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Brynn Chapman | History and Inspiration
I love history. Yes, thatโs #nerdy.
This was not always the case. As a kid, my father, a then-history teacher, used
to revel at dragging me to every historical monument across the United
Statesโwhich in my childโs mind was resembled, โLook kids! Big Ben! Parliament!โ
The history seed was planted, and grew into an odd twisted bush of an interest.
As a writer, I try to visit each locale I write about, as nothing imbues setting
into a book like photoโs and being immersed in the real setting.
My mother related to me how, as a young teen, she and her brother were sent to
stay with their aunt and uncleโฆat an asylum. My motherโs aunt and uncle were
caretakerโs, and while visiting, she and her brother attended an asylum ball.
She related several hair-raising stories, and a few even made it into
REQUIEM RED. *If you figure out that pun and email me, I have a special
prize for any who decipher my comment/hint.
I visited Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia twiceโfirst for a
photo day, and the second for a historical tour.
This is a picture of a child from the asylumโthe wards were separated into men,
women and children, and many of the physicians and their families, lived on site.
The asylum is of Kirkbride Architectureโwhich were popular during the 1800โs. It
was built between 1858 to 1881, and is the largest hand-cut stone masonry in
North America, second only to The Kremlin.
Massive, cold and foreboding, my historical guide related if you walked it end
to end, the asylum would cover four square miles. In such desperate conditions,
it was all too easy to picture my protagonist Jane, struggling to keep her hope
alive, drowning her desires in her music in her effort to remain sane.
Although the asylum is now only open for tours, they do have an asylum ball
every year. If you happen to be in Weston, West Virginia in Octoberโฆstop by.
And do visit Jane. She was born in the asylum. Has never been outside. Never
eaten in a pub, never known a home.
But all that is about to changeโฆ
Born and raised in western Pennsylvania, Brynn Chapman is the daughter of two
teachers. Her writing reflects her passions: science, history and love--not
necessarily in that order. In real life, the geek gene runs strong in her
family, as does the Asperger's syndrome. Her writing reflects her experience as
a pediatric therapist and her interactions with society's downtrodden. In
fiction, she's a strong believer in underdogs and happily-ever-afters. She also
writes non-fiction and lectures on the subjects of autism and sensory
integration and is a medical contributor to online journal The Age of Autism.
Life for patient Twenty-Nine is full of medicated day dreaming of a life
outside the walls of the walls of Soothing Hills Asylum. But fantasies are
not all that consume her. A monster roams the halls of the sanitarium she
reluctantly calls home. Three girls have been found dead. The dead
girls share one common thread...each was Twenty-nine's cell mate. As the
investigation gets under way, Twenty-Nine retreats into her mind, listening to
the voices that call to her. She is endowed with the cursed gift of perception.
Through it, she hears messages carried upon the notes of music, discerns words
hidden among the strokes of paintings, and minds pleadings for help from the
corn field outside. Could the key to the murders lie within Patient
Twenty-Nineโs broken mind? Mason, an orderly, sees Twenty-Nine as a woman,
not a lunatic. As his belief in her grows, so does her self-confidence. The
possibility of one day leaving the asylum seems less and less like a
fantasy. But the monster has other plans for Twenty-Nine. Leaving will not
be so easy. At least, not while alive.
Comments
1 comment posted.
Re: Brynn Chapman | History and Inspiration
I emailed you with what I thought might be an answer for
the "hair raising". I also love to read and study history.
(Leona Olson 4:14pm April 10, 2016)
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