In Venus in Blue Jeans, I created a Texas Hill Country town called Konigsburg. I had so much fun there that I came back for three more books, and I've got more Konigsburg books in the future.

The Hill Country is a beautiful region, and a favorite Texas vacation spot. It's full of history (range wars, Indian wars, presidential birthplaces, etc.), scenery (lakes, limestone caverns, granite hills, etc.), terrific wine and food, and several small towns catering to tourists that are lots of fun to visit (Fredricksburg, Marble Falls, Mason, Boerne, Gruene, Comfort, Luckenbach, etc., etc., etc.).

If you're visiting a Hill Country town, it's a good idea to visit their Chamber of Commerce site first. These folks can pass along the names of local hotels, bed and breakfasts, and restaurants, saving you a lot of time. Fredricksburg, which is probably the major tourist center in the Hill Country, also has a bed and breakfast directory that covers a considerable swath. It's the Fredricksburg First Class Bed and Breakfast Reservation Service.

The Hill Country wineries are some of the best established in the state, although many of them get their grapes from the West Texas High Plains. The Hill Country Wine Trail will get you started.

The Austin Chronicle (Austin is nominally in the Hill Country; San Antonio isn't) provides an on-line Hill Country Guide with more information, and the Texas Department of Tourism can give you suggestions for activities.

Finally, for sheer idiosyncratic Texana, there's Ira Kennedy's site, TexFiles, which is guaranteed to tell you more about the Hill Country than you ever thought to ask!