Hi there and welcome! I’m Marie Sexton, and I’m thrilled to be able to share my excitement over my latest release with Riptide Publishing, Never A Hero.
Never A Hero is available now, and today I’m going to share a little bit about the inspiration behind the town of Tucker Springs. Follow me on the virtual book tour for Never A Hero all week for more exclusive details about the book, the Tucker Springs series, and more. Plus, leave a comment below with your name and email address, and you could be one of three lucky winners to receive a $5 gift card to Riptide. Simply leave your comment by 5/17 at 11:59pm to enter.
Home Town Venues
I don’t think it’s any secret that Tucker Springs is based roughly on my hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado. The layout of the Light District is based entirely on Old Town Fort Collins. The amphitheater, the ice cream shop, the fountain are all directly from Old Town. But in writing Never a Hero, I found myself turning to two specific locations outside of Old Town: Taverna and Avogadro’s Number.
Taverna is a Greek grill. I’m not sure if it’s a chain or an independent joint, but the one thing my daughter loves about it is that you get to break things. Several times a night, the staff runs around singing and dancing, and then they pass out plates. Patrons line up to take their turn throwing said plates against the wall, and then everybody cheers. Authentically Greek? I doubt it, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun.
In Never a Hero, Nick takes Owen to an unnamed restaurant for their first semi-date that is very similar to Taverna. When that proves to be disastrous, he takes him down the street to a sandwich shop called The Vibe.
The Vibe is entirely based on Avogadro’s Number (commonly known as Avo’s), a small music venue and sandwich shop that is practically a landmark in Fort Collins. They’re so granola you can practically smell the hemp butter when you walk in the door, but the sandwiches are awesome and when it comes to live music, their patio can’t be beat. There are few things better than hanging out there on a hot summer evening, drinking a cold beer, listening to some mellow music. Although Nick and Owen are there in the winter when the patio’s closed and miss out on the music, you’ll still get a glance at a bit of homegrown Fort Collins flavor.
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Never a Hero is available now from Riptide, Amazon, and all major book outlets. Never a Hero is part of the Tucker Springs universe, but can be read as a stand-alone novel. For more information about Tucker Springs, visit www.TuckerSprings.com.
Marie Sexton lives in Colorado. She’s a fan of just about anything that involves muscular young men piling on top of each other. In particular, she loves the Denver Broncos and enjoys going to the games with her husband. Her imaginary friends often tag along. Marie has one daughter, two cats, and one dog, all of whom seem bent on destroying what remains of her sanity. She loves them anyway.
Find out more at http://MarieSexton.net, or download the Marie Sexton app, available free for Android or iPhone.
I’ve always been curious about Fort Collins, since I loved Not Lame Records (which was based there) back in the ’90s. It’ll be cool to read another installment in the series!
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Oh, wow. I’ve never heard of them, and I feel like I should have, since I’ve lived here for 30 years! LOL.
I wondered if Tucker Springs was based on Ft. Collings, and now I know the answer. When I visit my brother, we usually go to Old Town and now I have a couple of places to check out next time I’m there. Thanks!
Yes! Old Town especially is used in Tucker Springs. The day we cooked up The LIght District, LA Witt was visiting me and I took her to Coopersmith’s for lunch. The ice cream shop they walk past several times in the books but NOT the one El takes Paul to in Second Hand, though) is actually the Ben & Jerry’s. :-)
Thanks for sharing about your home town, it makes the Tuckersprings books even more special. “Never a hero” is the next book on my list to read and I can’t wait.
Thanks Debbie! I hope you enjoy it.
It’s great to be back here on Smexy Books. Thanks so much for hosting me today!
Hi Marie,
I’ve never been to Colorado, but feel as if I’ve been to Tucker Springs (or Ft. Collins) through the book series. I just finished Never a Hero and it was awesome. Thanks for another great read!
Thanks, Hanne! I’m so glad you liked it!
Being from Fort Collins, the thing I always have to keep in mind when I’m writing Tucker Springs is that the mountains are on the OTHER side. Tucker Springs is on the Western Slope, whereas Fort Collins is along the Front Range (east of the mountains). On the front range, it’s flat to the east, mountains to the west. But on the western slope, the opposite is true. Several times, I’ve caught myself talking about the weather rolling in off of the mountains. Then I have to stop and say, “Wait. On that side, the weather would move TOWARD the mountains.” LOL.
Have got this book in my TBR list. Looking forward to reading it :)
I love books with a strong sense of place. I’d love to visit Tucker Springs–I mean Fort Collins–one day. Nothing better than a city with character!
Urbanista
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It’s been a long time since I lived in Colorado but always like to see books set there. I really love the state.
And for whatever reason, the Marie Sexton app just made me laugh. Not in a bad way, just…it hit my giggle bone today. I don’t have a smart phone so apps are just theoretical for me, but apparently there’s an app for everything!
Loved this book,
I like it when food is written into a story :)
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Fort Collins sounds like a lovely place to live and visit.
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