151 June 24 2003 at 22:06:24 Fullname: Tamara Email: Comments: Kevin, Thanks for the heads up on Merilynn's early appearance! I haven't even seen it yet (not the book inside the cover, anyway!) Merilynn is really my personal favorite. Oh, was she a lot of fun.
152 June 24 2003 at 22:00:58 Fullname: Tamara Email: Comments: Rachel, My brain's always farting, don't feel bad! Most of my books are set in California. Greenbriar is completely fictional and would be inland on the central coast (between LA and San Francisco) of Caledonia. Caledonia is also fictional, but bears an uncanny resemblence to the real coastal town of Cambria, the last town before you hit Hurst Castle, another 50-70 miles north. (Cambria is where Arachiphobia was filmed. It's not as big as Caledonia, but it's an artist colony area, very beautiful. The Caledonia cliffs really belong an hour or two south, in Pismo/Shell Beach.)
While we're at it, the other coastal towns -- Candle Bay and Red Cay (HAUNTED) are between the real towns of Pismo/Shell Beach (they sort of intertwine) and up around the Morro Bay area. Red Cay would be, on a map, smack dab in the center of Los Osos State Beach, Candle Bay a bit north, where the real Pacific Coast Highway veers away briefly from the ocean.
ETERNITY is set in northern California and the mountain lore for the fictional Icehouse Mountain matches that of the real Mt. Shasta. The town of Mt. Shasta is very different from the town of Eternity; only the mountains are similiar. On a map, Eternity (town and county) is in a roadless area about 70 miles northwest of Mt. Shasta. Eternity County is a double-play on words. My mother lived in Trinity County as a girl -- I think that was the county the drowned town I use in SORORITY was in. So, Eternity sounded like a perfect sister county. Plus, there's the story line. :-)
Next year's Thunder Road (first released as a Chris Curry book) is set in southern California, in the Mojave Desert. The town of Madelyn is inspired by the real ghost town/recreation area of Calico, east of Barstow (route to Las Vegas goes by it). Madelyn is bigger and more populated and further east. The book I'm writing now crosses the California border for its setting in Arizona. There will be a lot of fact mixed in with the fiction in this novel because the facts proved to be so marvelous and the people in the area so cooperative. I can't talk more about it yet, editor's orders. While we were in Arizona, we also visited Sedona -- I intended to mix some of the New Agey touristy aspects of Red Rock country into the book, but I don't think I need to. Sedona is the land of vortices -- Jackson Coop in Eternity orbed in from a vortex on Oak Creek -- right where we spent a night. It's a beautiful place, but crowded. The best part was the night we went to one vortex area known for great sunsets and UFOs. When we arrived, we found the place looked just like the scene in Close Encounters when Dreyfus rounds the bend and finds the road covered with people staring at the sky. It was grand!
153 June 24 2003 at 21:44:42 Fullname: Tamara Email: Comments: Hey Dark, I'm like you -- I like to read serial novels all at once. I go nuts waiting for the next part. Sounds like Merilynn's come out of the Walmart already. (This early stuff is a little strange -- they're not really supposed to hit the shelves until the first Tuesday of each month. I feel a little Hairy Potter flutter here...)
154 June 24 2003 at 21:42:17 Fullname: Tamara Email: Comments: Wayne, Are you sure you wouldn't rather take on the Darling Twins than Malory Thomas? They have better manners. :-P
155 June 24 2003 at 21:39:16 Fullname: Tamara Email: Comments: Nanci, Thank you for letting us know about Connie's passing. We knew her as Wicked and Danielle here (and a few other names) and loved her. We'll miss her wit and sense of fun. We'll just miss her, period.
156 June 24 2003 at 20:10:14 Fullname: Kevin Email: Comments: Merilynn has left the building!
The WalMart building, that is. I found her today on the shelves at Walmart, even though I never did see Eve in there. Will start reading it tonight, hurry up Samantha, you're next!
157 June 23 2003 at 22:49:01 Fullname: Rachel Email:
rachel_a_patrick@yahoo.com Comments: Never mind the location question. I had a momentary brainfart. I remember now it was California. =)
158 June 23 2003 at 22:41:55 Fullname: Rachel Email:
rachel_a_patrick@yahoo.com Comments: Hi Tamara, Just got the first of the Sorority Trilogy last night and finished it in one setting. It was great, but I hate having to wait on the others! Where is the story set (state)? I must have missed it. We have a Greenbriar ghost here in WV. It is actually the only ghost that has ever led to a conviction. The ghost of a murdered woman came to her mother and told her that her husband had murdered her and the testimony led to his conviction! Read up on it, I bet you'd love it.
159 June 22 2003 at 19:41:23 Fullname: Nancik Email:
nancik@optonline.net Comments: I received from sad news just now - Connie's husband Ed just called me. Connie passed away on June 9th. Her husband has asked me to let everyone know that she really appreciated all the support and friendship that she has received on this board. I will be posting this on several boards.
160 June 21 2003 at 03:19:56 Fullname: Darkomik77 Email: Comments: BTW Tamara, thanks for the congrats. I'm waiting for your second of the Sorority gals. Figured I'd be readin' all three of 'em at once.
161 June 21 2003 at 03:18:07 Fullname: Darkomik77 Email: Comments: Well, Kevin Bob, you sure ain't no Southern Californian that's fer sherr. :)
162 June 20 2003 at 18:48:04 Fullname: Kevin Bozard Email: Comments: Hi Tamara,
I was down at the bait store picking up a movie for tonight, since I don't get the time to fish anymore, and ya'll crossed my mind for some reason. All ya'll on the forum would really enjoy the South, but with the way some of ya'll talk, someone might say - "You ain't from 'round here, are
ya?"
A guy got mad at me for backing over his dog when I was leavin' the video/bait store, but he'll be okay I reckon'. That ol' dog was so onary, he needed killin'.
Well that's about all I got to say about that, you take care of yourself. I gotta' dip me a pinch of snuff and get back to this here keyboard now. Have a good weekend!
~Kevin Bob
163 June 20 2003 at 02:06:09 Fullname: Wayne Email: Comments: I'm now about ninety pages into Eve, and I know who Malory Thomas is, but not how deadly she can be. This is my kind of lady. Professor Tongue, move over! You now have some serious competition for the Dark Lady!!!
164 June 20 2003 at 00:08:21 Fullname: Tamara Email: Comments: Congratulations, Dark! I agree. Wayne gives good review. Oh, and Malory says hello to both you guys. I've got her tied up in my root cellar.
165 June 20 2003 at 00:05:44 Fullname: Merilynn Email: Comments: Kevin, I'm sitting here in a dark truck, just waiting to be delivered into your strong man-hands!
