The Harrow Hotel: A Book in Progress

I recently saw an advertisement for a contest in which the winner would get to spend the night in a haunted hotel in Las Vegas. There was a prize if that person could record paranormal activity. I immediately wanted to write a book on that idea, but I didn’t want it set in Las Vegas. Where then? Western Kansas, of course.

So I am currently 15,000 words into the novel. The original hotel burned down in August of 1882. Six spirits are currently haunting the rebuilt hotel. Wanda Wilson has won the opportunity to record paranormal activity at the Harrow Hotel, if the head spirit, Angus Harrow, will allow the camera and voice recorder to work. Here is what happens when he first appears to her as a black cowboy hat.

Harrow Hotel excerpt

The room suddenly chilled. The temperature meter buzzed. 

“Turn that thing off. Turn it all off or I’ll do it for you,” a male voice boomed. 

A black Stetson appeared across from her. 

She shivered in the cold. At least, there was no smoke. “Mr. Harrow?”

“Angus will do.” His voice was as cold as the room had grown upon his entry. 

“Angus, I am here to plead your grandniece Maggie Harrow’s case. She is in financial straits. Her only hope of saving her home is this hotel. Few want to travel the back roads to a ghost town if there are no real ghosts to engage with. Won’t you help your grandniece by letting us prove the existence of spirits? Strange as it may seem, many people are attracted to haunted places.” 

“I value my privacy and the reputation of this hotel. I see no condition under which I would allow you to gather proof.” 

Wanda couldn’t believe she was negotiating with a black hat. “As to your privacy, we could block off the entire third floor. The six rooms on the second floor should accommodate the likely number of guests in residence at any one time. As to the hotel’s reputation, we could easily create a story that would preserve the good name of your family and the hotel.” 

“I’ve seen the newspaper accounts of the fire. I know what they say happened.” 

“But so much was unknown. I’m sure we could find letters or journals of your brother, who rebuilt on this site, that would restore your reputation. Isn’t that what you want?”

“I don’t see how that can happen with the crew I’ve got. Two soiled doves, a whiny baby of questionable parentage, and two rapscallions.”

Before she could continue pleading her case, the black hat disappeared. What now?

Publication Plan: October 1, 2026

I’ll be updating my progress on the novel. It’s my first paranormal story in twenty years. We will see how it goes…and where it goes on this site since I am still trying to figure out pages, posts, and links to it all.