Motel Pool locations 1: Hollywood

Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting about some of the locations featured in my new novel, Motel. Pool. Today is the first stop: Hollywood.
 
 
 
The mall where I took this pic is right on Hollywood Boulevard, and was the setting for one of my very first stories, “Act One.” Yes, there’s the famous Hollywood sign and the famous smog.
 
To be honest, Los Angeles is not my favorite city. But I don’t mind an occasional visit there, and I have to admit I’m a little drawn by the simultaneous glamour and seediness of Hollywood.
 

I mean–Cary Grant, right?
 
 
The opening chapter of Motel. Pool. take place in Hollywood in the mid-1950s, when Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe might have been hanging around. And when, I imagine, a lot of young men showed up hoping to be the next James Dean. Young men like Jack Dayton–a meatpacker’s son from Omaha, who learns the hard way that the casting couch won’t lead to fame.

 
The photo above is actually from a little way down Santa Monica Boulevard. It’s West Hollywood, which today has its own interesting sights. Like pet stores with intriguing advertisements:

 
Do you have a favorite Hollywood icon from the 1950s?


Heating up already?

Okay, so it’s barely May and aleady it’s in the upper 90s around here. I am stubbornly refusing to turn on the air conditioning–despite having a cold. I will suffer.

The temptation in weather like this is to turn to something light and frothy. A beach read, right? Preferably one that actually occurs at the beach. If you’re looking for that, I offer my novella Treasure, which you can download for free here. Or maybe you want a road trip story, like my soon-to-be-released Motel. Pool. Or a vacation tale like Venetian Masks.

But you know what? I think you ought to be contrary. As those temps climb and the days grow longer, I think you should curl up with something a little dark. Something with monsters. Like our new anthology, Stitch, of course. It contains novellas by Sue Brown, Eli Easton, Jamie Fessenden, and me, each of which will make you think about what it really means to be human. Maybe you’ll even be cooled a bit with a chill up your spine–or else heated up with some steamy lovin’.

The four of us will be joined by B.G. Thomas for a second book in the Gothika series; this book will contain voodoo stories. Mine’s called “The Dance” and was submitted today. That book should release in time for Halloween.

In the meantime, pour yourself something cold and admire this cover: