What came first, the idea of incorporating video and novel together, or Sarah and Ryan’s story?
Skeleton Creek is a case of two ideas coalescing unexpectedly. Having different ideas come together is not an uncommon event in the development of my stories. With Atherton, it was climate change and Frankenstein, two ideas I’d been exploring separately that became the story of a mad scientist creating a new planet in a dystopian future. For Skeleton Creek, the format had been on my mind for quite a while. At the same time I had long wanted to write a mystery / ghost story but couldn’t settle on a location or a thread that would hold things together. When I visited the dredge in Oregon, everything merged together pretty much overnight. Sometimes a location or a character will do that for me. When I walked into the dredge and saw the massive gears and conveyer belts, then heard about a legendary ghost story, well, that was it for me. The idea of shooting video inside this place at night was very appealing. The story of two teens, one who wrote and one who filmed, felt right for the sett
