As I spent time trying to decide what type of story I wanted to write about a small town, I heard an interview on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” with Terry Gross. The woman being interviewed talked about how she liked to lie on the ground naked. She said it helped her draw energy from the earth. I decided that would make a great character in the book, so I ended up with Melody Sharp.
About the same time I drove to work the same way every day (as most people do, I am sure), and every day I passed a huddle of students waiting for the bus. There was always a girl – maybe sixteen or seventeen – who stood off by herself, away from the group. She always stood with her back to the road. She seemed attractive – at least from the back – but she never turned to face the street as I drove by – NEVER. From that I developed Sydney Sharp.
The name Winters Macklin is from an obituary I came across in 2011. I altered the name slightly so as not to offend anyone.
I still struggled with the book concepts for a long time until March 21, 2012. I had a dream and in that dream I saw the murder of Miss Holly, saw the bloody hand print, the classroom left to decay, and the “clean” classroom. The dream centered around the school being haunted. The next day I was ready to start writing the book.
The opening sequence of Simon LaFever driving is based on an actual experience I felt one night when driving home on the interstate when I was very tired.
E.V. Lohring 
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