Spirits of Jerome: A Work of Speculative Fiction

Jerome, Arizona: a place enshrouded with its past, alive with its legends, at peace with its ghosts, reverent of its place in history and hopeful about its dreams of the future all at the same time. And you, reader, who has found a spark of the imagination that brought you to Cleopatra hill, hold a book of stories, linked to the supernatural elements of 'the largest ghost town in America'. A book as fascinated by place as it is by theme. The stories use the ghostly setting to explore the casualties of art and the search for inspiration; the angst of coming to terms with ones past and dealing with ones ghosts; the illusive nature of happiness and the puzzle of its attainability; the eternal transformations of love; and the immorality and mystical nature of music.

About the Author :
Ryan Boyd Clark lives, rides, and writes in his native Arizona. After a life that has seen as many starts as unforeseeable ends, the only constant has been that the ride is certainly eventful! Ryan is married, has several children, and works for Costco. A writer with several published works in the rear view, Ryan now expresses his work independently through his publishing LLC Ghost Rider Press and Online Magazine: Keep The Greasy Side Down {keepthegreasysidedown.com}. Spirits of Jerome is the first in a series of short story novellas exploring the secret and supernatural history of Arizona. West Coast singer/songwriter Stephen Ashbrook had access to only two records growing up (Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water and Jesus Christ Superstar), both of which were enticing enough to send the California native on a hunt to his local library to expand his musical horizons. Citing heroes as diverse as John Steinbeck, the Rolling Stones, and Winston Churchill, Ashbrook honed his chops amidst the fertile late-'90s Tempe, Arizona alt-rock scene, where he took home The Phoenix Tribune's Best Acoustic Performer title in both 1998 and 2000; he even got to play for President William Jefferson Clinton, at the request of the White House. Known for his rich baritone, smooth falsetto, and penchant for open-road heartland folk-rock in the vein of Tom Petty, the Wallflowers, and Joe Henry, he released an EP, About Last Night, in 1993, followed by a full-length eponymous studio album with his band Satellite in 1995. His solo debut, the critically acclaimed Navigator, arrived in 1998, with Drive and American B-Sides, the latter of which featured members of the Gin Blossoms, the Pistoleros, and Dead Hot Workshop, arriving in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Ashbrook relocated to Portland, Oregon after the arrival of the latter, releasing his first live collection, Double Live @ Long Wong's, in 2004, and White Balloons, his sixth studio album, in 2008.

Review :
Praise for Spirits of Jerome: "Why do we concern ourselves over which side of the membrane of soil our feet poke?" asks Annie Dillard in For the Time Being." With Dillard's same flare for the lyrical, Ryan B. Clark probes this question in Spirits of Jerome, giving readers astonishing insights into the other side, the dark places that come after the grave. This is where the dead philosophize while searching for what it might mean to breathe again. "Nothing lasting was ever created in safety," Clark says, purposely blurring the lines between fiction and reality. Reading story after stunning story, you'll start to believe it's all true. Jerome is "like the paradoxical yin to Sedona's yang," Clark writes in a chapter titled "The Muse." "One had its vortex and neo-classical spirituality. The other had its ghosts." Indeed. Jerome is the original "Ghost City" with places like the Haunted Hamburger and the Asylum Restaurant and the Spirit Room, where the veil between the living and dead wears thin. "All lost and wandering souls find their way there eventually, but the awakened souls of the living create the basis for why they stay." All roads lead to Jerome. On your next visit, bring along a copy of Spirits of Jerome as your only companion. It will enhance the experience. Or you will be chilled to the bloody marrow. Ken Lamberton author of Chasing Arizona