My Fire Island Ghost Story
by Linda Maria Frank
(Massapequa Park, N.Y.)
Author of the Annie Tillery Mysteries, The Madonna Ghost and Girl with Pencil, Drawing
The Madonna Ghost takes place on Fire Island, some scenes in Ocean Beach.
Fire Island, that caprice of the power of erosion, is, by the nature of its fragility, a magical place. Just a wisp of sand located eight miles off Long Island’s south shore, it welcomes its visitors and lets them return home, forever to be lured back to its beauty, peace and mystery.
The first time I went to Fire Island, it was to visit Sailor’s Haven and the Sunken Forest. It was a date and I was in love. I will never figure out whether being in love made Fire Island so magical or Fire Island that made being in love so magical that day. It doesn’t matter. I was hooked.
Soon after, I visited Ocean Beach and have returned so many times. When I arrive, I feel as though I have entered a parallel universe; no cars, the smell of salt air, no cares. It is a special, special place.
When I conceived the idea of writing mystery novels for teens, I decided on Fire Island as the setting for the first novel. A number of factors came into play. By the time I started writing, I had extensive sailing experience, but no longer had access to sailing. I wanted to capture what it was like to sail, and putting my heroine on Fire Island for a vacation allowed me to create some exciting sailing scenes.
I taught forensic science for a number of years, and given Fire Island’s history of piracy, boot-legging, smuggling and drug dealing, not to mention ship wrecks, the United Sates Life Saving Service and a strong suspicion that enemy subs may have lurked off shore at various times, it seemed a logical place to set a mystery.
The Madonna Ghost is really a double mystery. The first mystery is a ghost story. Of course, she is an invention of my imagination, but I think, a ghost who is believable, when we bring to mind Fire Island’s treacherous storms and shifting shore line.
The second mystery evolves as my heroine and her boy friend investigate the ghost with the help of a local historian and ghost hunter. The secret they discover is a plot that will change the history of the United States if they cannot stop the sinister neighbors who live in the cottage next door. I’ll stop here. I don’t want to give away too much.
I chose Ocean Beach because I know it and love it. Annie and Ty, my teen sleuths, have their first real date in either Matthew’s or McGuire’s. You decide when you read it.
Whenever I do a book discussion, folks ask, “Why did you write this particular book?” Writing springs from your own experiences and those you manufacture from research and imagination. You make up a story, using these elements. Stories, truth or fiction, are what define us as individuals, and as a culture.
In this story I captured a setting, a love story, and experiences I’ve enjoyed, and then immersed them in an intriguing mystery. I hope you, the reader, will enjoy my story, set in Ocean Beach and F.I. Maybe I’ll see you in Ocean Beach this summer. Have a great one.
