As writers, we have the luxury of choosing any location we can possibly think of, and that’s the beauty of it. We’re able to take readers on journeys to new and exotic places they’ve never been before with the stroke of a keyboard. After all, reading is escapism, so why not jet-set off to another country from the comfort of your living room?
Do you think about where you’re going to set your book before you write it? Having a different location could add another dimension to your writing and the story. Because I have dual British/Turkish Cypriot nationality, I knew I wanted to stage one of my novels in North Cyprus so readers could get immersed in the history and culture, and that’s when My Perfect Wedding was born. It also gave me the opportunity to add a lot of quirky characters into the mix (think Manuel from Fawlty Towers!).
So in this case, what happens in Vegas definitely won’t stay there – it will be plastered on the pages of a chick lit novel!
So, how about everyone out in WG2E land? Where have you set your books? Has it added anything extra to your work?
Happy Writing – Sibel XX
(P.S. – I won’t have much internet access so I apologise in advance for not reply to posts)
One of the positives of the nomadic life I have lead as an adult is the plethora of locales for my novels. And you are totally right, places add a depth to a story that is almost like another character. Small town Texas, East Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale during Spring Break, all give different back drops and flavors to a romance.
And now you have me thinking about Vegas…
So far I haven’t travelled outside my country for my books. My chidren’s books have been based in schools that I remember, and my adult romance series I base them in places that I know about eg an office, and my local area. Maybe later on when I get into writing for adults more I will venture further, on the web.
Choosing the setting for each book is Step One for me! And the part I find to be the most fun about creating each new book. I luuuvvv researching each new spot and/or travelling there too!!!
Let’s see…
Bootscootin’ Blahniks – Nashville TN
Stompin’ on Stetsons – Nashville TN
Buckles Me Baby – Nashville TN and Vegas ( I used the Bellagio hotel…luuuvvv that hotel!)
Thug Guard – London, Milan, Paris and Vienna
Lip Glock – Amalfi Coast Italy
Carats and Coconuts – Amazon Rainforest Brazil
The Royal Digs (coming this summer) – Key West
I’m with DD:
Decades: NYC, Nantucket, the Caribbean
H&L: the midwest, Manhattan, Florida
TLR: Paris, NYC, Germany
L&M: Park Avenue, small town New England, Singapore
Hooked: Baltimore, the Greek Islands, the Turkish Coast
Zuri: an animal orphanage in Kenya
Lots are places I’ve been; others, just lots of research. Always lots of fun & very interesting. For me and, I hope, for my readers.
I had the most fun when I set one of my Regency romances in Calcutta. My family trvels there every year to visit family, but researching and imagining it 200 years ago was great fun.
I wish I could travel like that. My debut novel is set in Vegas, and I chose it for a very specific reason. My current WIP is set in the south, in part because of the religious fervor down there and because I’ve always loved it. I guess my books are my way of traveling:)
I set my first novel in Wilmington, NC, because I love that area, and if I could choose to live anywhere in the continental U.S., it’d be there. Wilmington sits on a river not far from the beach, and I love the feel of the city. But for my new series, I’m creating a fictional town in coastal NC. I’m having a great time designing the town in my imagination!
I luuuv the way a book can make me feel as if I’ve visited or lived in another place for a while!
As to my own work, Roy and I set our Saylor Oz mysteries in our favorite Brooklyn neighborhood – DUMBO – Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass — plus a few scenes in Manhattan and East Hampton.
And we recently did blog post about the North Fork, a strip of farming and fishing villages on the tip of Long Island, the setting we chose for our Dance ‘n’ Luv series.
http://aliciastreet-roystreet.com/2012/04/23/dancing-through-the-north-fork/
I lived in San Diego when I wrote 2 contemporary romances and 2 time travel historical romances, so research for the modern settings was easy because they were in my backyard, but I found the historical research was really fun (though time consuming). I looked for books about the time period at yard sales and library sales (I like to spread out books on my desk when I’m writing), and used the library and local historical societies for more info, and the internet. I tell ya, armchair traveling back in time can be addictive!
I’m a stickler for historical accuracy (hmm…some might say anal!) and I even found old maps of downtown San Diego from 1888 so street names and shop names could be used. In the second time travel the heroine jumped back to 1865 during an earthquake in the Anza Borego desert…because the hero was half-Kumeyaay, I searched until I found an obscure dictionary of the Mesa Grande Diegueno language used by the Kumeyaay people and incorporated that–the publisher even agreed to have a Kumeyaay Glossary in the back of the book, which was so cool and pretty unusual for a romance novel.
If I can’t go to my setting, I do rely on reading and the internet. I’ll print out photos and print out articles and create a research notebook–sometimes I’ll write or email the Chamber of Commerce in the area of a modern setting new to me and ask for a visitors packet. Travel guides and books are great too and can be found at library sales pretty easily.
AND if my setting doesn’t exist (I’m working on a YA fantasy) then I get out paper and pencil and draw a map…sometimes collaging for inspiration to bring in elements of the world I’m building.
To me, writing as an adult creates that same feeling I had as a child reading books about places I might never go–it transports me. So, I really work hard to create that for my readers by being accurate and creative. I don’t use every detail I find, but I think in the process of internalizing the information, my setting feels more real.
Have fun in Vegas, Baby! The possibilities for a story in that town are ENDLESS.
My Kate Jones thrillers are all in different places (all of which I’ve either lived or visited): Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, Mexico and the Caribbean. I set another novel, Serial Date, in Los Angeles – it started out in Seattle, where I now live, but it didn’t work, so I changed to LA. So many locations, so little time!!!
In my first YA series Royal Blood Chronicles I decided on Europe, Germany, Austria and France, but they travel the world and that’s part of the fun. I also love the time period I set it in the middle 1800′s. Lots of research, that’s really fun too! You find out the most amazing things. My second series, Phantom Lives is set in Mississippi in and civil war era Antabellum mansion called Collier. Again so much fun to research!