Brian Kelly Irons

The origin of this story began some years ago. I had written several different versions of it, mostly short stories that summarized life in a small town. Having been born in a small town myself, I found it easy to put the vision into words. What I needed was a central character. One night after an alarmingly frightening nightmare, I developed a character profile of a strange man, unusual to the mundane normalcy of a small town. He had no name or memory of himself. He was unaware of his purpose.

Black Creek Road did not begin as such. I wanted to create a story that surrounded the strange man. This wasn’t enough. I needed something mysterious. I created a semi-fictional town called Sugar Grove. Yes, I know there’s a Sugar Grove in Illinois already. But having it here in Illinois didn’t feel right. I wanted to have the town feel isolated.

Like the town I was born in, this town was built around a river, and it’s the river itself that causes so much calamity. I would tell you more, but I don’t want to.