Route 66: High Desert Minds by Mickey Hoffman

Driving Route 66 through southern California takes you through miles and miles of high and low desert, but civilization has chewed away at the magnificent solitude.

The old highway has many fans who gather yearly to celebrate and discuss the ways Route 66 changed our country. These photos were taken at a Route 66 festival in Victorville, California. I have to admit I went to publicize my books, and you’d think mystery novels have no relevance to this topic, but read on. So let’s go back to the festival for the moment. For obvious reasons, automobiles were a focal point.

A bunker like building was filled with army vehicles and old weaponry. As I wandered through dark rows of gigantic trucks and guns, I suddenly gasped in surprise. My first thought: “Honey, someone shrank the tanks.” Then I realized I was looking at a section devoted to models. To give you a sense of scale, the little humans are about 18 inches tall. The doll-like quality of these little arrangements seemed incongruous when compared with the real and deadly tanks sitting only a few yards away.

All those little bullets, someone went to a load of work putting these together.

Although I missed the main beauty pageant, here’s a preview:

And then, back outside, and not far away, to the stillness of the hills.

So, standing there in my publisher’s booth at the festival, wondering how to connect my novel, Deadly Traffic, with my surroundings, the local paper did it for me with this news article. http://www.vvdailypress.com/articles/sex-35981-trafficking-california.html
One of the plot lines in my novel is about human traffickers who prey on high school girls. Once again, life and fiction meet.
I just didn’t expect it would happen in the high desert.
Mickey Hoffman is the author of Deadly Traffic and School of Lies.