Cover art by Jess Small Thank you Elizabeth for giving me a spot today! I really appreciate it. When I was doing the research for locations for the trip, I realized pretty quickly how just desolate many of their stops would be. Funny enough, that feeling lent itself well to the story and I just ended up feeling doubly bad. One problem with the US Southwest is that it’s still truly empty in so many places. Southern California, east of San Bernadino, Arizona (most of it!), New Mexico, and Texas all have vast open deserts with very little to break it up. There are quite a few stops along the way on their journey to, eventually, Forbes Pack in Southwestern Pennsylvania. (Fortunately for them, they do end up flying a bit more than half the distance!) Today, I thought I might share the view from a few of the stops on their trip. Stop #1 – Tonto Pack – Phoenix, Arizona [caption id="attachment_6506" align="aligncenter" width="744"] Please pardon the fisheye distortion - I wanted to provide a 360 degree view of that stop.[/caption] Not the first actual stop on the trip. But the first one I’d like to share. Miguel and Luis are city boys, except for their monthly jaunts up into the forest for the full moon. So, Miguel is a little… dismayed at what he finds on the trip. He’d spent so much time in a city—a real, big city, with a McDonald’s and an In-N-Out on every corner—that to step outside and see nothing besides the bus station but an airport and desert was disheartening. Stop #2 – (On the way to) Gila Pack – Deming, New Mexico It was Luis’s turn to be about as disappointing as Phoenix was for Miguel, though they at least got a little bit more out of their stop than they did the Phoenix one. Including a bit of authentic Mexican food that was “so good, it reminded Luis of home and made him ache.”  Luis had hoped for a bit more from Deming, though he didn’t know why. They didn’t have a full bus station. It was a stop at the Shell gas station just off the highway. After purchasing tickets for the local bus to Silver City, they got directions to a nearby Mexican restaurant the Shell owner promised was authentic and relatively cheap. Stop #3 –Albuquerque, New Mexico (midpoint stop) Albuquerque was weird (entirely aside from its spelling, which took me forever to remember—I depended a lot on Word for that. *cough*), because Greyhound doesn’t actually go into Santa Fe. It’s pretty! But weird. Probably something to do with their Rio Metro Regional Transit train system. The time they got into Albuquerque was probably not the best time—1:00 a.m.—but at least they could protect themselves if it came down to it.  Miguel had no doubt Santa Fe was going to turn them away. But since he had no idea where else to go, he followed Alpha Mike’s advice, and they bought tickets in Deming for Las Cruces. They’d had to spend the day in Deming, but finally made it to Las Cruces in the afternoon, where they changed buses for Albuquerque. Stop #4 – Santa Fe Pack – Santa Fe, New Mexico The Santa Fe “station” was… tiny isn’t too strong a word. And the poor boys got there at six. I can’t even imagine being awake at that time, much less traveling.  After waiting until nine—which he thought was a more respectable hour than six—they got a hold of the Santa Fe alpha, the aforementioned Nate, and made plans to meet him. However, not two minutes after sitting down at the table with the alpha with silver-streaked hair, Miguel knew Alpha Mike had been right. Stop #5 – United States National Wolf Headquarters – Denver, Colorado Denver wasn’t their last stop—technically that was Forbes Pack in SW Pennsylvania—but it was almost the last. Probably the most important stop, though. They didn’t get in until at almost midnight, tired and not a little terrified. They were, after all, about to go to their version of the White House to meet the wolf version of the president. I’d be a little terrified… well, depending on who was attached to the title at the time. Anyway…  “Wait… did you say Miguel Garcia? Is Luis Rodriguez with you?” “Yes, ma’am,” Miguel said, turning a puzzled look at Luis, who shrugged. “Oh dear. Are you still at the bus station?” “Yes. We just got in a little while ago.” “All right. Stay there. We’ll have someone pick you up shortly.” And with that, she hung up. Miguel stared at his phone for a moment, then looked up at Luis. “That… is not what I expected.” “Me either. Are we in trouble?” “I have no idea, but I think the best thing to do would be wait.” They got in at midnight, so they didn’t really get to see much of the surrounding land on the way to Wolf Headquarters, but the view of the mountains above is what they would have seen on that route. I hope you enjoyed a peek at the boys’ journey! I loved being able to research their trip. I didn’t love sending them on it, but it helped the wolf population as a whole, so they both agreed it was worth it. To find out how, well… you’ll have to read, won’t you? Thank you again to Elizabeth for sharing her blog with me today! Hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the auditorium! Thanks again to Lou for the space. When you have a chance to read Hope, let me know how it compares to your mental image of the place! **All images taken from Google maps and streetview.
* * * Hope, part of the Forbes Mates series Length: 13,000 words Genre: m/m paranormal shifters Miguel Garcia and Luis Rodriguez have been best friends all their lives. For the last year, they’ve been hiding the fact that they’re also destined mates. When Luis’s family finds out, they kick him out. Miguel’s family would keep them… except their alpha has been known to be downright violent against gay wolves. With the help of Miguel’s mother, they set out to find a pack that will accept them. They run into more that a few obstacles before they end up in Denver, at the national wolf headquarters, meeting the alpha prime. They’re stunned to find, not only offers to join more than one pack, but that their struggle can shine light on a bigger problem–and make things better for LGBT wolves across the country. Hope is available on September 6, 2019 exclusively at Amazon and on Kindle Unlimited. There is also a giveaway for this release. Details are below. a Rafflecopter giveawayAnd check out the upcoming blog tour appearances below!   About Grace: Grace Duncan grew up with a wild imagination. She told stories from an early age – many of which got her into trouble. Eventually, she learned to channel that imagination into less troublesome areas, including fanfiction, which is what has led her to writing male/male erotica. A gypsy in her own right, Grace has lived all over the United States. She has currently set up camp in East Texas with her husband and children – both the human and furry kind. As one of those rare creatures who loves research, Grace can get lost for hours on the internet, reading up on any number of strange and different topics. She can also be found writing fanfiction, reading fantasy, crime, suspense, romance and other erotica or even dabbling in art. Website ◊ Facebook ◊ Twitter ◊ Youtube ◊ Goodreads
Comments are closed.
|
 Welcome to My World
|
RSS Feed
