writing community – Scribbling For Fun

Skookum Volcano, DMSHEPARD — Our campsite under the Skookum Volcano

Hey, let’s go camp under an ancient volcano in the middle of the Alaska wilderness.

Oh yeah, this area has a longstanding oral tradition of creepy creatures watching from the hills that want to kill humans.

Sounds like the plot of a horror story, right?

Part One of our night in under the Skookum Volcano

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is the inspiration for my currently Published horror novella, The Dark Land, and the sequel The Devil’s Valley (coming 2021). As you can imagine, I was thrilled to get to travel this summer to a part of the park I had never been to before.

But with many trips, getting there is just half the adventure

The Nabesna Road is one of only two roads leading into the park. Only the first 10 miles or so of the 42 mile stretch is paved. My husband used to live and travel in this area, so we were fairly prepared for the rough ride, still there were a few surprises. As you view my pictures, keep in mind that this is considered to be a “maintained road.”

Creek Crossings

One of our biggest trepidations were the creek crossings. Multiple creeks cross the road deeper into the park. Depending on rain and run-off, the creeks could be impassible. The creeks are notorious for stranding unsuspecting tourists. We made sure to keep and eye on the weather, before venturing out. We managed to cross the deepest one with ease.

We put the definition of 4WD to the test here.

Ruts in the Road

This was a surprise. And it was even deeper than it looked. We bottomed out both front and back. Decided to grab some rocks on our way back to fill in the holes.

Nabesna Road DM Shepard — Deep rut in road

Devil’s Mountain Lodge

The Road dead ends at the Devil’s Mountain Lodge. The lodge sits at the base of Devil’s Mountain. A B&B that has been in business since the 1950’s, they provide flight tours, and guided hunting tours into some of the more remote areas of the park.

devils mountain, DM SHEPARD — View from the Devil’s Mountain Lodge

Camping

This side of the park is pretty remote, and not generally a huge tourist hot-spot. Thanks to Covid, there were even fewer people. We didn’t have to fight anyone for a campsite.

Watershed Divide

Our campsite at Jack Creek was just stunning. An interesting fact is that this creek is on a water shed divide. While Wrangell St. Elias National Park is known for being home of the Copper Glacier, headwater of the Copper River, this creek does not flow into that watershed. Though less than 30 miles from that river, it flows into the Tanana instead. This river cuts north across the state before dumping into the Yukon. Many of the local native legends revolve around these two diverging water sheds.

Jack Creek Campsite, DM SHEPARD — Jack Creek Campsite in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Skookum Volcano and Devil’s Mountain

Inspiration for my novels came from local Ahtna (Head Water’s People) legends of the area. It’s no coincidence, looking at the terrain, that there are oral tales of things watching from the mountains above. The Skookum Volcano and Devil’s Mountain are both rich in heavy metal mineral deposits and are riddled with caves.

Skookum Caves, DM Shepard — The Volcano is riddled with caves, can you imagine what might be lurking inside?

Native Copper, DM Shepard — Native copper flakes floating in puddles

We spent the evening setting up camp and marveling at the beauty around out campsite.

campsite, DMShepard — Pond behind our campsite at Jack Creek in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Then darkness fell…

Dark Woods — Hmmn…why did I think it was a good idea to go camp in an area known for creepy creatures????

To be continued next week…

Thanks for reading. My Alaska wilderness horror novella, The Dark Land is available on Amazon:

The Dark Land, DMShepard.com — The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. It’s hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage, skill and love will be tested to the limits on the isolated trails of The Dark Land.

My Review of Eric Lahti’s Henchmen

Evil is that thing that we don’t want to happen to us. If it happens to someone else, someone we don’t agree with, though, it’s justice.
Lahti, Eric. Henchmen (p. 183). Kindle Edition.

http://ericlahti.com/

Having stalked—I mean, followed Eric on Twitter for some time, I’ve had the Henchmen saved on my laptop for what seems like an eternity. I’ve been waiting for some downtime to indulge in this gritty action story. Eric’s writing did not disappoint. As I mentioned on Twitter, the best way to sum up this speculative fiction is if Michael Crichton and Stephen King got together and wrote their own version of Aliens crossed with Oceans 11 crossed with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The difference is that Eric provides enough tech to satisfy the geek in me without devolving into writing a text book like some of Crichton’s work. The toughest part about this review is going to be avoiding spoilers, because this is well worth a read and I don’t want to give away the fun parts.

Their Mission?—All the Wrong Things for the Right Reasons

From the opening page, Eric sucks you into this team’s mission to bring down the government. Eric’s intelligent and sarcastic narrator Steven reminds me of the spy Michael Western from the TV Show Burn Notice. Steven is an ex-government agent who has been burned and is now working for “a seven-foot-tall bombshell.” It’s clear from the start that, Eve, the leader of this ensemble is more than she seems, and Eric does a great job of giving just enough to tantalize, but leaving us with questions about her supernatural origins and her real goals. After a successful heist, they decide to celebrate with some naked sushi. When a gang shows up and threatens their “hostess,” they realize the secret carries may be useful to their cause. From there, the ride down the rabbit hole gets wilder with this crew of misfits. Supernatural creatures, government conspiracies and tentacles start coming out of the woodwork—literally.

The Anti-hero

http://www.literarydevices.com/antihero/

While anti-heroes have been around for a long time, in recent years, pop culture has seen a surge in popularity in this trope/archetype. In opposition to the squeaky-clean, square-jawed, high moralled characters of the past, the anti-hero is flawed and at times dark. Often times, the anti-hero is more relatable than the perfect hero. The Henchmen does a great job of showing this group of anti-heroes and their motivations for participating in what would be considered treasonous insurrection.

Civil Disobedience

“If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth–certainly the machine will wear out… but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience and Other Essays

One of the deeper themes in Eric’s book revolves around government corruption, control, and blind obedience to law. He isn’t picking on either political party, but calling out the whole system as being no longer for the people. It is a great talking point in these turbulent times when we have people marching in the street. What is true patriotism?

“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.”
~ Theodore Roosevelt

Henchmen is very relatable in our current state of affairs in this country. I’m not saying let’s go overthrow the government, but his story brings up some great talking points on blind patriotism. It will totally piss off people on the extremes of either party. It’s definitely not a story for the easily offended or politically correct. But if you are in the mood for a gritty, wild adventure in the desert of New Mexico, then this novel (and series) is for you. I can’t wait to dive into the sequel, Arise.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be off the grid for most of August out at the cabin doing construction. Check out my social media pages for construction updates. Coming soon in the review queue is Willie Handler’s, Loved Mars, Hated the Food; and Salen Valari’s The Darkness Within. For my next news letter I’ll be posting a sneak preview from A Drink of Darkness, my paranormal romance/historical fiction set in Dawson City in 1898.

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The legend of Alaska’s Headless Ravine is steeped in blood. Its hunger for human flesh never sleeps, even in the deepest cold of winter. Courage skill and love will be stretched to the limits on the isolated boundaries of The Dark Land.

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Getting There is Half the Adventure…My Trip into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in the Name of Writing Research