When it comes to researching a book like Red Rock Weddings, one must dust off their homebound shoes and hit the road to see all that there is to see. Nothing can breathe life into a tale one tells then by actually being there and visiting the setting. And that’s what my husband and I did when we flew out to Utah. We spent the week touring the sights and sounds and getting a feel for the place where I would set my three stories in this collection.
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| The canyon walk in Cedar City |
We began our adventure in Cedar City, home of story #2 – “Heart of Mine” and the annual summer Shakespearean festival. There was a lovely canyon –like area which I used as the setting for my hero and heroine to meet as they walk their dogs. From there we traveled to Cedar Breaks National Monument and its interesting bowl-like canyon and onward to Bryce Canyon National Park with its famous hoodoos – all of which found a special place in this particular story.
We then headed for Moab, Utah, home to many a rafting company and our own rafting adventure to research story # 1 – “Love’s Winding Path”. My husband was great as I gave him a list of questions to ask our young river guide. He sat directly behind the guide on the bus ride over to the place where we would embark on our rafting trip and was able to find the answers to all my questions. During the trip I listened as the guide pointed
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| Window Arch in Arches National Park |
out the unique rock formations by name, which I incorporated into the book. We then ended the day with a quick trip to Arches National Park and its formations which were again used in the story.
Lastly we made our way back to the prominent city of Utah, Salt Lake City, and took a drive into the Wasatch Mountains, the setting for my third and final story, “Wasatch Love”. There I found a trail I could use in my storyline where the heroine is injured and get a feel for not only city life but the mountains that surround the city. I found it vastly different from the red rocks we’d seen on earlier travels. But that’s what makes Utah so unique.
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| The Wasatch |
I had a great time touring all these lovely spots and hope others will follow in my footsteps, even taking along this collection, if you want, to discover all the beauty that Utah has to offer along with the heroes and heroines of each story in Red Rock Weddings.
There is still time to enter the giveaway from Tuesday which is another collection of stories from the northeastern states – New England. Leave a comment and your e-mail. Ends tonight (10/26) at 10 PM.
Amazon Gift Card!
The ONGOING UTAH PHOTO CONTEST Each day on the blog there will be a photo from Utah featured as part of the ongoing Utah Photo Contest. Each day, take a look at the photo displayed and follow the instruction for that day. Keep track of your responses. There will be a total of five different photos, one for each day. (DO NOT POST YOUR ANSWERS HERE IN COMMENTS or on any of the blogs. If you do your answer will be deleted and your response that day will be disqualified). From Friday, October 28th – through Saturday, October 29th, e-mail your five answers to me at: blissful63(at)gmail(dot)com. From the most correct responses in the photo contest, I will select one winner of the Amazon Gift card!
PHOTO # 3 in the Utah Photo Contest – Name this river that flows through a good part of Utah and is responsible for many of its canyons.
**IMPORTANT – DO NOT post your answer here in the comments! **Keep track of your answers for each day and e-mail them to me from Friday October 28th to Saturday October 29th as stated above. There will be a total of five photos in all in the Utah Photo Contest. This is Photo #3. You can look back for other photos if you missed them.