Lately, I've been thinking a lot about where my stories take place.
I've written about small farms and mountain communities in Idaho. I have a cozy set in a fictional coastal California town. Mostly, I like writing about places that touch me. Places that call to me.
My cozy started with a picture of a run down, boarded up house, perched on the edge of a charming tourist town. I shot a picture of the house, and the story just kept calling to me. I imagined the town fathers trying to buy that house for years, probably to bull doze the house and build something new. Something pretty. But the owner won't sell. Why? Because she raised her child in that house, the child that didn't come home from Vietnam. She lost her husband in that house, his life slipping away while she slept next to him, unaware. She wants to die in that house.
And besides, she likes making the Mayor see red.
All from a picture.
Last month I took a walk back in time over the Mississippi river. The Chain of Rocks bridge once was a thriving crossroads from Missouri to Illinois. But time and a new, improved freeway system, made the bridge unusable. Luck and lack of funds kept it intact until the trail system was able to re-purpose the bridge into a wonderful walking path.
As I walked over the water, I realized two things. Yes, I am afraid of heights. My stomach flip flopped any time I got near the edge. And the second, this would be an awesome place for a murder to take place. Maybe one of those politicians who fought the use of tax payer money to support the refurbishing. And maybe...
Settings, they get my wheels turning.
How about you? What causes you to start imagining a new book? Is it place, character, or plot?
I've written about small farms and mountain communities in Idaho. I have a cozy set in a fictional coastal California town. Mostly, I like writing about places that touch me. Places that call to me.
My cozy started with a picture of a run down, boarded up house, perched on the edge of a charming tourist town. I shot a picture of the house, and the story just kept calling to me. I imagined the town fathers trying to buy that house for years, probably to bull doze the house and build something new. Something pretty. But the owner won't sell. Why? Because she raised her child in that house, the child that didn't come home from Vietnam. She lost her husband in that house, his life slipping away while she slept next to him, unaware. She wants to die in that house.
And besides, she likes making the Mayor see red.
All from a picture.
Last month I took a walk back in time over the Mississippi river. The Chain of Rocks bridge once was a thriving crossroads from Missouri to Illinois. But time and a new, improved freeway system, made the bridge unusable. Luck and lack of funds kept it intact until the trail system was able to re-purpose the bridge into a wonderful walking path.
As I walked over the water, I realized two things. Yes, I am afraid of heights. My stomach flip flopped any time I got near the edge. And the second, this would be an awesome place for a murder to take place. Maybe one of those politicians who fought the use of tax payer money to support the refurbishing. And maybe...
Settings, they get my wheels turning.
How about you? What causes you to start imagining a new book? Is it place, character, or plot?