Tag Archives: The Sneaker Tree

New Novel Release! The Sneaker Tree

Remember when you were a kid and you had that one magical summer that seemed to last a lifetime?

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Cooper, Gooby, Chuck, Cliff and Bolo don’t know it, but they are in the midst of a summer they will never forget. Their small town is paralyzed with fear as a serial killer preys upon children and The Golden Boys seem to be the only ones who have a chance to stop him. A life-long bond is forged between them as they confront each other, their worst fears and a killer that is more than anyone could possibly imagine.

From the first review that I swear I did not pay for: “This book had it all, great characters, humor and suspense. If you like Dean Koontz…characters you will like this book as well.” ~ Karen

If you read my first novel White Picket Prisons this is the perfect prequel. If you didn’t read White Picket Prisons don’t worry about it it! This is the prequel, so it happened before the other story. This is better to read first anyway. It was a fun write and I hope you find it to be a fun read. It’s not an 800 page long Stephen King kind of novel either. It’s the kind of book you can read in a weekend when you’re bundled up on the couch because it’s too cold to go out.

It’s now available for only $3.99 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and in the iTunes bookstore as well as all the other online e-book retailers.

Yes, for my regular Phil Factor readers, I apologize that I didn’t do my usual Saturday post, but I promise I’ll get back to sarcasm as usual after today and I thank you for your wonderful support. As always, I love it when you do that social media thing that makes all this media social by sharing #ThePhilFactor on Facebook, Twitter, and anywhere else you’d like.

The Boys are Back! Cover Reveal for The Sneaker Tree

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The Golden Boys are back! Or is it the Golden Boys are here? This is the epic prequel to White Picket Prisons. Find out how The Golden Boys became The Golden Boys, if they can survive this. If you haven’t read White Picket Prisons yet, don’t worry. You can start the series with either.

The Sneaker Tree is coming very soon to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the iTunes bookstore and other online e-book retailers. Trust me, I’ll let you know the release date. As always, and especially in this case please share #ThePhilFactor by Facebook, Twitter or any other way you like.

Cover art by Rene Folsom

The Last Shoe Tree Post

That’s right! This is the last post I’ll put here with a picture and story of another shoe tree. This is the tree, or rather trees that started all this, and after posting this today, tonight  I’ll post the answer to why I’ve been telling you about the shoe trees.

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About an hour east of Buffalo, very near to the shore of Lake Ontario in upstate Amish country is a copse of four trees covered in shoes. Some are hanging by their laces in the high branches and some nailed to the trunks. They are actually called The Sneaker Trees. The trees started about forty years ago when a local resident who collected shoes brought his collection to the copse of trees and threw them all up in the branches.

Local legend has it that if you throw your shoes into the tree and they stay up there it brings you good luck. I just drove by the trees yesterday and I’m hoping they bring me good luck. Come back tonight to find out what this has all been about.

Photo credit: Brent Young, RoadsideAmerica.com

The Tree of Lost Soles

After posting about the mysterious Shoe Tree in Slab City, CA yesterday I received a comment on my Facebook wall from Lindsey Rice Hodges of Helen, Georgia telling me about The Tree of Lost Soles which is pictured below.

Helen, GA Lost Soles

The tree sits along the Chattahoochee River where locals and tourists like to go “tubing”. The tree is allegedly the repository for all the footwear lost while folks floated leisurely down the river. Unfortunately, not all floats down the river were so pleasant. Considering that there have been several deaths on the river perhaps the lost soles on the tree may actually represent some real lost souls…

If you know of a tree of soles, souls, shoes, or sneakers, please let me know so I can post it here.

The Slab City Tree of Souls (Soles?)

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Two nights ago I was on Twitter and posted a tweet that simply said “The Sneaker Tree.” That was it. No explanation or context. Just those three words.

Within minutes @pkninjaz, Jazmin, a complete stranger from the other side of the country sent me the picture above. It is a picture of the Slab City, California shoe tree known as the Tree of Souls.

There are trees like this all over the country and the world. They’ve existed for decades and no one knows how or why they started. Do you know of a shoe tree somewhere near you? Send me a picture and I’ll post it here, on my Facebook and my Twitter. authorphiltaylor@gmail.com