The Locations that Inspired Evershade

Rather than write a bit of backstory this week, I have decided to share with you some photos of the real locations that inspired "Evershade: Season of Crows." The locations are on private property, so I must take the photos at a distance from the stone river. Otherwise, I will get shot, go to jail, or get severely talked at. I don't want any of those things to happen this week...

The area near our home has inspired me for years. We live in the Ozarks about five miles from the nearest town. The countryside is dotted with rolling fields of fat cattle and little groves of trees that occasionally develop into extensive forests.

In my novel, there is one particular grove of trees that is simply called "the Little Grove." When Evershade's Watcher, Roan, banishes two mousemaids during the drought, they are forced to cross the stone river into the neighboring field. If they have any hope of survival, they must shelter in the Little Grove and ride out the drought the best they can.

This is the real Little Grove:

It is from here that one of the banished mousemaids, Aster, hatches a plan to exact her revenge on Evershade and its king. Her wicked scheme leads her across the field to the East, where the thin strip of trees harbors the Crow Council--and her destiny.

The trees in the distance are part of the Crow Kingdom: