About... TURNER JUNCTION

Sometimes a writer has to stop writing, and just look around, observe, and soak in the atmosphere around them. You have to listen to others. And that's what I did when I ventured to the City of Port Jervis, a once-vital transportation hub located where New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania meet. There I came across the historic Erie Hotel & Restaurant and all around me where the sights and sounds of yesteryear--a literal history of the renowned Erie Railroad and its impact on the area. Now, I'd come to Port Jervis with the express purpose of researching its connection with train travel, since I knew my third novel, LEGEND'S END, was centered around an old abandoned railroad, which I named the Empire One. But never in my wildest dreams did I envision the story that LEGEND'S END would become, or how influenced I would be by this great old town.

Turner Junction sprang from my mind pretty quickly after my visit to Port Jervis. I relocated the town a few miles north, since Port Jervis itself plays a role in my story. But the legends that I created--about village founder Cleveland Turner, about the lovely and lonely Duchess, and about the Alden family--those were all inspired by the pictures adorning the walls of the Erie Hotel, faces from the past that morphed into characters in my mind. Sure, there are other places to stay in the area, other towns to visit in Orange County, but Turner Junction is a town that wears its history on its sleeve, a town that embraces new friends like long lost relatives. It's a town you'll want to visit. Where the name Turner came from, I couldn't pin that down. But Junction gives off just the right feel for a town that rose from the rails.