Places in Fangs & Halos--Houston
One of the things I love about writing Fangs & Halos is that I get to visit all these great places that I put into the books. I use real places that you too can go explore. They say “write what you know” so I do.
I live in Houston so it made sense to write about places here. It also makes it easier when I’m writing to be able to go and actually drive the routes, visit the places, and get colorations and descriptions right.
Marcus’s building is the Sage Plaza building at 5151 San Filipe. This is a tall 25 story pink glass building, all glass, with a couple of sharp corners on two sides of the building. There is a circle drive in front. A 7-story parking garage behind it, linked to the building by a concourse. My husband and I used to work in that building in the early 2000s so it was logical to put the headquarters of Lancaster Industries there. The company takes up the entire building with Marcus’s penthouse on the top and Isobel’s apartment on the 24th floor.
Marcus also owns the twin pink and black Four-Leaf Towers apartments on San Filipe, across from the Lancaster building. It’s where his employees can live. I did take the license to build a tunnel between the closer tower and the Lancaster building so they don’t have to cross the street. That tunnel is important later in the series.
St. Michael’s Catholic Church at 1801 Sage is behind the Lancaster building. This is where Lilly goes to church. The rectory is on Del Monte, just south of the church complex. Both are in the series. This is the church front as it was in 2005/2006. Since then they have changed it, the statue has been moved into the area and the beautiful magnolia tree is gone.
Isobel takes Lilly to the Galleria to shop for clothes when she arrives in Houston. Neman Marcus, Victoria’s Secret, the Cheese Cake Factory are all there. The mall is huge with a hotel attached and an ice skating rink. This is the mall to see and be seen in, very upscale.
The incident during the date has some real places as well. Brenner’s Steakhouse on Katy Freeway was the destination. Sadly, they didn’t make it to the dinner Marcus had planned for before the party in River Oaks. They also end up at the central police department downtown.
There’s a party Marcus and Lilly attend at the home of a wealthy vampire in the River Oaks area of Houston. I won’t give out the address, I haven’t been in there or know the owners but I did see it from the outside and it seems like a good place to put the party. When Lilly leaves, she ends up at Lamar High School on Westheimer, south of the house where they are. My editor graduated from Lamar.
Cat Vet Clinic was at 2125 W. Alabama until 2013. This is where Fr. Keller tells Gregory to take Baron for stitches. The doctor in the story is Doc AJ (Dr. Jenessa Agatha Casey). The real Cat Vets are Dr. Nancy Christensen, Dr. Matthew Filip, Dr. Meghan Tibbs, and Dr. Erin Wilkens. Established in 1973, their clinic is very highly rated and was the first feline-only clinic in Texas and the second in the entire nation. They moved the clinic from its long-time home on W. Alabama to a new facility at 3122 White Oak Drive.
The Houstonian Hotel, Club, and Spa at 111 N Post Oak Lane is where Marcus and Lancelot are attending a fundraiser for Pause for Paws pet charity in Book 5 (coming soon!). It’s just off Loop 610, near I-10. It’s a beautiful area with trees and a fitness center.
That’s the trip to Houston in the Fangs & Halos series so far.
Next time, a trip to San Antonio.