The inspiration for Monstrosity, my short story included in the American Crime Writer's League anthology, came from a visit to the Austin County Jail.

And no, I wasn't a prisoner.

The old jail housed the historical society and I am drawn to old buildings, constantly going on house alert when one crosses my path and looks like It Needs Me. The place is chillingly atmospheric. Definitely not someplace I would ever spend the night, perhaps because the center of the building featured a self-contained scaffold, which was actually used for a hanging -- leaving that disturbing feeling even if it was only used the one time.

As soon as my guide told me of an incident his great-grandmother had witnessed as a child -- sheets falling out of the top story window followed a few days later of a tale of a vanished prisoner -- the seeds for this story popped into my head.