Desert View Watchtower, Grand Canyon National Park

If you’ve hung around on this blog for very long, you’ve probably figured out that I love photo challenges (see just about any of my photo posts for evidence). Well, I just found a new one, the Amazing Stonework challenge over on the For the Love of blog. Anita’s goal is, “to highlight the artwork created by builders of long ago.” I’m fascinated by old stone buildings, from millennium-old pueblos and cliff dwellings to the midcentury brick homes in my Tucson neighborhood, so I’m excited to participate in this challenge. I’m also excited to use this challenge as an opportunity to share photos from places that relate in some way to my writing (because, y’know, we authors are supposed to use our websites to promote our work).

Today’s amazing stone building is the Desert View Watchtower on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Until last fall, I lived in Flagstaff, so the Grand Canyon was an easy day trip and one we made at least a time or two a year. The Desert View Watchtower was designed by Mary Coulter back when there weren’t very many female architects. She designed several buildings near the Grand Canyon and many others throughout the Southwest. The Wikipedia article about Mary Coulter is a great starting point for learning more about her work.

The Watchtower was influenced by Coulter’s study of Puebloan ruins and Hopi Culture. Learn more about this gorgeous building from Arizona State University’s Grand Canyon nature, history , and culture site.

As for how this place relates to my writing: Vanishing, Inc., the time travel romance I’m currently querying, is set in the Northern Arizona mountain country, and my two main characters visit the Grand Canyon. My male lead, Luke Emmons, is from 1910 and is blown away by how quickly they can make the trip by car. A journey that took twelve hours by stagecoach in his time takes about two hours in his girlfriend’s Jeep.