Where to Set Your Story by Victoria Chatham

 

TO BE RELEASED SEPTEMBER 2025

All stories have a setting. Some are instantly recognisable, others are not. One of my favourite authors is Rosamund Pilcher, who set many of her stories in Cornwall, the English county that dips its toe into the Atlantic Ocean. The first line of her book, Coming Home, tells you this, but in a charming way:

'The Porthkerris Council School stood halfway up the steep hill which climbed from the heart of the little town to the empty moors which lay beyond.'

Lee Child, another of my favourite authors, leaves you in no doubt of his setting in the opening of Oneshot:

'Friday. Five o'clock in the afternoon. Maybe the hardest time to move unobserved through a city. Or maybe the easiest. Because at five o'clock on a Friday nobody pays attention to anything. Except the road ahead.'

The setting anchors the story in time and space, providing a sense of reality for the reader. The author is responsible for further solidifying that setting by engaging the senses. If it is an indoor setting, such as a house or a building, where is the character located? What furniture might they have to move around? What can they see, hear, and feel? I often close my eyes and visualise it, typically typing as I move from hallway to stairs, from scullery to dining room. The devil is in the details, so all the details I ‘see’ are typed. What time of day is it, and what part of the year? Where does the light fall, and what shadows does it create? How does that affect the colour palette of the décor? Being specific usually holds a reader’s attention, especially if it appeals to the senses.

Shakespeare wrote, ‘Let me count the ways.’ OK, he was writing Sonnet #43, but that phrase could just as easily refer to creating settings as to declaring love. In As You Like It, he also wrote, ‘All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.’

While the Bard waxes poetic, authors are not so different in creating the stage or setting and moving characters around in that landscape. As much as I love creating characters, I also enjoy creating their settings. For my Regency romances, my characters have followed the social round from someone’s country seat to London, then on to the spa towns of Brighton, Bath, Cheltenham, Buxton, and Harrogate. While there were others, these are the most easily recognised, particularly Bath, for those who enjoy Regency romance. Being such popular cities, many of which have changed little since their inception, street plans are readily available online with some digging into each city’s archives.  

Typical town plan

I have been torn between using real-life locations for my contemporary stories and creating a town because I’m writing fiction. This is where I combine fact and fiction. I take a location I know and fictionalise it. That way, I can still write with a measure of conviction that might otherwise be lacking. Readers invariably sense a weakness, and I do my best to make my fictional settings as real as possible. I mix up English village names if my setting is in England, and I’m sure there are many more fictional ranches in Southern Alberta than in reality.

Fall colours in Southern Alberta

Another aspect of setting is designing the houses in which my characters live. I need to understand how they move through these spaces and what keeps the upstairs household members separate from those below stairs. Even with my ranch houses, I approach the same considerations. After designing one ranch house, I knew almost every log and stone in its construction, but I could not picture the roofline. I phoned a local architect’s office, explained my dilemma to the receptionist, and asked if any of the architects there would be willing to assist. The following day, I received a call from a gentleman intrigued by the process of building a house in a novel. We scheduled an appointment, and when he examined my floor plan, it didn't take him long to add a roof to it. Job done, but our conversation about the intricacies of writing a book continued well beyond the one-hour slot he had allocated me.

My current work in progress is set in a place I know well, but I have fictionalized it out of respect for the residents. Whether they recognise it or not remains to be seen when A Murder in the Meadow debuts this coming September.

Victoria Chatham

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I'm Canadian by J. S. Marlo

  

Undeniable Trait

is available now!

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J. S. Marlo's BWL Books

As many of you know, I'm a Canadian author. I love my four seasons. I can't imagine living without snow in the winter, but I'll admit I could live without the excessive heat and mosquitoes in the summer.

When it comes to set my stories, I favour fall or winter in Canada. I've lived or spent lots of time in 9 of our 10 provinces (the 10th one and the 3 territories are on my bucket list, but I know people who live/lived there), so the possibilities are endless when it comes to choose a setting that I'm familiar with. I also like to add that Canadian vibe to my book covers when I can.

My latest novel takes place in Ojibson, a fictional small town in northern Ontario. Many people don't realise how large Ontario is until they drive from Ottawa to the Manitoba/Ontario border. That's roughly 2000 km (1250 miles) along the northern shores of the great lakes and through magnificent forests where you drive by some towns and many villages that are far and few between. Some services are limited, many are only available hours away, and snow storms can wreak havoc with driving anywhere.

This is the setting I chose for my latest novel "Undeniable Trait". There's a rural hospital where the old town doctor had buried secrets. For years after his death, temporary doctors (in my neck of the woods, we call them fly-in fly-out doctors) had come to provide services, but they'd only stayed for days or weeks at a time, none of them settling down. Everything changes the day Dr. Zachary arrives in Ojibson. For reason he won't share until later in the novel, Zachary is looking for a place to settle down and start afresh. The residents are thrilled, but when Zachary starts digging out his predecessor's old files, he inadvertently stumbles onto secrets worth killing or dying for.

Personally I think the only way for two people to keep a secret is for one of them to be dead. And the only way to prevent someone from digging up a secret is to destroy it, not bury it. Eventually, it will rise to the surface and someone will talk, but hey, I'm just the writer. The old doctor didn't ask for my opinion.

When I send my suggestions for a book cover, I try to come up with a visual clue that will tell my readers where my story takes place.

