Cruising California with Alexandra Sokoloff

Ten Fantastic Things to do in California by Alexandra Sokoloff

I consider myself fabulously lucky because my Huntress Moon series is a manhunt, which means it’s basically a constant road trip – my all-time favorite thing to do. So my characters live out these fantastic things in California, my characters’ home base. In no particular order!!

Pioneertown and Pappy and Harriet’s in Yucca Valley; Joshua Tree National Park

You have to take the above as a package! I love the ocean. I love cosmopolitan cities. But there’s something about the desert that is profoundly peaceful and inspirational to me.

Pioneertown is an actual film set, built out in Yucca Valley by movie cowboys Roy Rogers, Dick Curtis, and used to shoot numerous westerns. The motel they built still operates and is completely charming, and you can walk a hundred yards across the sand to one of the greatest bars and music venues I know in California: Pappy and Harriet’s, where countless LA bands have played, to funky and enthusiastic crowds.

Combine a night in Pioneertown with a camping trip out in the alien landscape of Joshua Tree National Park – I’m in heaven.

Sequoia National Park

You haven’t really experienced a forest until you’ve hiked through these massive beauties – the redwoods and Sequoias. Primeval is the word.

Salton Sea

The second largest body of water in California, 350 square miles of salt water in the Sonoran Desert. From a distance, idyllic. Flocks of birds gliding along the rippling blue surface past vast shorelines of deserted white beaches. Up close – it’s a wasteland of apocalyptic proportions. But if you’re into trippy desert settings, ghost towns, found art, and the best spooky photo ops on the planet, this is a must-see tourist stop. Just don’t go mid-summer. You were warned.

San Francisco

“The City” needs no introduction, but even with the massive gentrification and Silicon Valley invasion, it’s still the most breathtaking city I know. I love the Haight, still crazy and psychedelic; Golden Gate Park; the Mission; the museums; just staring out at the Bay… Hey, I’m no fool. I made San Francisco my FBI headquarters in the Huntress series so I could spend time there all the time – with no actual traffic!

Berkeley

Just across the Bay, a 30-minute BART ride from the city, Berkeley is still its magical, synchronistic self. One of my power spots, my college town, and first school teems with art, film, music, politics, culture, and eccentricity. And it’s GORGEOUS. Try the Rose Garden at Sunset, walk through the eucalyptus groves on campus, go to a film or a protest… it is the most vibrantly alive place I know.

Napa Valley

How could I not mention wine country? The wildfires are breaking my heart. Napa will survive and recover, but this disaster struck at the core of the state.

Temecula

Southern California’s wine country and a super cool (though super-hot!) former mining town with excellent restaurants and shops. There’s a famous drive called “Palms to Pines,” that includes Temecula on the way to the Coachella Valley (yes, that Coachella) over the San Jacinto/Santa Rosa mountain range, Stupendous views and not a little mysticism along the way.

Pismo Beach

I have a special fondness for Pismo because I set a large part of the first Huntress Moon book there. But it really is a wonderful Central California beach town off the beaten track – not too populated, funky Deco architecture, cool festivals, and a gorgeous beach and bay. Ventura is another great beach and beach town.

Road trip! Just drive. I’d always rather drive the six hours from LA to San Francisco rather than bother with airport traffic and lines. Out to the desert, down to the beach… I’m getting restless to get in the car even as I’m typing this.

About Alexandra Sokoloff

“Some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre.” – The New York Times

Alexandra Sokoloff is the Thriller Award-winning and Bram Stoker, Anthony, and Black Quill Award-nominated author of the Amazon bestselling Huntress/FBI series (Huntress Moon, Blood Moon, Cold Moon, Bitter Moon, Hunger Moon – now in active development as a TV series), and the supernatural Haunted thrillers (The Harrowing, The Price, The Unseen, Book Of Shadows, The Shifters, The Space Between). The New York Times Book Review called her a “daughter of Mary Shelley,” and her books “Some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre.”

As a screenwriter, she has sold original horror and thriller scripts and adapted novels for numerous Hollywood studios. She has also written three non-fiction workbooks: Screenwriting Tricks For Authors, Stealing Hollywood and Writing Love, based on her internationally acclaimed workshops and blog (www.ScreenwritingTricks.com), and has served on the Board of Directors of the WGA West and the Board of the Mystery Writers of America.

Alex is a California native and a graduate of U.C. Berkeley, where she majored in theater and minored in everything Berkeley has a reputation for. In her spare time, she performs with The Slice Girls and Heather Graham’s all-author Slush Pile Players, and dances like a fiend. She is also very active on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. But not an addict. Seriously, it’s under control.

About the Book

Hunger Moon (The Huntress/FBI Thrillers #5) by Alexandra Sokoloff
Publication date: October 24th 2017
Genres: Adult, Mystery, Thriller

Synopsis:

Revenge has no limits.

Special Agent Matthew Roarke has abandoned his rogue search for serial killer Cara Lindstrom. He’s returned to the FBI to head a task force with one mission: to rid society of its worst predators. But as the skeletal symbols of Santa Muerte, “Lady Death,” mysteriously appear at universities nationwide, threatening death to rapists, Roarke’s team is pressured to investigate. When a frat boy goes missing in Santa Barbara, Roarke realizes a bloodbath is coming—desperate teenagers are about to mete out personal, cold-blooded justice.

Hiding from the law, avenging angel Cara Lindstrom is on her own ruthless quest. She plans to stay as far away from Roarke as possible—until an old enemy comes after both her and the FBI, forcing her back into Roarke’s orbit. This time, the Huntress has become the hunted…

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