Some of you know I’ve been in Los Angeles since the end of February. I finally made it back home to the coast of Oregon a couple nights ago. I was dealing with a lot of family problems down there along with a hardcore personal dislike for L.A. in general – it’s been a challenging few months. I was born and raised in L.A., had a career in the entertainment industry, then burned out on that as well as other things.

However, a lot of my books and stories are set in L.A., Hollywood and the surrounding areas. As much as I detest the modern version of L.A. and southern California in general, I am in love with its roots and beginnings. There was so much promise then. Obviously, in the Gin & Jazz series I’ve been able to take my fascination for early Hollywood and transfer it into a young man’s struggle to survive then overcome a broken heart while his star rises in silent films. Of course he has an HEA, but he has to fight the evils of the Hollywood star-making machine to eventually find it.

While writing and researching that series, I had a blast recalling and investigating the history of several landmarks of the era. Two major scenes in Razzle Dazzle (Gin & Jazz 2) take place at Musso & Frank’s. That restaurant has been there since 1919 and is the oldest in Hollywood. It has catered to a buffet of celebrities over the years and I used to love to go there. It’s maintained the classic old Hollywood charm and is still used in films set in the twenties through the fifties. In Ed Wood, there’s a scene where Johnny Depp is dressed as a woman and storms off the set to get a drink. While at Musso’s, he spots Orson Welles and finally meets his idol. It was great that they filmed it in the actual restaurant.

As long as I was forced to live in L.A. temporarily, I figured I’d make the most of it. In my last post, I shared my little desert road trip and all the memories – good ones – that it brought back. One of the main places I wanted to see again was Musso’s. I wanted one of their famous steaks and to have a crème brulee. As I sat in the crescent shaped red booth, I was relieved to discover that I’d described the setting accurately in Razzle Dazzle where Jack meets with the studio chief for his first contract. I checked the space for four people and noted that indeed, the scoundrel screen idol, Roman Pasquale, would have had his thigh pressed flush against Jack’s, subsequently flustering the poor young actor. When I looked over the menu, I saw the crab Louie salad they ordered the first night they made love and that Roman then insisted Jack eat in Tarnished Glitter (Gin & Jazz 3).

While L.A. is one of my least favorite areas, I have to admit there are still many things located there that I miss. There are those which hold meaning to me and those that are filled with a history I find fascinating. I’m sure I’ll go back and when I do, I want to revisit El Encanto in Santa Barbara, Catalina Island, and Toi on Sunset (from Rockin’ the Alternative) as well as the Sunset Grill (from the unreleased Rockin’ it Forever).

I plan to use more locations from L.A. in future books – not only because it’s an area I know so well, but because even among the crowds and other insanity, there really are a lot of amazing places to visit.