A Mini-Guide Through Memories of a Ghost Pictorial

Memories of a Ghost takes place mostly in Rogers, Arkansas

Memories of a Ghost is my first novel to take place in Rogers, Arkansas, where I’ve lived for the past 10+ years. All of the places in the novel are real, though occasionally they are altered to better fit into the novel. Well, that, and there are no ghosts in Rogers…at least that I know of. And with that said, here’s a mini-pictorial tour through Memories of a Ghost.

Dr. Elisabeth Greenwald’s Office…at least in the book!

This where the story starts. Claire Summers awakes in the office of Dr. Elisabeth “Leesie” Greenwald. She doesn’t remember how she got there or anything about her life, including her name.

The car accident that changes Claire’s life happens here, at the corner of 13th and Persimmon. But was it indeed an accident?

A silver BMW runs down a man right in front of the doctor’s office, on the corner of 13th and Persimmon. Who was the man, and what, if anything, did he have to do with Claire Summers?

After running away from the clinic, Claire finds herself at Olive Street Park.

Claire bolts from the doctor’s office, runs through the suburbs, and finds herself at Olive Street Park, where she meets a strange man named Jimmy Cross. In reality, I took my son here many, many times as a little boy.

An old tree in Olive Street Park. Or is it something more?

Jimmy points out something buried at the base of this old tree, something that will play heavily into the end of the story. It’s a (spoiler,) and she uses (spoiler) to (spoiler.)

Just your every day Family Dollar, next to the Casey’s across from the Olive Street Park.

After speaking to Jimmy for a while, Claire crosses the street to purchase some snacks. When she walks back to the park, Jimmy has mysteriously disappeared. Thankfully, Leesie finds her and return the purse and shoes that she left at the office.

My favorite Thai restaurant in Rogers…well, it was, before it closed down, replaced by a sushi restaurant.

Leesie and Claire pick up dinner at Red Curry before heading to Leesie’s house. Leesie doesn’t want Claire to go home alone, but why?

The Rogers cemetery, on Walnut Street

Claire and Leesie pass the Rogers cemetery on their way to Leesie’s house. I took a few liberties with the cemetery in the book. For one thing, the book version has a wrought iron fence surrounding it. In my opinion, all cemeteries should have a wrought iron fence, and, at least in my books, they always will.

Champions Estates is a fancy-schmancy neighborhood in Rogers

Leesie lives in the Champions Estates development in Rogers. She owns a nice house that she used to share with her ex-husband Pete Snow. Why did they split up? Well, as it turns out, (spoiler.)

The Mercy Medical system in Rogers is very nice, and, to my knowledge, does not harbor (spoiler.)

Leesie takes Claire to the Mercy hospital, to see various specialists to help with her amnesia. Dr. Annie Sturdivant gives her some pills, but before she can take them…well, I’m getting ahead of myself. Before she leaves the hospital, Claire runs into a couple of (spoiler.)

North Mallard Lane is actually in my neighborhood.

After the hospital, Leesie takes Claire to her home on Mallard Lane, where she finds clues about her life.. Claire learns that she has a husband, but he’s (spoiler.) She meets her cat Corduroy, but soon (spoiler.)

Pete Snow, Leesie’s ex-husband, is a detective with the Rogers Police Department.

What danger lies behind these trees?

This is in Dodson cemetery, the inspiration for Rosewood cemetery in the novel. This cemetery is also lacking a wrought iron fence – but not in the book!

Pete Snow is a detective for the Rogers Police Department, and, in many ways, the moral compass in the book. He’s also Leesie Greenwald’s ex-husband. Despite their divorce, Pete loves Leesie very much and would do anything for her-he’d even (spoiler.)

Is this the house where (spoiler) was (spoiler), and where (spoiler)? Well, no, not really, it’s just a house with a lot of trees in front of it. But it’s as close as I could find to the house in the book!

The final (spoiler) in the book takes place here, at Rosewood (Dodson, in real life) cemetery. There’s a pet semetary (get the reference?) behind this cemetery, which may someday play a role in a future book!

There are many settings in the book not pictured here, mostly because they either don’t take place in Rogers (a nice little chunk of the book takes place in Carthage, Illinois, at Moss Ridge cemetery, as shown in my Small Things pictorial) or because revealing the setting would give away too much of the book. The Benton County Morgue, for example. Well, and they probably wouldn’t let me inside to take photos.

I hope you enjoyed this mini-pictorial of Memories of a Ghost! If you haven’t already, go pick up the book. It’s available in Kindle, trade paperback, and trade paperback autographed by me. I know you’ll love it!