Lori Wilde's Twilight, Texas, comes to life
Lori Wilde joins HEA to share her amazing visit to Twilight, Texas, the fictional town in her popular Twilight, Texas series. Her latest release in the series is out now, Christmas at Twilight, and The Valentine's Day Disaster comes out in February.
Lori: When an author creates a town in her novels, she spends a great deal of time visualizing the streets and buildings, landmarks and topography. And while the town becomes real in her imagination, it's rare for an author to see the place she's created actually spring to life.
This past weekend I was that rare author when the real town of Granbury, Texas, transformed into my fictional town of Twilight for three days by proclamation of Mayor Nin Hulett.
This unexpected honor came about when I loosely based Twilight on Granbury, where I had once lived. My goal was to depict the town as I saw it: a special place that welcomed visitors with open arms; a place with a rich history; a place rife with legends and lore; a safe place to live and love and grow up in. Granbury is a gem of a town that embraced me and my books. A town peopled with kind, generous, interesting folks.
For three days whenever I walked into a store on the town square, I was greeted with a hearty, "Welcome to Twilight!"
Stuff like that can go to an author's head.
All around town, events from my books were unfolding. Christmas cookie swaps. Photo scavenger hunts. Historical reenactments. Tea socials. The annual tour of homes. Horse-drawn carriages decorated for the holidays.
On one corner of the town square stood the Cherub tree complete with names of boys and girls who need a helping hand. Many generous folks plucked names from the tree and bought gifts for the children.
As is custom in the books, visitors could throw pennies in the Sweetheart Fountain and wish to be reunited with their long-lost sweethearts. They strolled the footbridges of Sweetheart Park and searched for the names of lovers carved into the Sweetheart Tree.
Around town, I ran into my characters. Sheriff Hondo Crouch was stationed outside Artefacz — a fun boutique owned and operated by talented artist Cynthia James. Hondo was holding up a copy of my book to passersby. And Hondo was just as much of a distinguished hunk in person as he is in the books.
Flynn MacGregor showed up at the Langdon House reception to welcome me and my editor, Lucia Macro, to town. Beautiful Christmas lights lit up the distinguished building, decorated with a sign proclaiming it the official Twilight headquarters. The weather was so warm we sipped Twilight wine underneath the stars and talked for hours.
In actuality, Caroline Brooks, a winsome young woman with a captivating smile, portrayed Flynn. Caroline was the first reader to recognize that Twilight was based on her hometown of Granbury. I was humbled to learn such a kind and beautiful person was portraying my heroine.
At the tea social, the most popular Twilight secondary character, Raylene Pringle, put in an appearance. But of course! What would a party be without salty, call-it-as-she-sees-it Raylene? Catlin Elliot did an amazing job of bringing Raylene to life.
The ghost of Rebekka Nash, the Southern belle upon whom the Twilight sweetheart legend is based, was at the conference center to welcome guests to the tea. Peggy Freeman, the event organizer, played Rebekka.
Then the talented Mayor Nin serenaded me at the tea as he masterfully played 'Til There Was You on his guitar. What an unexpected treat.
It was a rare weekend indeed. And I will forever remember when Twilight, Texas, came to life and I found it was even more warm and welcoming, charming and quirky than I ever imagined.
Find out more about Lori and her books at loriwilde.com.