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Blue Box Bar

Blue Box Bar is located in the renovated Pearl Brewery complex just north of downtown San Antonio. The complex itself has made an appearance in three of the Waking Forever books (clearly I have an affinity for the place). Pearl includes a myriad of restuarants, shops, bars, and residences, and is home to the gorgeous Hotel Emma. With the hotel, you literally have no reason to leave the Pearl!

 

Blue Box was the setting for two pivotal scenes in the Waking series. The first, in Becoming Forever, is where the reader is introduced to Ash's beloved best friend Alan, and simultaneously Ash and Emma enjoy their first interaction outside of work. The second scene is in Dying Forever, and is both horrific and amusing at the same time.

Blue Star Arts Complex (Bar 1919)

Opened in the mid 1980s, the Blue Star Arts Complex was the first development in San Antonio to co-mingle residential and commercial properties in the same facility. It was clearly ahead of its time, as San Antonio now boasts numerous mixed use developments.

 

The Blue Star Complex, specifically the speakeasy style Bar 1919, is where Ash meets Lara for their first date. It's also where Ash, on the same night (we never judge), realizes she has feelings for Emma. 

Quarry

It might seem odd to include what is essentially a hole in the ground as one of my favorite spots, but the quarry has proven useful throughout the Waking Forever series.

 

San Antonio is located on the southern edge of the Texas Hill Country, and is surrounded by any number of both working and abandoned quarries. In some cases, the quarry is excavated and converted into various sites, including a theme park (Fiesta Texas - Six Flags Over Texas), the aptly named Quarry Market, or the STAR Sports Complex where Ash coaches her nephew's soccer team. 

 

Not all the quarries in the Waking Forever books are rollercoaster packed, restuarant laden, soccer tournament hosting funfests. An abandoned quarry is the setting for one of the more graphic and pivotal scenes in Becoming Forever.  

BECOMING FOREVER

“I never change, I simply become more myself.”

                                               -Joyce Carol Oates

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