Behind The Scenes Pixie Dust by Henry Melton
Pixie Dust was book number seven, after six that I had tagged under the banner “Small Towns, Big Ideas”.  Since Jenny Quinn, the protagonist, was a university post-grad in Austin Texas, the book didn’t fit my Young Adult science fiction category like the others, so I set up a new banner, “Home Planet Adventures” for this and other out-of-category stories.


However, in one way, Pixie Dust inspired the whole small towns series.  It was actually written before the others, when I was working at Motorola. Many times, I would take a long Saturday and drive around the back country of West Texas, thinking about my writing and plotting the story.  It was only natural that
during the carnival chapters, she would travel through the same small towns.  So as I sat in various rural Dairy Queens, writing on my Newton, the direct inspiration was right outside.


When I started writing the YA books, it came naturally to set them in real small towns as well.  The pattern was set.


 

The Nimitz Museum in Fredericksberg, where Dennis took Rashid to show him his ship:




Town Square in Brady, Texas.


Where the carnival set up in Big Spring (and where Tinkerbell collapsed).




The main intersection in the little town of Eden.


Just a little section of the Big Spring of Big Spring, where all the local kids come to fish.