Hello Everyone, I thought you might like to see some of the locations I used for inspiration while writing “Every Yard Is A Grave.”
The first image below is Fred’s General Mercantile in Beech Mountain, NC. It is known as Ted’s in the Book. “Buzz buzz buzz.”
You can even stay in their Guest Quarters.
This is an image of the kids sledding hill where Tyler found Sarah’s bike. If you ever visit Beech Mountain when snow is on the ground, you can hear the laughter as kids slide down the hill.
This is one of the curves Tyler rode down to get to Banner Elk, NC. “Damn flying monkeys.” It would be one hell of a ride if your brakes went out.
The Chalet Rental building is were the Bridges were hiding. It is next to the Police Station. “Why didn’t you just go out and talk to them Tom?”
The Police Station is where Anna found a new flag. Roy Snyder is the Police Chief in the book and Sarah is his daughter.
This is a view of Buckeye Lake looking down from the recreation center. Tom and his son John fished there. “Sunlight — we took it for granted every day, didn’t we dad.”
This is the old dirt road that ran behind Tyler’s house. It is at the end of Bear Paw Path, but I did not use any of the homes there. I created a house with a bigger yard and front porch, with a mailbox by the driveway, so readers would know where certain characters were standing during the dialogue that took place there.
This is the Beech Mountain Fire Department where Tyler and his friend Matt volunteered.
The Cemetery did not exist, but I imagined it here across from town. In the book, I made the land as high as the mountain you see so Anna could look down on it with its slopes in the background frozen in time.
The road to the left of the Emerald Mountain sign you pass just outside of town does not lead to the old Land of OZ theme park, but I used it in the story as if it did. They still open the park in the fall for hardcore fans. When it first opened, my mom and dad took our family there, and I will never forget being in Dorothy’s house as the tornado swept us away into the Land of OZ.
Well, that’s all the photos I took, but who needs them. Reading allows you to create your own world.
Timothy French
Timothy French 