Who does that? A great actor dedicated to her art. I’d heard that to perfect her character’s accent, she learned to speak fluent Polish. Meryl Streep to the rescue and her role in Sophie’s Choice. What was I thinking? The voices had to be distinct. My writer’s voice struggled through infancy, further challenged by writing alternating story lines without confusing the reader. That one image inspired a powerful scene. I vividly recall spotting an engraving of an asylum “treatment” so grotesque my mouth gaped in revulsion. I spent hours at the public library cranking the microfilm machine, pulling stacks from the reference section, claiming a large wooden table in a quiet corner, skimming pages and handwriting notes about history, culture, architecture, fashion and foods-everything I needed for a believable period setting. I gathered books from my shelves, but they weren’t enough. My ghost-inhabited apartment was one of six in a converted Victorian mansion, so I felt at home in the period.īefore the internet and Google, research was tedious and time-consuming, but also an adventure often resembling a treasure hunt. With no story and no characters, I hoped to find inspiration in my research. I arranged for a private tour the following week and my interest grew. One woman who worked at a 150-year-old hospital, claimed to have seen a ghost outside her upper floor office. By the time the hostess served dessert, laughter had subsided and conversation turned from career aspirations to all things spooky. Six women executives from the city’s business community gathered around a candlelit table for dinner. The idea for Asylum, a dark suspense saga set in 18, began a few blocks from the posh 19th century Nook Farm located in Hartford, Connecticut’s Asylum Hill neighborhood, home to Samuel Clemens writing as Mark Twain, next door author Harriet Beecher Stowe, and notable neighbors.

Premonition of Terror by Kathryn Orzech