Romance Writers Weekly - What's up with Settings? #lovewritechat

This week's assignment is from me! J I wanted to know how my RWW pals choose the setting for there books. Do they draw on real life, or make it all up? 

Welcome to those of you joining me from Jeanne McDonald!

In some novels, the setting can almost be a character itself. I just recently read SOPHIA’S SECRET (or THE WINTER SEA) by Susanna Kearsley, and the whole book revolves around the setting – it simply couldn’t have happened anywhere else. (It's very good, by the way...)

As a reader, I love to read stories set in places I’ve been – New York and London come to mind. And if I haven’t been to the location, reading about it can certainly pique my interest – Australia is on my bucket list for a number of novels I’ve read. While I don’t mind stories set in fictional settings, I often have trouble believing that those places (often small towns) have the variety of personalities, businesses and drama that are depicted.

My first published novel, MOUNTAIN FIRE, is set in my hometown in Northern British Columbia for a couple of reasons. One – tackling a novel was scary enough that I didn’t want to have to think about the location. I wanted to know exactly where my characters were at all times, and what that place looked, smelled and sounded like. Two – the suspense revolves around a grizzly bear poaching ring, and Northern BC is definitely a good place for that!

I ventured a bit further a field with my second novel, CHEF D’AMOUR, but just a few hours down the road to Vancouver. While I work at the TV station in my hometown, the kind of reality show that forms the backbone of CHEF D’AMOUR needed a much larger, cosmopolitan market. But again, I stayed within an area I was comfortable with.

The trend has continued with my third and fourth manuscripts – one set on the Azores, which I have visited, and the next set back in my hometown. If other readers are like me, it may spark their interest in visiting a part of the world they haven’t seen.

Now hop of on over Leslie Hachtel and she how she uses setting.