The Haunted History of the West Virginia Penitentiary: Afterlife With No Parole
I would imagine that any book an author writes and publishes, is truly a labor of love. This fact was all the more evident with the writing of my 3rd published book, "The Haunted History of the West Virginia Penitentiary".As the manuscript grew in size throughout the year it took to write, I began to wonder when to "cut" it off. A building as large, as important, and historical to our nations history, needed to be written about in great lenght as no book has ever been published on the Pen such as this one. 200 pages turned into 400 which quickly grew to 500 until page 618 was finished and my husband said, "Stop, that is enough!". I think I could have gone on, and on, and on!How could I write about the building of the 1866 Pen, and not cover a bit of the areas early crimes and civil war history? If I wrote about the birth of West Virginia and the need for a state pen, I surely had to write about the Grave Creek Mound across the street from the prison. If I wrote about the Mound, then I needed to write about the frontier history. Since I covered the Wardens, I needed to feature notorius inmates. If I wrote about the men prisoners, then I surely had to write about the women in the Big House.And so it goes. Over two pounds of a book, 618 pages and over 100 interviews with ghost hunters and investigators. I only feel as if I touched the tip of the iceberg. Volume two perhaps??