The BrightSide: Writing a book and unlocking history

WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. – Writing a book– it can be a daunting task. But for Stephanie Fowler, she embraced the challenge.

Stephanie went back in time to the late 60s to write her book, Into The Night. 

“Into The Night is about the double homicide that occurred in Salisbury in 1968. There was a prisoner in the county jail that was located up top the courthouse; there was a prisoner in the jail there and he had his friend and his girlfriend smuggle a gun into the jail,” Stephanie said.

Her connection to the story? Her grandfather was there.

“The deputy that was working the desk that night was my grandfather, so this story kind of comes to me in a personal way,” Stephanie said. “Not only loving history but also having a bit of a personal connection to the story as well.”

“It’s these types of stories that Stephanie said motivate her as an author. She enjoys going back in time and sharing the perspectives of real people and their real experiences.

“The Sheriff of Wicomico County and the jailer were murdered, and it just didn’t seem like something that people knew but didn’t talk about, and my grandfather, especially, having been there that night, he didn’t talk about it,” Stephanie said.

And for aspiring authors, Stephanie had this advice.

“If there’s a story that you want to tell and only you can tell it, you should do it,” Stephanie said. “There’s writing groups and editors and other people you can reach out to to support you, but I think if somebody’s got a story to tell, they should tell it.”