The title and cover artwork for my new cozy mystery series are still under wraps, but I can tell you the story takes place in the historic district of a sleepy Southern California town called Citrus Grove, which is a fictionalized version of the Old Towne neighborhood of the City of Orange. I fell in love with this town when I covered it as a cub reporter. I spent so many months walking these streets and talking to residents, shopkeepers, and city officials. It really felt like home to me, and even though I live in a different (but not too far away) city now, I still return often to soak in its cozy, historic charm. On my last trip, I took some photos so you can see a little of what makes this town so special.
The Plaza Historic District sign greets visitors.A lot of the antique shops in the area are filled with smaller antique shops, like this one.The Antique Mall is one of my favorite places to poke around. I always find neat things in here.This is one of the best vintage shops in the area. Can you tell?The second story of this building is filled with apartments that were a big inspiration for the apartments that will appear in my new cozy series. When I was a cub reporter covering this town, I really, really wanted to live here.This is Plaza Square Park, which sits in a small circle at the center of the roundabout locals call The Orange Circle. The fountain is behind a green fence at the moment getting a touchup, so I left it out of the photo.A pretty teacup set!Another pretty teacup set!So many pretty teacup sets! No wonder I love this place! 🙂
