White Rock – Audio Excerpt by J. Rene Guerrero, Laura and Colin Scene

*Audio excerpt read by author J. Rene Guerrero below*

I’d like to thank those who have been following these author readings for my novel White Rock over the last few months. These files have been a blast to make and hopefully have entertained you guys during a decidedly awful time. For those of you new to the Texas-based urban legend of the Lady of the Lake, I would suggest you go here to learn the backstory of the urban legend and get a primer on the novel, as the rest of this post may not make much sense without the backstory. If you choose not to, be prepared for spoilers.

My protagonist in White Rock is a very talented and capable young woman named Laura Milton. As the story unfolds, she is revealed to be a sad but determined reluctant hero endowed with the gifts of empathy and the ability to communicate with spirits of the dead.
The most stabilizing element in Laura’s life is Colin Jonahs, her childhood friend who has become her lover and significant other over the years. But a thoughtless action has forced them apart. As the book begins, we find these two disheartened lovers dealing with the intricacies of staying friends and, to a large part, life partners without being in a romantic relationship for the first time in years. In this audio scene, after weeks of isolation, they decide to meet at one of their favorite places. In their awkward exchange, we see the depth of their commitment to one another even in the face of their separation.

In this reading, I wanted to reveal the human side of these characters for those who are following. I believe the emotional weight in White Rock comes not simply from the graphic or ghastly passages, which, don’t get me wrong, I am concurrently extremely proud of. However, it’s the complexity of the relationships that give my stories breath. On an editorial level, I believe without psychological roots, the spirits of the dead would have no reason to stay bound to the earth, much less have reason to reach out to the living. It is our energetic and emotional ties to one another that makes up the tapestry of our collective spiritual consciousness. And it is within that tapestry that we share experiences and memories on both sides of the Veil…

Later in this clip, we follow Colin back to his flat in Gramercy where he decides to do his own little investigation on Laura’s urban legend. He wakes up from a horrific dream, suddenly a believer in all the crazy things Laura had described from her own nightmares.

I am recording these audio sessions in my own voice from my proverbial closet sound booth, manually adding all the sound effects, and composing and performing all the musical themes (that are not loops). Hey, it ain’t brain surgery, but it’s harder than it looks, and takes multiple disciplines to create effective content. Again, I hope you enjoy it and would love to hear any feedback.

You can listen to more audio clips and purchase your own copy of White Rock at reneguerrero.com