Location: Pinedale, North Carolina
• Stories can be any length although remember only the ones over 45,000 and 100 pages are going to print. We will not be putting these together in anthologies.
• Small town in NC about an hour from Raleigh. Called Pinedale. Most of the stories will be set at the high school but a local café or coffee shop might be somewhere the characters go or the town hall or library, etc.
• Our Principal is woman named Principal Kouriki. She was a teacher from the time she first graduated college – always been at this school. This gives the Principal a very long history at the school and she would have had these kids in class and now has their kids. That gives the authors a fairly long period of time to have known her in some role or another. Meaning author A sets their story in 1980 and knew the Principal as a teacher. Author B sets theirs in 2000 and recalls the Principal as the Principal. The Principal knows there are ghosts and maybe even interacts once in a while with them but to the public she’s very stoic and denies denies denies. She doesn’t want the publicity of her school to be that its haunted.
• The Janitor is an important character – he actually is a ghost but no one really knows that. There can be hints of it in the books but maybe not ever completely come out and say it. Years ago, in 1953 there was a fire at the school and several kids died. The janitor, Harold, saved many of the kids but he couldn’t save them all. The local diner is where everyone gathered, the injured, the parents, etc. and the janitor went there as well but he died from his injuries. He died at the diner, officially. But he continues to “work” at the school trying to save kids. He can be spotted at the diner but also at the school. The plaque in the high school called him a hero named Harold but everyone now knows him has Hank and they do not make the connection. He is the common thread in all the stories.
• There can be bad ghosts but we do not want any horror stories. This is definitely a ghost story and bad ghosts can do some bad things but we want good to win over evil in all the stories. These are YA so the central character has to be a Young Adult – the ghost or the main characters. For example, if the ghost is a young adult who died on the school grounds and interacts with a teacher that works or it can be an adult ghost interacting with a student but the main character in your book has to be a Young Adult.
• Every ghost has to be someone who died on the school grounds – there are woods on the grounds so that could be used as well.
• School colors are purple and teal
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• School Mascot is the Python. Pinedale Pythons. This would also lead to some folks using pythons maybe to scare livings.
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• Most ghosts can not leave the property – some might not be able to leave the school building this is flexible. The only ghost how can leave the school grounds is Hank the janitor who also appears in the diner.
The first two stories will release in October and once they are ready writers are encouraged to read them for a general feel of the set up for the town.