Book Tour: L.M. Pruitt, author of Shades of Desire, takes us on a tour of New Orleans, Jude Magdalyn style

One of the best things about writing a book is being able to share the setting with other people. Whether it’s real or imagined, you get to bring a new world, or at least a new view of an old one, to other people. In the case of the Jude Magdalyn series, readers get to experience New Orleans in all her seediness, stateliness, and commercialistic glory.

First stop on the tour, St. Louis Cemetery No.1. Located within a block of the lakeside border of the French Quarter, St. Louis is one of the oldest cemeteries in the city and home to the tomb (both, actually) of Marie Laveau, the infamous voodoo queen. It’s a popular tourist location, although it’s definitely one of those places you shouldn’t try and wander around once it starts getting dark.

Skipping ahead, we’ve got Café du Monde. A New Orleans landmark for generations, Café du Monde has a very, very simple menu—café au lait and beignets. Oh, and hot chocolate and orange juice, but that’s it. The service is nothing to write home about, but the food and coffee is to die for, it’s cheap, and it’s open twenty-four hours a day, something truly amazing and awesome after a night of bar crawling on Bourbon Street.

The highlight of Shades of Desire and the real action takes place, both in the present and the past, is the Urusline Convent and the small chapel next to it. A featured stop on the Haunted History tours, rumors about vampires in the attic have been around damn near as long as the city. Now, I don’t know about you, but where I come from, anything that persists for that long usually has some grain of truth to it. Not always, but usually—just saying.

Also a big spot in both Shades of Gray and Shades of Desire is Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral. One of the oldest operating religious centers in the United States, St. Louis is huge, beautiful and peaceful. The spot between the church and the Square is full of tourists and tarot card readers and street artists during the day and at night serves as the lead-off spot for the Haunted History vampire tour.

The house at the corner of Royal and Urusline has been known as the home of the Jacque St. Germaine for years. Despite the fact that the building is rarely, if ever, visibly occupied, the taxes are always paid and the building has been on the market less than a handful of times. In addition, even with the city’s high crime rate, the building is protected by a simple chain and padlock. Strange? Why, yes, I’d have to agree.

And finally, we have Congo Square, or as it’s more officially known, Louis Armstrong Park. Back when slavery was still the law of the land, slaves would gather in the park for dancing and religious services, including voodoo. While reports on how creepy the services got are difficult to find and even more difficult to authenticate, if we were placing bets, I’d go with some of them being in the not nice range.

So, that’s it! I hope you guys enjoyed a look at some of the popular settings in the series. In the next book, look to see Jude, Theo, Williams and the others moving Uptown, both literally and figuratively. After all, New Orleans has some pretty sweet houses. Thanks so much for having me here, and as always, happy reading!

Shades of Desire Book 2 Jude Magdalyn Series By L.M. Pruitt All I wanted was a little peace and quiet. Instead, I’ve got dead Covenant members and a steady stream of letters from the new guy in town. His beverage of choice? A 2002 Merlot, with a shot or two of powerful virgin blood. On top of that, I’m breaking in a new police liaison, failing at playing matchmaker, and fighting nausea like it’s a full time job. All I wanted was a little peace and quiet. Did I forget to mention that I’ve also got enough girls living at the Crossroads to start my own boarding school? Peace and quiet? Out the window.

Buy Links: Shades of Desire: Kindle Shades of Grey (Jude Magdalyn book #1): Kindle Hole in the Wall: a Jude Magdalyn free Kindle short Read an excerpt… Download (DOC, 24KB)

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