It was there that she asked me to take a picture of her holding a stuffed log that was on sale so that she could send it to her kids to show them she had done something with her life. I met Catherine Coulson (The Log Lady) while I was browsing in the Salish gift shop, years before I would be brave enough to book a room there. I met Charlotte Stewart (Betty Briggs, plus Mary X in Eraserhead) that weekend, and now we are dear friends. But it wasn’t just fans whom I met it was stars from the series as well. All of these connections and all of these artists came into my life and inspired and supported me in a way that I had never been before. In addition to meeting these artists, I was introduced to so many people who have become a part of my daily life. On that weekend I met for the first time Brad Dukes, who wrote Reflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks David Bushman, who wrote Conversations With Mark Frost and now runs Fayetteville Mafia Press with me Courtenay Stallings, who wrote Laura’s Ghost and is one of The Blue Rose’s managing editors Pieter Dom, who runs the Welcome to Twin Peaks website and John Thorne, who did Wrapped in Plastic. Attending the twenty-fifth Twin Peaks Festival is what started me on this path of publishing Twin Peaks-based books and magazines. It took me twenty-five years to finally make the trip out here, and it changed my life. I am struck by how much my life has changed in those six years. Today I am here as a tourist, although with this being my sixth time in the area, it feels more like a homecoming. That time I came as an attendee of the now-defunct Twin Peaks fan festival. It was six years ago that I first trekked to Snoqualmie, Washington, to see the sights and feel the mood of where the pilot of Twin Peaks and FWWM were filmed. I am wearing a Salish robe while staying at the resort that was the outdoor shooting location for The Great Northern hotel.

The Douglas firs, which are less than ten feet off my balcony, are blowing in the summer wind. But can I explain to you where I am writing this very sentence? I am sitting on a balcony at the Salish Lodge & Spa, listening to “The Laura Palmer Theme” as the sounds of the Snoqualmie Falls churn in the background. I can write anywhere, anytime that life allows it. I am not one of those writers who believe that location inspires writing, at least for me. “I’m so afraid that no one will believe me until after I have taken the seat that I fear has been saved for me in the darkness.”-Laura Palmer’s final entry in The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, Jennifer Lynch (1990) (Chapter published here with permission from Scott). If you haven’t read the book, this is a standout chapter from a must read book. Below is a chapter from Scott Ryan’s book, Your Laura Disappeared on Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

The secret diary of laura palmer review