had to decide where to put the dogs’ downstairs kennels where they get their meals and, in general, have a safe space from one another. They tend to fight over food. Also, when one of them is tired while the other wants to play, they get snippy with each other. So, those are times they go to their kennels. To save on space, we put one kennel on top of the other in the form of bunks. Milo has to be helped up to his (since his kennel is smaller, it is on top), but he jumps down with ease. I might have to build him a ramp one of these days, but for now he can get assistance.

In the short story version of Flaming Curse, I had my witches placed in a holding cell in the basement of a church with bunk beds.For the novel version of Flaming Curse, I had to think about where I wanted that church to be. I hate fictional settings, so I researched my butt off for this one. I used to drive by Bala Cemetery in Riley County on a daily basis when they were doing work on the main road from Junction City to Manhattan. So, this back-road cemetery stuck out in my mind. In researching Bala, I just couldn’t see my novel taking place there. For one thing, I never found any information on a church. Then I found St. Joseph’s church in Geary County and it was just perfect for what I wanted. Things started happening from there. The original church was built in 1870. I found a map from 1870 with a town named Kent not far from the church. So, now I had a year for my novel to take place and even a town. I couldn’t find much information about Kent, but the church was what I really needed (well that and the cemetery right next to it). I did find loads of information about 1870 Davis County (renamed Geary County later), Junction City, nearby Ashland (there was a ferry there that I use in the book), and Manhattan. I also researched Wild Bill Hickok and he makes an appearance. So, much fun stuff.

The church was rebuilt in 1910, but has been closed in 1989. In fact, the stain glass windows were sold at auction. There is currently a project to get the church windows replaced and the church restored to be a community building. I follow the Geary County Historical Society on Facebook and on April 10^th they showed some of windows being installed and would be open soon. It would be neat if I could somehow coordinate with the Historical Society to have a book signing there or some other author event during some other event they host. To find out more about the church, go here.

You never know what makes a good connection until you try. For Zailey and Milo, their kennels make good bunks. Going from bunks in a church to having a full and rich setting for a novel makes it fun for me. It is coming soon, and when it does, I hope you have fun reading it too!