Small Town Inspiration
As someone who leans into writing about small towns and romance, I often get asked what places inspire me. In short, most small towns in Texas are a huge inspiration for me. I grew up in a small town that had 2,500–3,000 people—now it has a booming population of 70K! When I grew up, the school district I was in had two elementary schools, two middle schools, one junior high, and one high school. The schools were also combined with the other small neighboring town.
I remember growing up, there always felt like there was a strong sense of community around me. This is partly because I was related to a lot of the town, but also because there truly was a strong sense of community and pride in the place where I grew up. There was the annual festival that we all went to, and there were the random church festivals we attended—even if that wasn’t our “home” church. There was one little grocery store in town, but most people went up the road to the “bigger” grocery store, so you would run into people there all the time. Folks either worked in town or in the slightly bigger towns nearby. At the time, Austin was not nearly as massive as it is now, and San Marcos was a stone’s throw away. Even going to the “big city” still felt like we were in a small town.
During my childhood, I grew up as a 4-H kid and did a lot of small rodeos and playdays, which meant traveling to other small towns and seeing their communities. I even spent a few years living in the “birthplace” of Texas (Gonzales). I know that small towns can be problematic, but I truly do love them. I think my perfect population for a small town is around 3K–5K because it’s enough income to be able to have services like a library, small festivals, etc.
All of that said, in general, small towns inspire the settings and towns in my stories. In particular, for the contemporary romance I am revising, Bandera, Texas, and Wimberley, Texas, are big inspirations because of their summer rodeo culture. The romantasy project I have on the back burner was inspired by Kerrville, Texas. Another novel I plan on rewriting later this year is inspired by the small Gulf Coast towns like Port Aransas and Rockport, Texas.
I am not ignorant to the fact that small towns often have their own host of problems, including racism, classism, nosiness, judgment, etc., but I truly think that, at the end of the day, most small-town residents have a deep love for others and their community. And honestly, I want to take those towns and write about them in an idyllic way. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy!