Looking for zombies in the Boston Public Library

Bates Hall
A couple days after mailing the contract for Servicing the Undead, book 2 in my zombie series, I took myself and a friend to the Boston Public Library. The first book in the series, free read Undone by the Undead is set in the BPL and the second also has a scene there, so I thought I'd go check the place out, see if I got things right and get some ideas for future books.

Good news: I got the details of Bates Hall right. Thank you internet image search. The wood tables where Mattie and Hayden have sex are just as solid and sturdy as they look in the pictures. 

One thing that did not come out of the image search was  how incredibly *quiet* it was in there. Insanely quiet. Or rather, I'd go insane if I had to work there.

Abbey Hall
A fun surprise waited for me outside Bates Hall, The Abbey Room which features a gorgeous mural of The Quest for the Holy Grail by the American artist, Edwin Austin Abbey.There is also a large fireplace and gold-gilded ceiling. And, of course, lots of silence.

After we finished our tour of the second floor, where both of these rooms are located, we went up to the third floor to the rare book room. The rare book room featured a guest registry which I probably should have signed with a nice note like everyone else, but instead I wrote "zombies are here." Maybe by that time, because I'd been retracing Hayden and Mattie's steps, I was pretty convinced they were around somewhere.

Koussevitzky Room
Outside the rare book room is a fabulous room, which actually looks more like a hallway, with  beautiful murals and street lamps. I wish we'd been there at night, because I imagine it's awesome. Look for this spot to show up somewhere in one of the Cold Hunger books. Who knows, maybe I'll even go back there, have a seat on the slate floor and write a few scenes right there by one of those lamps.

Another thing that will probably make its way into a future story is an amazing elevator which we nicknamed the Sexavator because the second you step into it you think, "oh yeah, I could have sex in here." It's small enough inside that it feels intimate, there is a mini cathedral ceiling, dim lighting, a round, frosted window, and cozy wood paneling. Also, it's out of the way enough that you get the sense that you'd have enough time for whatever quick act you have in mind.

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