Road Trip! by Delilah Devlin
I used to be spontaneous.
If I woke up on a Saturday morning and felt like jumping into the car to escape the house, I did. I lived in Germany for seven years, and during those days, even after family came along, I could pull out the map, calculate the driving time, and head to France, Austria, or Lichtenstein for a day or two of walking through museums, battlefields and ancient ruins. When I lived in Florida, I could roll out in the early AM, head down the coastal highway and end up in The Keys by afternoon to sit on the beach and watch the sun go down. In Georgia, my destination for pleasure was the Nantahala River for some white-water rafting. Even in my college days here in Arkansas, I could steer my old Impala into the Ozarks and find a campsite in a forest, rappel down a sheer cliff face, or raft down the Buffalo River.
So, when did being spontaneous become a big hassle? Is this the definition of getting old—losing that inner thirst for adventure? I hadn’t thought about trips that didn’t involve book signings or meetings with editors in years, until I lay down the other night, got an idea for a story set in Memphis, and thought, man, I need to walk Beale Street.
Last night, I called a writing buddy of mine, Shayla Kersten, who once lived in Memphis, and asked her if she wanted to go with me. She was as jazzed at the prospect of hitting the road as I was. Okay, so looking at a trip ten days from now may not sound very spontaneous to you, but given I haven’t done anything that hasn’t been planned down to the hotel reservations, wardrobe, and meal planning in years, and I’m feeling pretty excited.
I don’t want to plan a thing. I just want to roll into town, grab a city map at a gas station, plot a course for Beale Street, and park. Then I might hit a bar—not anything trendy. Something small that appeals to locals. Then I’ll stroll in, find a stool at the counter, and ask the bartender what sights I should see given the needs of the story I have in mind. Maybe I’ll offer to make him the hero if he steers me right (and he’s really cute!), or at least the hero’s sidekick.
Maybe I should do some heavy flirting to get my engines revved for the sexy details I’ll need to work into my tale…
I used the info I gleaned from walking around The French Quarter of New Orleans for my DARK REALM series. I didn’t take a “spontaneous” trip to that city. I spent two years running attending different conventions and ditching workshops to gather the atmosphere and setting details I needed for the series and a couple of other little stories I wrote as “practice” before I began work on the DARK books.
The palm readers I visited were depicted in SILENT KNIGHT and ALL KNIGHT LONG. The bars I danced the night away in served as fodder for the “blood bars” in INTO THE DARKNESS and SEDUCED BY DARKNESS. The dark alleyways I walked to and from the hotel gave me plenty of eerie sensory detail for the werewolf attack in ALL KNIGHT LONG as well as a fight scene in the third DARK REALM story. The trip to Café du Monde and Jackson Square gave me everything I needed for the bird attack in the opening scene of INTO THE DARKNESS.
I can’t wait to get to Memphis and take a walk down Beale Street after dark. If I get mugged, guess what? The bastard will likely star as the demon in my next story.
) would be of the friendly kind 
Live well, laugh often, love with all your heart! Have wonderful experiences!
Can’t wait for next weekend.
