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Monday, July 20, 2015

TEXAS ROOTS by Sandra Nachlinger

Do you enjoy going back your roots? I do! These days, I live in the Pacific Northwest, but I was born and raised in Dallas, and my parents and three of my four grandparents were native Texans. Those roots run deep. Whenever possible I return to North Texas to soak up the wide open spaces, visit friends and family, and revive my accent. Here are a few photos from my recent visit with a friend in Pottsboro, a small town near the Texas-Oklahoma border that inspired the setting for BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY.  
[click on photos to enlarge]

Pottsboro has doubled in size
since my parents had a cabin
on nearby Lake Texoma
Stop by Mom's Cafe for a bargain meal...
Or grab a plate of Pop's chicken fried steak
with a side of fried okra and a big glass of
sweet iced tea, if the cafe isn't too crowded.
I wonder what this building once housed.
Was it a general store, its shelves filled with skillets,
gingham fabric, lanterns, and other necessities?
Called a "tank" or "stock tank," this oasis sure
looks welcoming on a hot July day.
I didn't expect to see buffalo grazing along
this Farm-to-Market road.
The characters in BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY drove their pickup trucks through these gentle hills near Lake Texoma, basked in the hot summer sun, and made love where “the stars at night are big and bright.” I hope you enjoyed today's visit to their world.
Sandra Nachlinger is the author of Bluebonnets for Elly (a sweet romance) and 
co-author with Sandra Allen of I.O.U. Sex (a spicy Baby Boomer romance).

6 comments:

  1. I did enjoy your pictures. I love rural areas and small towns and love to read and write about them too.

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  2. I think most people like to go back to where they grew up. I enjoy visiting rural NE Oregon where I grew up but I would never want to live there. It's fun when you can take your readers on a tour of what your characters have seen. Congrats on the book.

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  3. Pretty country. Texas is one of the southwestern states where I've yet to visit. Maybe someday. Those storefronts always look enticing to me-- like maybe start an art gallery in one. Of course, the logical reason they failed would make a future business not do well but that one looks interesting.

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  4. I enjoyed this post, Sandy. And I like to drive through the area where Pottsboro is located.

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  5. Just made a trip to WV! Not that I ever lived there, but my Granddad's farm is still there...where my Dad was raised. We spent so much time there when I was kid, I feel like I was partially raised there. Good times! Pottsboro looks a little like it!

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  6. Lovely photos, and I felt as though I were right there, basking in it all. The same way I felt when I read the book. Thanks!

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