Two weeks out.

We’re two weeks out from the release of Robin’s Nest. I’m more than a little excited. This one is set in my tiny home town of Duncan Arizona. I’ve had a lot of people ask me why I chose to set my book there, and it’s not a simple answer.

About ten years ago, shortly after it came out, I picked up Dean Koontz’s By the Light of the Moon. I admit, I read almost everything he writes and have for years, I’m a little behind now because I don’t have the time I once did. But I digress.

Anyway, I was reading the book, which starts out in an unnamed piece of desert in southern Arizona. I don’t remember the character’s names anymore but one pair, a young man and his mentally handicapped brother follow the highways and go through several towns, most of which are unnamed in the story. However, since I had been born and raised in the area, I knew much of where they were. It was exhilarating.

The idea that the people in this book were in places I knew thrilled me in ways I’m not sure I can explain. So when I sat down and started writing, I wanted other people to feel the same. I wanted people who live in the middle of nowhere, to be able to do the same thing I did. Gasp and say “O M G I know that place!” 

I realize there won’t be a huge number of readers who can do that, but it’s a way of connecting with those familiar with the area. It’s was also a way to let people unfamiliar with the area see the beauty there that they haven’t seen, or haven’t seen through the eyes of someone who loves the area.

An added bonus was that it let me visit, at least in my mind, home. I hadn’t been there in quite a while and I got to visit some of my favorite places, and share them with my readers.