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Texas history, every which way

Journeying through Texas history with Elizabeth Crook
A copy of "The Which Way Tree" on a table in front of Hill Country foliage.
The novel follows the perspective of Benjamin Shreve, Sam’s older brother. | Photo by ATXtoday
Read a book by Elizabeth Crook and you’re bound to embark on a wild, adventurous ride through Texas of yore.

The Austin author’s most recent novel “The Which Way Tree” — a heart-stopping quest to hunt down a monster in the Texas Hill Country — earned her the 2023 Texas Writer Award and a speaking slot at the upcoming Texas Book Festival.

Texas-born and San Marcos-raised, Crook will release her next book “The Madstone” (a sequel of sorts to “The Which Way Tree”) on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

Ahead of the festival and the release, we sat down with Crook to learn more about her experience writing Austin-area historical fiction.

ATX_ElizabethCrook

See Austin author Elizabeth Crook at the Texas Book Festival on Saturday, Nov. 11.

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Provided by Elizabeth Crook

Considering your books’ historic setting, what does your research process look like?

It’s really extensive. If you saw my office, you would see stacks, just piles and piles, of books on the floor because I don’t have enough shelf space. Then, in the back of every book, you would see pages of my notes ... that might be relevant to whatever I was writing.

The research really informs the story. I sort of know what I want to do in the story, but until you really learn the period, and learn what was happening, you don’t know the touchstones that you can hang that hat on. … It’s very complicated to try to get it right, but it’s important to me to get it right.

What about an adventure story intrigues you?

To me, I am never very invested in the characters if they’re not at risk in some way, if there’s not some danger threatening them.

I tried to write at one time a kind of light, comedic book, and I just couldn’t care less about those characters. It just wasn’t interesting to me. … You have to worry about characters a little bit, I think, to really keep turning the pages.
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Events
Thursday, Nov. 2
  • Austin Area Urban League HBCU Basketball Classic | Thursday, Nov. 2-Friday, Nov. 3 | Times vary | H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, 2100 Ave. of the Stars, Cedar Park | $15-$89 | Cheer on Austin’s own Huston-Tillotson University as they compete against other southern schools.
  • Texas Baseball Fall World Series | Thursday, Nov. 2-Sunday, Nov. 5 | Times vary | UFCU Disch-Falk Field, 1300 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Austin | Free | Take me out to the ballgame at this free series.
  • Carolyn Forché: Reading and Reception | Thursday, Nov. 2 | 6-7:30 p.m. | Harry Ransom Center, 300 W. 21st St., Austin | Free | This poet is known for works like “Gathering the Tribes” and “What You Have Heard Is True.”
Friday, Nov. 3
  • Texas Hemp Harvest Festival | Friday, Nov. 3-Saturday, Nov. 4 | Times vary | Distribution Hall, 1500 E. 4th St., Austin | $20-$175 | Spend the weekend with fellow hemp lovers at this event with live music, Jamaican food from Winston’s Kitchen, and local vendors.
  • Maná | Friday, Nov. 3 | 8:30 p.m. | The Moody Center, 2001 Robert Dedman Dr., Austin | $74-$300 | Start your weekend with this performance on the “México Lindo y Querido” tour.
Saturday, Nov. 4
  • The Front Market | Saturday, Nov. 4-Sunday, Nov. 19 | Times vary | Ani’s Day & Night, 7107 E. Riverside Dr., Austin | Free | Explore three weekends of varying vendors and pop-ups at this dog-friendly south Austin market.
  • Austin Celtic Festival | Saturday, Nov. 4-Sunday, Nov. 5 | Times vary | Jourdan-Bachman Pioneer Farms, 10621 Pioneer Farms Dr., Austin | $25-$42 | Enjoy traditional Irish music, Celtic sports, and local vendors at this annual festival.
  • Austin Fashion Week | Saturday, Nov. 4-Sunday, Nov. 5 | Times vary | The Domain, 11410 Century Oaks Terrace, Austin | $50-$595 | Spend the weekend with the newest in local design at the 15th anniversary of this event.
Events calendar here
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News Notes
Transit
  • The Austin area will receive $30 million in federal funding for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. As part of the package, $11.3 million will go toward MetroBike expansion, $6.3 million for Round Rock’s Heritage Trail, and $2.7 million for Pflugerville intersections. (Austin American-Statesman)
Announced
  • Loro — a culinary partnership between local chefs Aaron Franklin and Tyson Cole — will open a new location at Domain NORTHSIDE in late 2024. The space will be the Asian fusion restaurant’s sixth location in Texas and second in Austin.
Cause
  • As part of an effort to address growing demand, the Central Texas Food Bank aims to distribute 17,000 turkeys and holiday meals this month, plus double monetary donations through the end of the year. Of note: Texas ranks as the No. 2 most food insecure state in the US. (KVUE + Spectrum News 1)
Real Estate
  • California-based travel management company Navan Inc. has moved into the top three floors of the downtown office building at 501 Congress Avenue. Previously home to Dropbox Inc., the 34,000-sqft space will likely be occupied until summer 2025. (Austin Business Journal)
Open
  • UT’s 90-year-old Hogg Memorial Auditorium reopened after a two-year, $28 million renovation. The auditorium now has 1,007 new seats, plus updates to the dressing rooms, lobby, and lighting.
Plan Ahead
  • Cody Johnson, the Turnpike Troubadours, and Hank Williams, Jr. will perform at the Two Step Inn music festival returning to Georgetown in April. Presale for the April event will open tomorrow at 12 p.m. — see the full lineup.
Travel
  • It’s gonna be wicked fast. Southwest Airlines announced a new nonstop flight from Austin to Boston starting June 2024. Tickets are currently available for weekend service between June 8 and Aug. 4 of next year. Get prepped for your trip with BOStoday. (KXAN)
Ranked
  • Austin’s ever-changing skyline earned the No. 10 spot on a Window Gnome ranking of US cities with amazing views. The Capital City scored significantly higher than the next highest-ranked Texas metro — McAllen, at No. 33.
 
Quiz

📰 Let’s get down to quizness
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Restaurants opened. Restaurants closed. Records broken. Businesses bought. Unsurprisingly, October brought a lot of headlines to ATX.

We’re back with another edition of ATXtoday’s News Quiz, here to test you on how well you remember the top happenings of last month.

Click the button below to take our quiz, and prepare yourself, we’ll give a shout out to the high-scorers in an upcoming newsletter.
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The Buy

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The Wrap
 
London Gibson

Today’s edition by:
London
From the editor
This chilly weather has me in the mood for some curry. Any recommendations for an excellent local dish? Bonus points if it’s in south Austin.
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