People often ask me if I ever include actual places and events in my books. I totally do! Incorporating parts of my real life makes my books feel more real, and I am all about realistic fiction. Maybe that's why I love visiting locations from my favorite books and movies. When I got to visit the Panthers football field from Friday Night Lights while I was visiting Austin, I could not have been more excited. You could feel the FNL vibe right there on the field. There's just something so magical about visiting actual places from stories that speak to me.

For those of you who love behind-the-scenes treats as much as I do, I thought you might want to see some places and things that inspired some scenes in Take Me There. Most of the book takes place in my New York City neighborhood. I really wanted to share the energy of the West Village with my readers, try to find a way to make them feel what I feel by just being here. Hopefully, documentation of these actual locations will help that energy resonate. So here are some photos I took around the city to share with you. Enjoy!

Let's start with a tour of where everyone lives.

Rhiannon lives in one of the most gorgeous homes around. That is not a coincidence. One thing that's fun about writing is being able to live vicariously through my characters. I'm seriously jealous of Rhiannon's house. Her family owns the whole entire house. That is extremely rare here in downtown Manhattan. She lives on West 11th Street, which is such a pretty street I can't even tell you.

Space is really limited here. Most people don't have things like yards and gardens. If you are very lucky, you might have a rooftop garden. Neighbors who are awesome plant flowers in window boxes or in tiny fenced-in areas out front.

 

James lives near Rhiannon at 25 Charles Street. But he doesn't live in a whole house like she does. That's because in order to live in Rhiannon's house, you need like a trillion dollars. James lives in a cramped apartment with his parents and little brother. He has really noisy neighbors. Unfortunately, really noisy neighbors are standard around here.

When I was writing Take Me There, I wanted the neighborhood setting to match the actual setting of the West Village to give the story an authentic feel. Both Rhiannon and James live close enough to Hudson River Park that it doesn't take long for them to walk there. Magnolia Bakery is on the way to the park, where they like to stand in the long cupcake line and anticipate which cupcakes they're going to get. However, I did add a few locations to the setting that don't actually exist here in the nabe. James does laundry at Wash World. Wash World was where I had to do my laundry when I lived in Astoria, Queens for four years while I was paying off student loans and saving up enough to move here. The West Village is an expensive neighborhood, but I love the energy so freaking much. It's my favorite place in the world. So I lived in Astoria and saved up and did my laundry at Wash World. Which was a total drag.

 

Nicole lives on the Upper West Side near Central Park. This is her building at 15A West 73rd Street. I selected it for several reasons. First off, it is badass to live right next to Central Park. Two, the address is really unique. It's not 15, it's 15A. And I love the curved side of this building. I decided that Nicole lives in Apartment 1, right in the curved part with the window boxes. I have a thing for window boxes.

The Upper West is awesome. I used to live near Nicole and loved grocery shopping at Fairway. Fairway is a sprawling emporium of deliciousness. We don't have room for things like Fairway down here. It's all about tiny living in my nabe.

 

One of the best things about living in New York City is having immediate access to all sorts of delicious treats. Especially cupcakes. Nicole adores the cupcakes at Crumbs. I'm stoked that Crumbs keeps expanding and can now be found in several cities. Rhiannon and James like to keep it old-school with Magnolia. These are some Magnolia cupcakes. Note their classic pastel frostings and vintage sprinkles. And yes, they taste every bit as good as they look.

Carrie and Miranda had Magnolia cupcakes on Sex and the City when Carrie was telling Miranda about this boy Aidan she'd just met. If Carrie only knew what she was getting into...

 

More good things to eat can be found at Chat 'n Chew. Nicole is a fan of their cupcake cake. I am sorry to report that Chat 'n Chew no longer makes that kind of cake. Which I have to say I do not get at all. Why would you stop making a delicious cake that everyone loves? How is that improving the world?

Fortunately, Chat 'n Chew can always be counted on for their superb grilled cheese and fries. I love that the whole place has these knickknacks and ding-dangs scattered all around, like gas station signs from the 50s and early toasters. This is my favorite section of the back room. You know you're in for some good times when vintage signs are in the vicinity.

