White Rock – Audio Excerpt by J. Rene Guerrero, The Wilkinson Interview

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

When I first began writing my novel White Rock, one of my main goals was to strive to be as authentic as possible. Even though I was writing a fictional book, I wanted to use real stories from real people, get a personal view of the urban legend, and see what compelled these accounts. I let everyone in my universe know that I was looking for people interested in being interviewed about their experiences with the lake as well as the ghostly urban legend associated with it. I was pleased and a little surprised when I started getting responses right away.

At the time, I was working as a producer for a media company in Dallas, Texas, not far from White Rock. A dear friend with whom I worked mentioned his older uncle might be interested in sitting for an interview. Apparently, he was an ex-city planner that had been employed by the City of Dallas up until the late 1990s. He had hinted a number of times over the years to my friend that he had some crazy stories concerning the lake. One thing led to another, and we actually scheduled a meeting.

At the time of our interview, this gentleman, who has requested anonymity, was in his late seventies and had been retired for years. I was very interested in what he had to say but was also fully prepared to fill in the holes to make a more compelling story. Little did I know, the power and shocking nature of what he had to tell me would influence my tale more than anything I could ever invent…

In this week’s White Rock excerpt, our protagonist Laura Milton has gone to interview a new contact at Winfrey Point. Clate Wilkinson is a retired city planner who has been harboring a dark secret for many years. In his colorful verbiage, he tells an entertaining and ominous tale of what his crew found during one of the dredgings of White Rock Lake many years ago and why it’s haunted him ever since…

Enjoy