The Trailhead #10

It’s been both gratifying and unsettling to watch THE LOST DIARY OF GIL STANFORDbegin to find its readers.

What started life as cut material—a true darling I hesitated to let go of—has quietly charted its own course, slipping into readers’ hands and minds and refusing to stay there peacefully. The diary deepens the lore first hinted at in THE TOWPATH, peeling back layers that were deliberately left lidded to preserve momentum and mystery. That restraint remains, but the lens has shifted. Experiencing the Valley through the fractured, obsessive mind of Gil Stanford makes the story feel more intimate… and far more disturbing. The mystery doesn’t dissolve—it sharpens.