The West Village is known for its bohemian culture. This neighborhood is a magnet for creative types. Writers, artists, actors, designers - we're all here. You can see evidence of all the creative energy everywhere you look. This bike sometimes shows up near where James parks his bike. It says things like Bikes Not Bombs and Be the Change. It would probably belong to Danny if it were less flowery. And I love this van. When you can make such a positive statement with a vehicle, you know you're doing something right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best mobile coffee comes from MudTruck. New York street coffee at its best. They have a few trucks you can find around lower Manhattan. Each truck contains a very friendly neighbor ready to create your special drink.

Coffee is a Very Big Deal here in New York. I'm like the only person I know who only drinks decaf. But I love coffeehouses. My fave coffeehouse is Joe the Art of Coffee. Its owner, Jonathan, is featured in Take Me There. He's an inspiring example of how turning your dreams into reality is entirely possible. Joe is expanding and has several locations now. The Joe where Nicole and Danny waited out that downpour is the original location, a few blocks from their school.

 

Rhiannon, James and Nicole go to Eames Academy of Design. That's not an actual school. I made it up. But I did use an actual school on West 10th Street as its model. I like that this school has lots of windows. Light and air are so important in classrooms. It's a shame that so many classrooms are stuffy with harsh lighting. Not cool.

See that third window up with the stripey arch over it? That's the library window from the cover of Take Me There. Here's the cool part: My cover designer never saw this school. He was able to imagine that window just by reading the book, even though the window is never mentioned.

 

Nicole and Rhiannon have a project for Contemporary Design. They decide to do it on using recycled materials in designs that enhance urban aesthetics. So they go to the MoMA's sculpture garden to check out Picasso's She-Goat, my favorite sculpture. Picasso used objects like a wicker garbage can and flowerpots when he was making it.

Something about this goat really speaks to me. I've been obsessed with She-Goat ever since I first saw her when I was about 16. That was back before the sculpture garden. I panicked when I returned to the MoMA years later and couldn't find her. But a security guard told me she was in the garden. That was a huge relief.

 

When everyone goes to Welcome to the Johnsons to see Unisex Salon play, they are impressed. Unisex Salon rocks exceptionally hard. This is their lead singer, Kenyon. He has angel wings tattooed on his back. So that part was actually true. I thought it would be fun to give a shout-out to a band I like and write in its actual lead singer.

Welcome to the Johnsons is a pretty cool place to hang out. I'm not into bars, but if I have to go to one because I'm out with a group and they're in a grownup mood it makes things a lot less boring to be somewhere fun like that. It seriously looks like some parents' living room from the 70s. Or the 80s. They even have tabletop Pac-Man. I rule at Pac-Man.

 

 

 

Rhiannon likes to go to Hudson River Park to mellow out by the water or sketch the moon or look at the sparkly city lights. Here's her bench right next to the water. This is also where Rhiannon and James usually sit to eat their cupcakes. Sometimes I go to the park and sit here, too. It's an excellent spot for sunset watching. I like the glittery way sunlight reflects on the water.

In terms of orientation, New Jersey is to the right and the rest of the West Village is to the left. If you follow those streetlights all the way down for like 20 minutes, you'll reach Ground Zero. You can see the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

 

I spend so much time wondering what building this is and whether the colors of its stripes have any significance that I should by able to explain all of this to you by now. The important thing is that the light stripes show is real! Most of the time no stripes are showing. It's just a dark slanted building top over in New Jersey. But then suddenly the stripes come on and start moving. It's very exciting because you never know when they might appear.

Once the stripes start moving, you can totally watch the stripey light show. The stripes flow across the slanted top from right to left. They come in different colors and widths. Sometimes there will just be one big purple stripe all alone and that's it. I find everything about these light stripes to be fascinating. Obviously, I enjoy geeking out over city lights.

 

 

The night brings this whole other magical quality to New York City. Nights are filled with excitement and anticipation and the possibility of everything.

This overwhelming energy is what inspired James to invent iPod dancing. Here's the scene of where some serious iPod dancing went down. It had to happen at night. The day just doesn't understand what the night can do.

Those blue towers of light in the distance are the Tribute in Light. They're visible every year the week ending with September 11, when the lights are on all night and then fade into the dawn. I felt compelled to mention 9.11 in Take Me There. At the time I was writing it, I couldn't imagine setting a book in New York without doing so.

 

Well, I hope this photo tour enhanced your Take Me There experience! Now it's time to watch some 24 on the roof...