The Story behind "OVER THE MOON AT THE BIG LIZARD DINER"

OVER THE MOON AT THE BIG LIZARD DINER is the third installment in the Texas Hill Country series that began with TEXAS COOKING and LONE STAR CAFÉ. The book will be released in September, 2005, in the larger (trade) size paperback. Despite the new look, BIG LIZARD really IS the third book the Texas series, and many of the favorite characters from TEXAS COOKING and LONE STAR CAFE make appearances as Laura's (Lone Star Café) and Collie's (Texas Cooking) best gal pal, Lindsey has a Texas-sized adventure of her own.

The story of BIG LIZARD DINER was inspired, once again, by a real-life event that occurred in the Hill Country a couple of years ago. I've had the original newspaper article tucked away for a while now, just waiting to use this bizarre happening as the basis for a book. For those of you who aren't familiar with central Texas , the area is famous for dinosaur fossils and tracks of all types (Hence the name of the café in the story, Big Lizard Diner). Trackways are a frequent and awesome sight in many riverbeds and creek bottoms, and were a source of fascination and legend for the Native Americans and Texas pioneers who came before. 

A few years ago, the big news was that a set of theropod (three-toed dinosaur) tracks had been stolen from a Hill Country ranch. Not such an odd story, perhaps, except that the tracks were encased in the solid limestone bottom of a creekbed, and no one ever guessed that they could be stolen. The thieves came by night with heavy equipment, removed a 2' x 3' section of rock, and made off with it. The story was so bizarre that it drew national attention, appearing in USA Today and on morning news shows. Unfortunately, the thieves weren't apprehended, despite the efforts of ranch owners and the local sheriff's department. The tracks were undoubtedly sold on the black market. 

After hearing the story and talking to the ranch owners, I knew that I had found the spark for the third book in the Hill Country series. What better way to draw paleontologist, Lindsey Draper-Attwood into a larger-than-life Texas adventure than with the mystery of stolen dinosaur tracks and the chance to help track down the culprits?

Click the cover to read the first chapter.