Posted: Saturday, June 21, 2014 11:54 pm

By Jena Sauber St. Joseph News-Press

While out running several years ago, Nshan “Nick” Erganian came up with an idea. Now, that idea has become a reality with his first novel, “Keeper of the Mountain,” published in March.

“I came up with the idea about a brand-new teacher, 22 or 23 years old, fresh out of college, headed to her first job,” Mr. Erganian says.

In his novel, that new teacher, Susan Clark, is headed to Auburn, Mo., for her first teaching job. But when she doesn’t show up for work on her first day, the retired school superintendent and town sheriff get worried. They embark on a race against the clock to find Clark before it becomes too late.

The book includes many unique characters, such as Jubile Walker, whose uneducated parents had to guess how to spell his name when he was born (they got it wrong), and Spook Daniels, whose real name is James Earl Daniels and whose father was one of three traveling handymen — James, Earl or Daniel.
“There are lots of stories about looking for missing people,” Mr. Erganian said. “What drives this one is the unique, quirky characters.”