Kara's CSU Stan

For whatever reason, I really like seeing places I know in fiction. It’s cool to be able to say things like “oh, that place!” or “they just jumped halfway across town in the middle of a conversation, come on” or “yes, the news really goes that crazy about pandas but pandas are ADORABLE and also breeding them is an impressive and important conservational feat* not to mention good for tourism which is an important sector of our economy.” Greg Bear captured my literary heart by making the end of the world start in La Jolla, which was very sweet. Xanadu being partly Balboa Park is nicely historical. And the show Veronica Mars blew up Qualcomm! It was great!

This situation is sort of harder to come by for Turlock than it is for San Diego.

I don’t think there was even a single TV show shot or set here.

But there is a graphic novel. Well, probably. I mean, I’ve never actually seen a copy because:

• They don’t have it in the campus library
• It’s not in, like, any bookstore anywhere
• I can’t borrow it from anyone since as far as I can tell no one’s even heard of it
• Since I really don’t want to pay for shipping for one book I keep meaning to add it on to another shipment except I read mostly ebooks so the situation doesn’t come up
• I…sort of keep forgetting about it

However, this is some of what I’ve gleaned from looking around (while trying to skim over plotty-spoiler stuff):

• It takes place in Turlock.
• There’s some sort of academic place nicknamed “Creature Tech”
• It was written by a guy from Denair

…

It’s not just set in Turlock, IT’S ABOUT US. There is no way a book set in Turlock, written by someone from the area, and called Creature Tech is not going to at least make nods toward us at Turkey Tech. Which is close enough for me to say IT’S ABOUT US. MAYBE. A LITTLE BIT. POSSIBLY JUST THE NAME BUT WHATEVER.

And this is what else it has:

• Mad scientists
• Some guy with robot arms or something on the cover
• Possibly rednecks
• TvTropes page
• A space eel?
• Probably not dinosaurs but I’m going to wish really hard

…

…

So it’s called Creature Tech, set in Turlock, and has individuals of a scientific persuasion in potentially starring and/or antagonistic capacities?

As a student of the biological sciences (which province typically covers both creatures and turkeys) at Turkey Tech in Turlock, I will say this:

• I really have to read this book.

*I’m from San Diego. I may have mentioned this. Sorry.