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Welcome to Spearfish Lake Tales Wiki!

What is Spearfish Lake Tales Wiki all about?

Welcome to the wiki for fans of Wes Boyd's Spearfish Lake Tales. We are up to 3,469 articles in the wiki!

Sadly, Wes passed away on March 8, 2018. Based on a post from his daughter, there were eight then-unpublished books that were eventually posted.

Many fans have wished for a way to look up information about the characters, stories and places (real and fictional) in the SLT stories. This is a way for us as fans to provide this information. Please remember that Spearfish Lake and all it contains belongs to Wes or his heirs.

If you have just begun reading Spearfish Lake Tales, you might be wondering what order to read them in.

Most people find it fun to read them in the order they were published rather than trying to force them into a neat chronological order. On Wes' home page, Spearfish Lake Tales, the latest tale being published is listed at the top, so scroll down to the bottom and start with Rocinante, the first one published, and work your way up the list of stories.

Warning!!!   There are spoilers on these Wiki pages. We are all here for the enjoyment so do not blame others if your curiosity and lack of control lead to a story outcome being spoiled.

That being said, dive in and have fun.

The Editors

A significant amount of Wes Boyd’s fiction is firmly rooted in reality. The ability of his readers to visualize his stories from reality has contributed to the appeal and popularity of his work. His readers always feel that they can walk down the street in Spearfish Lake and meet and greet his characters. Spearfish Lake itself is an amalgamation of any number of UP (Upper Peninsula) towns. Bradford, MI is a stand in for the Hudson, MI area where Wes lived and toiled. Wes once stated that many of his characters were recognizable among the various denizens of Hudson. Camden was based on Green Bay, WI. Decatur was a thinly veiled reference to Chicago, IL with a hefty slice of Milwaukee, WI tossed into the mix. Wes did take a certain amount of literary liberty when referring to the distances and travel times between these locations. The D&O Railroad is a literary equivalent of the defunct SOO Line whose service area included Wisconsin and the UP. Wes’s descriptions of the D&O equipment, equipment livery, operations and operating area are almost a dead ringer for the SOO Line. That is why so many illustrations of D&O equipment used in the Wiki feature SOO Line equipment. The C&SL (Camden and Spearfish Lake) is an amalgamation of any number of short lines that have been created over the years by local business interests when a railroad abandoned their service area. Many of the characters and institutions that Wes wrote about were taken from his own life experiences. As an author Wes remained, at heart, a reporter. He reported on what he knew and saw. Wes was a hiker, kayaker and outdoorsman. He was a pilot and proudly flew until his health robbed him of his license. He was a news photographer and reporter by trade and an essayist and novelist by avocation. He was an inspiration to other writers and to us all! The Editors

The Latest News

Posting delays starting June 30, 2021

A message on the top of the websites warns:

There are plans for another book, but it is not ready, likely won't be for a few months, hopefully sooner.

It is NOT written by Wes, but is the mentioned sequel to Circuit Rider below, title to be Under Prairie Skies.

See the forum for more details. Click the "New Forum" link to the left of the main Spearfish Lakes Tale page, above the girl playing the guitar. No registration required to view or post there. We'll try to keep updating progress there, soon with a hoped-for start date.

Reunion finished posting June 27, 2021

The 20-year reunion of the Bradford High School class of 1988 and the finale for the ten-book series. Boring old Bob Spheris meets ditzy motormouth Sharon Holdenhoven, and after not seeing each other in twenty years they kindle a torrid romance. Can Bob talk Sharon into moving to Colorado with him? Sharon has doubts as to whether a relationship would work. During all this, the couple works to extract a young newlywed couple from a religious cult. This book contains more sex than Wes’s usual writing.

Bulldog Spirit and Other Short Works finished posting April 15, 2021

This is an anthology of four new works. The title story is of Cam Patterson, a 4-year-old in "Picking up the Pieces", now starting his first day at college. It is just a partial story, one Wes never finished, final notes included at the end. It should probably be placed in the Bradford Exiles area, though has crossover with characters from Spearfish Lake. The second story is just a very short start, a truncated chapter maybe three pages long of something entirely different. What we have of it indicates it would belong in the Tales From Spearfish Lake. The third work is simply notes on a possible science fiction story Wes had an idea for, no real story included, but interesting enough concept to offer to fans. It would be an independent novel, likely not even any relation to his SF novel, "Destiny". The fourth tale is an independent risqué thing originally written under a pseudonym and is complete, though just a short story (term used loosely). To expand this purchased version, there are ten more stories included from the Shorts & Rants section of this site. You've already read them, but hopefully some would like "official" versions in a book file.

