W.B. Alexander is a writer from New Hampshire who also works in pizza delivery. He has been writing professionally for 20 years. He writes in numerous genres, but the current book, Ghosts Don't Dieis a murder mystery, which is about a vacationing FBI agent, Proctor Ridgeway, who must solve the murder of Gettysburg's most detested ghost tour guide.
Alexander has provided a summary of the characters in Ghosts Don’t Die:
FBI agent Ridgeway: I like to think he is me with a sense of integrity trying to solve a crime that everyone in town is interested in letting drop.
Jocelyn Miley: Is the murdered tour guide based on a woman that I knew when living in Gettysburg. She uses people to make money for herself and utterly destroys them if she feels the need to, which she does often. She brings in elements from the fringes of society to serve as her cult of ghosthunters even though she is performing parlor magic in an effort to get them to believe she is some kind of prophet. Her personality is rotten and cruel and the perfect basis for a murder mystery victim.
Edmund Zaius: a ghost hunter that knows Jocelyn is a complete fraud. After working in ghost hunting for a time, I realized that this man is completely realistic and angers when someone makes themselves out to be the genuine article when they are just trying to line their pockets.
Police Chief Carl Donaldson: He is every overprivileged frat boy that never grew up that anyone has ever met, even having achieved his undeserved job from his wealthy and powerful father, the mayor.
Karen Rayfallow: Based on a former boss I had that was more interested in who brought in the money rather than the reputation the person was bringing her business.
Walter Harding: Based on a man who mentored me when I moved to Gettysburg. Literally the man who wrote the book on Gettysburg ghosts.
Barbara Pierce: Based on a real ghost tour owner who would not get involved in the underhanded dealings that her competitors would.
Lenny Lawrence: Karen Rayfallow's boyfriend and main source of income. She bullies him into giving her everything she wants even at the risk of all his other businesses failing. He is based on a real man that I know who did go through a similar situation.
Alexander derives inspiration from “a number of places. Many times my stories are derived from dreams I will have or a situation I was put into that I wanted to see turn out differently. I am often inspired by simply asking, ‘What if?’ This book, Ghosts Don't Die, was inspired by events that took place while I lived in Gettysburg and worked in the ghost tour industry, seeing how cruel other owners/guides can be toward each other. When I was fired by a company I had come in to better, on the lies of a guide trying to get rid of people that did a better job than they did, I felt that I would like to kill that person if I wouldn't be the first suspect. After thinking about that and all the people that they screwed over as well, I realized I would not be the first suspect and it inspired this book.”
One of the challenges Alexander found in writing Ghosts Don’t Die was “In the case of this murder mystery, I found it difficult to link the clues together. Often I would have to go back and re-read segments to be certain that I had added what I needed to. A few times I was certain I had finished the novel only to realize I had missed a crucial point and had to go back to work on it.
“Most other works of fiction I have put together I find to be much easier to work with since they work out from my imagination and tend to be rooted more in fantasy rather than in reality, as this book was.”
His favorite author is Stephen King. “Most of my work is in a similar genre, this one was a step outside of that. I love how he links many of his books together by mentioning past works and creating a world that pokes at your fears while feeding your fantasies.
“By taking his lead, I have linked my book Twenty with Ghosts Don't Die by way of mentioning a fictional city from Twenty, an island I had created called Velleity Island and the cursed twenty dollar bill from the other book that makes an appearance in Ghosts Don't Die. Most of my fiction takes on a flair of paranormal thrillers, much like King.
One very interesting fact about Alexander is that “I am a die-hard Trekkie. It makes me a nerd, but I love being that way and love smiling as any of the shows come on TV. I even have Star Trek based tattoos.”
His advice for new and aspiring writers is that “Writing today is completely different than it has been in the past. If you know your work is good and you know it will have a good reception, do not base rejection letters on your personal belief in your work. If you keep plugging away and keep revising while showing that you are serious about your craft, then you will succeed. If you get fed up with all the rejection letters, there are free on demand publishers online and you can get your work out there no matter what. Always keep writing and always have faith that your work will prevail.”
You can find out more about W.B. Alexander and his work at:
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