Laguna_Beach_BuchtHi everyone–

This past weekend, the summer Art Festivals opened in Laguna Beach, CA, the official start of summer in my home town. Even though “June gloom” still prevails with fog cooling off the heat a lot of the mornings, the tourists pour into the town preparing for the Fourth of July fireworks and a huge helping of arts and crafts.

As you may know, i set a lot of my romance novels in Laguna — more than half — and these summertrolley events remind me of scenes that i’ve created. Like the real official icon of summer is the Laguna trolley. These open air vehicles transport people around the town all summer for free — which is essential since parking is impossible. I set a scene in Golden Dancer on the trolley where my billionaire art collector, Daniel, takes the beautiful ballet dancer, Trelain Medveyev, on a trolley trip to go to brunch at a favorite Laguna Mexican restaurant. All the tourists are staring at the gorgeous dancer — as is Daniel.

Volley Balls was the first book i set in Laguna Beach. In it, my hero David, poses nude as the statue of David in the famous Pageant of the Masters. The Pageant replicates works of art using real people. It’s an extraordinary thing to see. Even when you watch the “sample” where the people get into place in the frames in front of your eyes, you still can’t believe that the works of art are human! The people who pose nude are a special pageant-of-the-mastersbreed in the Pageant.

The Pageant actually takes place on the grounds of the Festival of the Arts which is a juried art show at which my hero, Rodney, from Fire Balls is an exhibitor. The Festival is where Rodney beats up Mick. The Sawdust Festival is the wildly popular arts and crafts show that features artists only from Laguna Beach. In the winter, the Sawdust grounds hold the Winter Festival and that’s the setting for Snow Balls, where JJ meets the tough cop, Ryan Star.

CrystalCove9-1-08-150.jpg.w560h423The beaches of Laguna are the biggest draw to the town, of course, and i’ve set many scenes on the beach. David first sees the men who will become his lovers, the handsome volleyball players, Gareth and Edge, on Main Beach. In Golden Dancer, Daniel and Trelain walk on the beach holding hands since Laguna is very gay friendly, and in Hearts and Flour, my heroes take a walk to one of the the gay beaches where the beautiful boys gather. An amazing beach called Crystal Cove is the setting for several scenes in Beach Balls. On the north end of Laguna, Crystal Cove is isolated and like a step back in time. Its beautiful curved beach is a favorite of artists. My heroes get into a lot of hanky-panky on that beach.

Altogether, i’m a lucky author to have such a fun and action-packed setting for my books. Some of my readers have come to visit Laguna just because of reading my stories. I hope you all find romance here! : )