Slippery Slopes - Three Tales of Bondage finished posting March 11, 2021

This is an anthology of three shorter works, much like the book “Three From Bradford” that Wes published back in 2013. The three stories are related by both theme and common characters and here are posted in order of story chronology. The main theme connecting the stories is light bondage, and there is lots of that. There is also some sex, some very mild masochism, some violence, and even a smattering of religion, so you are warned. In a few places, it is over the top for certain events or activities, but that’s the way Wes often did it. There are long chapters and short chapters. Often you’ll get two chapters posting as one, but you’re used to that now.

The West Turtle Lake Club finished posting on November 12, 2020

This is a romp through the past and the beginnings of The West Turtle Lake Club and Tales of Spearfish Lake. It’s more background of the Spearfish Lake story than anything else. It takes place in 1975 with the beginning of the Mike McMahon era and includes flashbacks to WW2 and on up into the early 1960s. Regular readers will see several scenes that were lifted from

this story and used in Forgotten Killer and others in Absent Friend. As a warning there are some decidedly non-P.C. ethnic jokes common for the time period contained herein.

The Storm posted July 29, 2020

The Storm is an unfinished chapter that never made it to a book, just a fill-in for a story that is a chapter short of finishing out the final week. It’s a bit short, about 6 pages, of Candice Archer in Spearfish Lake, and she’s kayaking, not dog sledding. It ends abruptly, but all we have is there.

Nature Girl finished posting on July 27, 2020

Twelve-year-old Kayla Holst likes being barefoot, even in the winter. She runs track and cross country without shoes when they let her. In fact, Kayla has discovered she likes being totally nude and now wants to be a nudist. She wishes she had friends who did. Her girlfriends even hate changing clothes or showering in the school locker room after gym, so they aren’t going to join her for skinny dipping in their home swimming pool. She isn’t even a teenager yet, so boys don’t interest her, and she’s already smart enough to know that being nude doesn’t automatically mean sex anyway. Adults can be so stupid sometimes. Kayla’s family doesn’t yet know her preference, which severely limits her nude time. With her mother the mayor of the town, a liberation march for nudism could cause problems for her family. She’s too young to join a nudist resort, so how can she find friends who also prefer to be clothes free?

Sword of the Amazon finished posting on May 14, 2020

A masked woman in black carrying only a sword stops a holdup at a Toledo Ohio convenience store late one evening and disappears into the night. A few days later, she again appears from nowhere to rescue a six-year-old girl kidnapped earlier that same day and fades into the dark. She calls herself Hippolyta after the Amazon Queen from Greek mythology, but police are stumped as to who she is, and so are the media, calling her a new modern-day superheroine. Newspaper reporter and part-time policeman Charlie Parker, with younger sister Sally Parker who’s a reporter for a local TV station, are working with Janice and Rick, two more cops, to uncover her identity. Then the situation turns serious, with the local gangs now targeting her because she helped in a recent drug bust. Deadly serious, with MAC-10s aimed directly at her!

Wiki update

On 2019-11-26 we updated the software on this wiki to MediaWiki 1.33.1 and Semantic MediaWiki 3.1. Please let me know if you see any issues.

The Curlew Creek Theater finished posting on February 13, 2020

Brett Wickwire, substitute dairy farm milker and substitute teacher, would rather be a theater actor, even though he knows he needs to grow up and accept a real job somewhere soon. The market is tight for fulltime teaching jobs and no way does he want to be a fulltime milker. He talks his way into a dinner theater startup for the summer and brings along Meredith VanArnhem, an actress he’s worked with before. There are problems, but the big one for Brett is that this job is only for the summer, and what can he do afterward? He does find a girlfriend among the actresses – no not Meredith, who’s a hard-core lesbian, but another girl, Kellye Ginther – and there’s another problem, because she’s still in school at a college not close by. How can Brett continue that relationship and continue acting, even if it’s only sideline, and still make a living?

The Spearfish Lake House finished posting on October 7, 2019

Book Thirteen of the New Spearfish Lake Tales series Two years after graduating, Susan McMahon returns from China to her alma mater, Southern Michigan University, to check the job boards there for new foreign listings, but instead is offered a position at the university itself. This job on home soil starts at a higher salary than she’d ever dreamed possible for her to make. As the new university ombudsman, however, she discovers a co-worker she has to interact with is an old nemesis from high school. Susan ends up living with others from her home town in the same house near school she owned when attending as an undergraduate. Other students on campus show wide interests, including one girl who wears a chastity belt fulltime. The school is liberal-progressive and shies away from any campus security or police presence, then a religious fanatic shows up on a crowded Activities Fair Day with a gun and starts shooting. Can he be stopped before killing too many – and with the rule of no firearms allowed on campus, how can it be done?

