A Ghost at Stallion's Gate (22 page)

The song that inspired this story is “Louisiana 1927” by Randy Newman. Newman describes the devastation of the Mississippi River flood of 1927 in which many of the communities in the lower lands of Louisiana were six feet under water. I began writing this book in 2010, long before the Mississippi River, once again, flooded the region in spring of 2011.

I had always wanted to write a story that laced together the unique historical aspect of Prohibition, with the transitional period between grand theater stage productions in Hollywood and the dawn of the golden era of the silver screen, in addition to Californians’ obsession with horses and racing. This story cinched it for me. I’ll probably not write another Shannon Delaney novel with this same setting. The story of
A Ghost at Stallion’s Gate
involves a time period of stark contrasts, exemplified by the glitz and wealth of early Hollywood in opposition to the minimalist backdrop of early Palm Springs and its role as an escape for those suffering through tuberculoses, for which there was not a cure at the time period of the story.

And by the way, the racing scam used in this story is a scam that has been implemented in one guise or another for centuries. My reference to Fine Cotton is factual, in this case, the horse substitution scam happened in August of 1984 in Australia.

Chapter 1

The setting of Stallion’s Gate is a Tudor styled mansion in Pasadena, California. There are numerous examples of 1920s Tudor architecture in Pasadena. An iconic example is the mansion at 1050 Arden Road and it is one you will likely recognize from TV and movies. In fact, many houses on Arden Road in Pasadena are famous location sets for movies and TV.

Chapter 2

There really is a Magic Castle in Hollywood, and it is the headquarters for the Academy of Magical Arts, Inc. Learn more about the “MC” and take a virtual tour at:

www.MagicCastle.com

The Blackthorne House Bed and Breakfast in San Diego is fictitious and I went into detail about it in Shannon Delaney’s first paranormal adventure,
A Ghost of a Chance.
An iconic mansion, the Morey Mansion in Redlands, California, represents the Blackthorne Bed and Breakfast Inn, but strictly for the purpose of the story told in book one of the Shannon Delaney series. The Morey Mansion is now in private ownership and no longer operated as a Bed and Breakfast Inn.

Chapter 3

Prohibition began January 17, 1920 and ended December 5, 1933. Alcoholic beverages and foods became illegal, as did any form of organized gambling.

In book three of the Shannon Delaney series, A Ghost Meets an Angel, ghostly magician; Eric Blackthorne got his own email address:

[email protected]

He often sends email messages to Shannon from this address.

Chapter 6

Kathleen’s Restaurant on Lake Avenue in Pasadena is real.

Chapter 7

The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum moved from the high desert city of Victorville, California to Branson, Missouri in 2003. The museum closed for good in 2009. Roy’s horse, a golden palomino named Trigger, was mounted and on display at the museum in Victorville. I do not know if Trigger was on display while the museum operated in Branson. Then, in July of 2010, Trigger was sold at auction to a Nebraska television station for the sum of $266,000.

Chapter 8

Francis the Talking Mule costarred with his human cohort, Donald O’Connor, in seven films from 1950 to 1956. It’s generally believed in TV land history that the success of Francis on the big screen paved the way for the TV series Mister Ed, which starred a talking horse.

Josephine Baker was a star of theater and film. She resisted color and racial barriers, traveled the world performing and lived a legendary life style. There’s more information at:

www.cmgww.com/stars/baker

Chapter 10

The history and fascinating culture of Cane River Creoles is well documented in Southern ancestry. For further information about Cane River Creole culture and Louisiana Creoles, in general, visit these two Internet sites: Cane River Colony at:

www.canerivercolony.com

And the Creole Heritage Center at the Northwestern University of Louisiana:

http://creole.nsula.edu

Chapter 12

There is an excellent Internet site that allows for free, quick and easy conversion of monetary values from the past into present day values at Measuring Worth:

www.measuringworth.com

Chapter 13

The Melungeon culture is mentioned in a loose association with the Creole culture. Although these two cultures are unique, in genealogy, they were often (and erroneously) associated together. Learn about Melungeon culture from the Melungeon Heritage Association:

www.melungeon.org

Chapter 17

Sincere efforts are being made to revive and renovate the once grand Los Angeles Broadway District in old L.A. Read about this historic district and view pictures at the official Internet site of Bringing Back Broadway, www.bringingbackbroadway.com. To better appreciate the fictitious Regency Theater that is in my story, look for photos of the Palace Theater and the Orpheum Theater.

Chapter 18

“EVP” stands for electronic voice phenomena. Ghost investigators use modern voice recorders, usually digital sound recorders, instead of tape recorders, to capture spirit voices and sounds that cannot be heard by the human ear.

Chapter 20

My gratitude to ghost investigator and EVP specialist Scott Wise who shared with me an EVP captured on a voice recorder during an investigation. The phrase that was captured is “Do not taunt spirits.”

Chapter 28

Alexandrite is a fascinating gemstone. I used various sources for my research, however, for readers, there is an easy Internet site that gives background information pertaining to alexandrite at:

www.Alexandrite.com.

Chapter 29

Magie Noire is the name of a perfume by Lancome. Literal translation from French to English is Magic Black. In common vocabulary, the feminine form of noire is also used for the word “night” and “dark.”

The Las Palmas celebrity homes district in Palm Springs is real and so too is the Las Casuelas restaurant.

Chapter 31

Shannon makes use of the Find A Grave Internet site to locate several graves and discover when and where people died. You too can use this resource. It is free access on the Internet at:

www.FindaGrave.com.

Chapter 32

The Edison is a real nightclub in downtown Los Angeles.

Chapter 33

Seamus refers to his father as da. “Da” is a common noun for a father in Irish culture. And the Irish name of Seamus is James in English, pronounced as SHAY-mus.

The summer I wrote this story Hurricane Beatriz pounded the shores of Acapulco. Pacific coast hurricanes are not nearly as common as hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. When a hurricane hits the Pacific coast, it is usually in the southern part, near Mexico, Central and South America. California, especially the southern section, receives the remnants of these hurricanes, and the result is monsoon rainstorms.

Chapter 36

Whenever the Mississippi River floods, especially in the Southern states, water moccasin snakes are a serious concern. They are deadly venomous, and are vigorous swimmers. Water moccasin snakes are often called water mocs or cottonmouths in the South.

About Elizabeth Eagan-Cox

Elizabeth Eagan-Cox writes the Shannon Delaney paranormal mystery series novels for Write Words, Inc. Her Shannon Delaney novels are published under the publisher’s imprints of Cambridge Books and EbooksOnThe.Net. The novels are published in numerous e-book digital formats and in paperback hard print. She is currently busy researching in preparation to write book 5 in her Shannon Delaney paranormal mystery novel series.

Also, Elizabeth works behind the scene of ghost hunting in helping paranormal investigators. She is a popular guest on ghost hunting and paranormal research talk radio shows and is the author of the nonfiction ghost hunting resource,
Ghost Hunters Research Guide
to Free Internet Sources.

Elizabeth resides in California, travels occasionally and is always at home in cyber space. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution in the United States and the Clann MacAodhagain, in Ireland. Readers are invited to visit Elizabeth at:

www.ElizabethEaganCox.net