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My favorite place to visit is the . I average a trip there once a week. It’s a relaxing place to walk, and the exhibits are so much fun to see. I suppose it was only a matter of time before some of the exhibits would influence my writing. I thought it would be fun to share some pictures that provided me the settings for which I planned my books.

But first, I want to share two pictures of owls that are in the desert dome of the zoo. I couldn’t resist. I am in the process of writing Anyone But the Marquess where the statue of an owl plays a role in the course of the story.

I don’t want to spoil how the owl plays a role in this particular story. But let’s just say that Guy Milton (Lord Quinton) has a panic attack over an owl statue in this book. If you read Midnight Wedding, you know why.

So anyway, I saw a couple of owls and decided to take these pictures in honor of Guy.

Alright, now for the setting part of this post�

The reason I decided to set Tagalong Bride in Arizona was because of the Desert Dome at the zoo. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize how varied the terrain in Arizona is, and I picked a location that is full of trees, rather than the desert environment that inspired me at the dome. I’ll be rectifying this situation in Book 2 in the Love Under Desert Skies Series, The Hero Least Likely.

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Here are some pictures from the Desert Dome that inspired the creation of this series:

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Another exhibit at the zoo that I fell in love with is for the sea lions, and the setting is the Northwest Pacific. After walking through this exhibit for a year and a half, I finally decided I had to write a book that took place in this setting. That is how The Wilderness Bride was born.

I took a story idea I had a couple of years ago and placed the heroine and hero in Oregon. Here are some pictures from this exhibit at the zoo:

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Every time I go to the zoo, I go through these exhibits and think of different scenes that might make up the stories as I’m writing them. It makes writing even more enjoyable.