Circuit Rider finished posting on May 23, 2019

Book Three of the Reverend Nanci Series: A week into her first pastorate in two small Southeastern Colorado ranching community churches, Reverend Nanci Chladek takes in an abandoned teenage girl. She finds that Amber is disliked intensely by the leaders of the communities and of her churches. This brings discord to the two communities, and most of that displeasure is aimed right at Nanci for doing what she thought of as her job as a minister by trying to help someone in need. Can Nanci gently quench the antagonism of these survivors of previous adversarial battles -- verbal, mental, and physical? In the middle of this the pastor of a third church starts heaping more trouble of a different sort on Nanci. She has battles to fight or possibly lose the congregations of the churches in her first assignment. She revels in the job, which she has worked long and hard to prepare for. Warning: There is Christianity, faith, and religion in this story.

Destiny finished posting on February 28, 2019

The year is 2241 and geologist Arik Kalita thinks planet Earth is getting too crowded and too regulated, so he signs on with the next sublightspeed exploration ship to the stars, one aimed at a star eight lightyears away. Coldsleep technology will allow Arik, exobiologist Leticia Ozawa, and 20,000 others to arrive still young enough to experience a long life on a new planet. However, the new planet turns out to be airless and uninhabitable. There are time limits for coldsleep. Do they head back to an Earth 450 years in their future, or do they try for another star, knowing that if it is also unsuitable there might not be another chance?

Golden Hour finished posting on November 29, 2018

Kyle Murray, out taking landscape pictures, meets a girl taking selfies beside the road. Chelsea Walsh is wearing a skimpy bathing suit, which makes Kyle’s eyes pop. They have entirely different approaches to photography, and both use their pictures to supplement mediocre day-job income. They help each other with their photography and a relationship develops.

Chelsea is forced to relocate for a living-wage job, and Kyle then moves to a much better job creating an even-greater separation. Both date others but keep in touch. Kyle tries to form other relationships, but the results are hilariously disastrous. Chelsea’s are ho-hum. No cameras are involved in either’s new relationship attempts, though Kyle does take some pictures. Chelsea can no longer do bathing suit selfies as she would be fired if she were found out.

A long-distance relationship can’t work for them, so they have to get close up.

This is a Wes Boyd story and you fans know they get back together, but how? And then what happens? You’ll just have to read the book.

Plain Jane finished posting on August 30, 2018

Jane Marshall is single but looking and, even though her nickname is ‘Plain Jane,’ dressed nicely she’s rather pretty. She is tired of her low-paying restaurant job despite a recent bachelor’s degree and would like to distance herself from the irritating woman who shares her apartment. Rick Thredford, introverted computer geek, unmarried and with no social skills, is bored to tears at his job where they’re trying to force him to quit. He has plenty of money now and will soon be worth a lot more if he can keep his job. Sophia, his secretary, thinks he needs to be married to give him an interest other than sitting alone and writing computer code to overcome his boredom. Unfortunately, the marriage needs to happen quickly, but it only happens if she can get them to agree to a trip to the altar with no time to get to know each other. Can Sophia play the matchmaker in an arranged marriage – put Jane and Rick together, and have them married in just a few days – and then have any chance that such a nontraditional marriage can be successful? There are so many pitfalls to be negotiated in such a short time.

Wes Boyd died on March 8, 2018

Wes Boyd, the creator of Spearfish Lake Tales, passed away on March 8, 2018. Read Wes Boyd's Obituary.

You can see more of Wes Boyd's books at Category:Book and Wes Boyd's Bibliography.

Reading

Like most of the people who look at this wiki, you probably stumbled into reading one of Wes' tales somewhere in the middle of a story, either on his site or one of the ones he posts on. Now that you are hooked, having gone back and read (or like many of his readers, reread) a tale or two, you might ask what do I read next?

For most readers the best way to cover all the tales is from the beginning; not chronological beginning, but publication order. On his home page, spearfishlaketaleswiki.com, the tales are listed in reverse chronological order! So scroll on down, and start with Rocinante. He has left a hint as to the publication order - look for the number that is part of the link for each story.

Check out Wes Boyd's Bibliography for information on each series and hints about what will be next.

Also useful is the list of this wiki's pages for each story. See the link Books and Short Stories which is in the navigation sidebar on the left side of every page.

Instructions for New Users

After you have created your login via the Special:UserLogin page, all new users should go to the SPLTWiki style page before editing or creating pages. The instructions there for new users will help get you up to speed.

Only users who have logged in are able to edit.

The Editors

Starting Points

• Books and Short Stories
• Characters
• Locations
• Activities
• Families
• Timelines
• Google Earth and the Spearfish Lake Tales
• Shared Documents from Users
• Wes Boyd's Bibliography

Spearfishlaketales.com

Links to where the good stuff is on Wes Boyd's site.

• Spearfish Lake Tales
• Forum
• FAQ
• Map of Spearfish Lake

Want to Help?

• Create yourself a login

• Check out the Community Portal page for what needs to be done

• Look at the user guide for general mediawiki style and editing information

• Look at our SPLTWiki style page for specific Spearfish Lake Tales Wiki conventions

• Look around the site for how others are doing things

• Take a crack at revising a page or creating a new one!

General Help Information

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