Tar Pits: A Romance

I'm WAY into hyperbole (as evidenced by the fact that I just typed "WAY" in all caps). I love the words "big" and "best" and "huge" and "everything." Sometimes I overstate things, for sure, but when I call the La Brea Tar Pits here in Los Angeles world-famous, I'm not overstating it.

The real tar pits down the street from the fictional Wilfair Hotel make up one of the most well-known fossil sites on the planet. It is hilarious and strange and magical to me that they're in the middle of a very large -- sorry a HUGE -- city that teems with modern features. I love the juxtaposition, ancient and futuristic.

The pits have been in some movies -- notably "Volcano" -- but they've all been, for the most part, action or disaster flicks. So one day I was like, "hey, the tar pits TOTALLY need to star in a romance."

No, really, I like actually thought that. And "totally"? Another problem word for me.

The pits are a bit smelly (I rather like their singular odor) and they're known for trapping unsuspecting animals (there's a fence up now, so that doesn't happen these days), so they don't automatically summon a romantic feeling. And that's why they should star in a romance, in my mind. Sometimes an odd backdrop can make a love affair stand out in a new way.

I'm mad for romcoms, and perfect people falling in love beside fountains on snowy nights, and perfect people falling in love in all the places we've been told are the appropriate places for people to fall in love.

But there are romcoms that boast unusual settings, too. I wanted one for these stories. Tar is stinky, viscous, and goopy, and an argument could be made that the very best love holds those qualities, too.

photo: gtall1

Wilfair's Real Neighborhood

The setting of "Wilfair" is real.

The first book takes place at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles -- that's where the book and its hotel get its name -- as well as the art museum and tar pits up the street. There's also a quick visit in the story to Farmers Market, a famous public market.

This older photo shows almost the entire setting of the first book. The intersection of Wilshire and Fairfax is at the very bottom of the photo, slightly to the right (meaning the fictional hotel and motel would be slightly out of frame). Above it? The museum, and above that, the tar pits (the dark lake to the upper right). Wilshire is the long street that runs along the right of the photo.

Farmers Market, where Sutton works, is not pictured. It's a few blocks off to the left.

Oh, and the grocery store that Fair is thinking of when she says people fall in love in Aisle 6, next to the frozen peas? That's real, too. It's at the very upper right.

Have you been to LA? What did you do here?

photo: Remapping LA

Tar Pits Sloth

There are these giant prehistoric sloth statues at the La Brea Tar Pits, which are located next to The Wilfair's corner of Wilshire and Fairfax.

And there are two types of people in the world: People who will kick off their shoes and climb on the sloths -- no easy task -- and people who most certainly will not.

This is my completely rad friend Tracy atop a sloth. While none of The Wilfair characters are based on anybody, I'd be fibbing if I said Sutton doesn't owe something to her. My sloth climber extraordinaire.

Science Is Sexy

A great shirt from LA's Natural History Museum. The museum oversees the La Brea Tar Pits, which are featured in Wilfair. So is sexy science. Hooray!

Tar Pits Mastodon

The La Brea Tar Pits mastodon statue has a cameo in Wilfair.

He doesn't come alive. Yet.

La Brea Tar Pits Bubble

Photo: Betsy Weber

The Real Places of Wilfair

I like stories flush with magic realism. But I also like them to be set in places I can visit, if possible.

Just my thing.

With that in mind, Wilfair, Redwoodian, and future books will all incorporate at least one or two real California locales.

They are, so far:

Wilfair
La Brea Tar Pits (a tar bubble figures prominently in the story)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Fair, Monty, and Gomery pay a quick visit)
Original Farmers Market (Sutton's fruitcher shop)

Oh, and let us not forget Wilshire and Fairfax. It's a real Los Angeles intersection that's within walking distance of the aforementioned places.












Redwoodian
Owens Valley (it's along Highway 395 near the eastern Sierra)
Alabama Hills near Lone Pine (where the gang stops for coffee)
Sierra Nevada (The Redwoodian and the Stay Awhile Cabins would be in the Mammoth Lakes area)

Tar Pits Art

This tile is outside Clifton's Cafeteria. Not in beautiful condition, but considering it has been occupying a Los Angeles sidewalk for many years, it looks great.

Question: Is it the only Saber-toothed cat to grace a downtown pavement? I'll wager it might be.