My image of the exterior of the Ice House B&B is drawn from The Old Feed Mill Restaurant in Mazomanie, Wisconsin. One winter night, as a snow storm blanketed the area and shut down all car traffic, my wife and I walked to restaurant through a perfectly quiet and pristine world. The limestone building, with a candle in every window, stood against a glittering white backdrop and created a magical image I’ll never forget. If you are ever in Mazomanie, I recommend stopping at The Old Feed Mill for dinner.
The interior of my Ice House B&B is a combination of memories from The Old Feed Mill and the Brewery Creek B&B, located in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. We stayed in the Brewery Creek B&B several times and its rustic stone walls and post and beam construction left a lasting impression. The brewery building was constructed in 1854 is now the Commerce Street Brewery Hotel.
– The design features the large rock outcropping at Inspiration Point at House On The Rock, which is located near Spring Green, Wisconsin. The vault door is from the defunct State Bank of Spring Green. It is now a local restaurant. Both are located not far from the fictitious village of Oak Cliff.
What is the significance of the cover design?
– For the answer to this question, you’ll have to read the book to find out what the cover art might represent.
The author took both photographs and created the merged effect using Photoshop and Pixelmator Pro on a Mac.
If you analyze the distances mentioned in my mysteries to known locations in southwestern Wisconsin, you’ll find the village Oak Cliff is situated somewhere near the town of Mazomanie, WI (population 1,800). It was during a visit to this quaint village years ago, that I found the inspiration for the first story and location.
The one real place that will mislead you in your quest to locate Oak Cliff is the location of the Wisconsin River. I took literary license when I moved it to just the south of the village.
The background images on several of this website’s pages are photographs of Mazomanie with a little creative photoshop editing.