Deadly Destinations: Allyson James’s guide to the Southwest from SHADOW WALKER

**Visit Dark Faerie Tales today for her Deadly Destination tour of  Jeannie Holme’s Jefferson, Mississippi from Varik Baudelaire & a chance to win BLOOD SECRETS**

I hope you packed your sunblock because today’s Deadly Destination tour has us hitting the Southwest, home to Allyson James’s Janet Begay and the cast from the Stormwalker series.  SHADOW WALKER, the 3rd book in the series is available now from Berkley Books, and to get you hooked on this series, we’re giving away copies of the first two Stormwalker books, STORMWALKER & FIREWALKER. See details below

---

Allyson’s Stormwalker Guide to The Southwest
by
Allyson James

The Stormwalker series is set primarily in northern Arizona, around and in the Navajo Nation. Stories take the characters to other nearby locales: Death Valley, southern Arizona, western New Mexico, Santa Fe.

Why did I decide to set my "urban" fantasy in the rural Southwest? First because of the main character. Janet is Navajo (Dine), grew up in Many Farms on the Navajo Nation, and has deep ties to that part of the country. She does travel the U.S. on her Harley--first with her boyfriend Mick and then by herself--but she always returns to the country of her birth.

Second, I live in the Southwest, and I've always wanted to write books set here. The scenery is vast and dramatic. Around every bend in the road is some new vista, another mountain range, an unexplored canyon--all under a never-ending sky. The stillness is immense, and yet, it teems with life.

One day when I was driving in northern Arizona, among craggy mountains with the snowy San Francisco peaks hovering in the background, and the need to write about this world smacked me in the gut.

I'd been thinking off and on about Janet Begay and a series to go around her, and that day, it came together.

I did some traveling around the area from Winslow and north to Chinle and Many Farms, Second Mesa, and back again, to get the layout and feel of the area, and then I wrote. Stormwalker became three books (Stormwalker, Firewalker, Shadow Walker, with more to come).

The primary location is a town I made up (Magellan), that lies a little south and east of Winslow (Winslow is on the I-40 between Holbrook and Flagstaff, about 45 minutes from the meteor crater.) If you've ever driven out there, south of the 40, it looks like miles and miles and miles of nothing.

However, the ground, which looks flat, is actually cut by long, steep-sided canyons. These canyons have spilled water down from the mountains for centuries, and are decorated with petroglyphs from people who have long vanished from the area (ancestors of the Hopi and Zuni tribes). It's an ancient, ancient place.

In spite of the emptiness, the scope for stories is huge. The Navajo Nation and all its beauty (including Canyon de Chelley, which is stunning), is nearby; and the history of the area is there for exploring. What do the glyphs in the canyons mean? Who were these people? What happened to them? There are mysterious and ghostly mountains, buttes, and canyons, to tempt the unwary.

What about the town? I made up Magellan, which sits on a crossroads of two highways (The Crossroads)--in fact I made up the whole county. Hopi County does not exist, nor do its two small towns, Flat Mesa and Magellan. Then I had to populate the towns, which was where the fun began.

The towns still have numbers of its founding families living there: the Hansens, Medinas, Joneses, Lopezes, and a few others. There's Fremont Hansen, the plumber who thinks he has magical powers (and he does have a tiny bit); Maya Medina the electrician, in love with Sheriff Nash Jones, one of the Flat Mesa Jonses. Nash Jones is an interesting guy (ex-special forces, served in Iraq, has PTSD, and an interesting magical ability). I'm having fun exploring his many facets.

I know my "urban fantasy" is unusual in the aspect that it's not truly urban. But one thing that makes an urban fantasy novel a good read (to me), is the richness of its setting. Whether it's post-apocalyptic Atlanta, cities in eastern Washington, the streets of Chicago, or the empty places in the Southwest, setting is a character of its own. Mine happens to be more or less in my own backyard.

Stormwalker (May 2010)

Firewalker (Nov 2010)

Shadow Walker (June 2011)

Nightwalker (coming soon)

http://www.allysonjames.com

-----------------------------------

About Allyson James

Allyson James is a pseudonym of NYT bestselling author Jennifer Ashley. She writes historical, paranormal, and contemporary romance, historical mystery, and historical mainstream fiction. Jennifer's novels have won RWA's RITA for Best Novel with Romantic Elements (A Lady Raised High), the Golden Quill, RT Reviewer's Choice awards, the Prism award, among others. Jennifer's novels have been also been translated into several European and Asian languages. Jennifer enjoys writing and reading above all else, but her hobbies include cooking, hiking, playing flute and guitar, painting, and building miniature rooms and dollhouses   Visit Allyson online: Website|Blog |Twitter|Facebook|MySpace

Want to read more from Allyson?

---

Giveaway provided by Berkley

One copy of STORMWALKER & FIREWALKER by Allyson James

 

And don’t forget to pick up SHADOW WALKER, the 3rd book in the Stormwalker series available now from Berkley

Description:

Stormwalker Janet Begay returns home only to have the ground collapse beneath her-literally. After tumbling two hundred feet underground, Janet is rescued by her dragon boyfriend, Mick. But something dark touches Mick while in the sinkhole, and Janet might lose him forever unless she recruites the most unlikely of allies to stop the growing shadow.

Order from

Giveaway Guidelines

1. Open to US addresses only, no PO Boxes

2. Leave a comment for Allyson & a way to contact you unless it’s listed in your profile

3. All Deadly Destinations winners will be announced on August 7th

4. See our Giveaway Policy if you have any questions

   ---

Interested in guest blogging on All Things Urban Fantasy? CONTACT ME