In "Undeniable Trait", it's the money in the six-fingered hand. This isn't colourful Monopoly money. These are real Canadian bills. That's the "Canadian" clue.

In "Voted Out", it's the ball in the middle of the compass pointing toward VOTE. It depicts the Canadian flag.

Enjoy Fall & Happy Reading!

J. S. 

 

 

J. S. Marlo's Website

Technicolor Dreams...by Sheila Claydon

I don't visit the cinema that often, although when I do I thoroughly enjoy it, but I do watch TV box sets back-to-back. I prefer it that way to the old terrestrial 'episode once a week' system. I like to immerse myself in the ongoing story, the main characters, the secondary characters, even the settings.  I also like to think about the storyline and try to work out what is going to happen next. Nothing unusual in that, especially for a writer. It's what happens afterwards that challenges me. You see I like to imagine how my stories would perform on the small screen.

I know exactly how each character would look and behave. I can even take my books apart in my head so that they fit the requirements of a series.  And should I be lucky enough to be asked to advise when my fictional TV producer decides to make an offer, what fun I will have.  To be able to re-visit places I've written about and actually populate them with my imaginary characters would be the journey of a lifetime. Would he/she want the book that's set in London and Florence, or maybe the one set in Moscow would be better, or Florida, or Los Angeles, or the Canary Islands, or the story that takes place on a cruise ship, or the one in London and Paris. And if those would break the budget well there are the less exotic ones set in  country villages, small towns, a country estate, even a riding stables.

I know which one I'd want to start with, and because it is part of a trilogy it would inevitably stretch out to sequels. A box set with series1, 2 and 3. How wonderful. And so many characters to develop. And of course it would be such a success that the producer would be compelled to buy up the options for all my other books and I'd have to advise on those as well.

If only, when even I know that famous writers with best sellers have had books optioned that never ever made it to a film. Having said that, many of the books published by Books We Love would make terrific films, it's just finding that producer...and if we ever do, it's bags me first!

Ah, technicolor dreams. Far fetched maybe, but better than black and white, far, far better.

You can see all Sheila's books at:

http://bookswelove.net/authors/claydon-sheila/

They are available at:

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And if you have time, then stop in and visit her at:

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You Know Nothing, Jon Snow...by Jamie Hill

The popular TV show Game of Thrones has a fan favorite character (just look at his face and you'll understand why!) named Jon Snow. Jon had a love interest for a while, and when they verbally sparred she would often tell him, "You know nothing, Jon Snow." Without posting spoilers I will say that Jon knew more than Ygritte gave him credit for, but perhaps his vision was clouded by love.

Their exchange often reminds me of the old adage, "Write what you know." I'm guilty of breaking this rule, and perhaps my vision is clouded as well. I'm going to lay out my defense and see if you agree or disagree with my methods.

When I write romantic suspense I include police, FBI Agents and US Marshals in my work. Now, I can count on one hand the number of policemen I know in real life and make that a big Zero for FBI and US Marshals. Therefore, I do a lot of research, sifting through what's out there on the internet and choosing the best tidbits to include. What guns they use, types of body armor, typical schedules, ranks, and the like can usually be found online. For me personally, that's good enough to write a realistic character.

Setting is another area where I rely on the internet. I've lived a fairly sheltered life, born and raised in the same small, Midwestern community, married to one man for almost thirty-five years, my extended family all nearby. I've traveled to about half of the fifty states but mostly to the ones closest to me, and one memorable journey into southern Canada. I don't set most of my stories in my town for a couple of reasons. Yes, it's what I know, but my friends all know it, too. If there's one sporting goods store in town, and I want to have a scene in that store, I don't want people thinking I'm writing about them or their establishment. Likewise, if the criminal works at the store, that could be very messy if someone thinks I'm writing about a real person. So for smaller towns I invent fictional places, then I have the liberty of creating whatever I want in that town.

In bigger cities it's easier to fudge. I've written about Kansas City, Topeka and Wichita, throwing in a street or neighborhood name, but never giving a real address or using an actual business. Yes, I might mention something in passing, but none of the real action will ever take place in an actual place in a real town. I'll create my own businesses so I can do what I want with them.

I like to set stories in places I've visited. After a trip to Seattle, I gained just enough information that I could reasonably set a story there. I knew what it felt like to ride an elevator to the top of the Space Needle. I saw the souvenir shops surrounding the Needle. I got lost trying to get to the Needle due to the way the streets are marked and barricaded to prevent people from turning around just anywhere.

It's fun to add a new locale to my repertoire. This fall I visited Chicago with a friend and we did all the touristy stuff. We rode to the top of the John Hancock building and the Sears Tower. Yes, it's technically called the Willis Tower now, for one more year. Then it will most likely change names again. And everyone who lives in Chicago still calls it the Sears Tower. (See what good info I picked up?) I rode in an Uber down the confusing, multi-level Wacker Drive and floated on a couple of different boats, an architectural river cruise through the town, and a lake shore cruise around the Navy Pier. And, we ran into a group of Chicago PD bike cops who were so nice and let us take their picture. I feel like I have lots of fodder to set a novel in Chicago, now. I'll continue to make up businesses, but also throw in some real place names just for fun.

That's how I get around writing what I know. Some things I do know are about people and relationships, and what causes their problems and how it makes them feel. That stuff I can confidently say I know, and try to weave the tension and conflict through my stories before everyone gets their happily-ever-after ending. Because I also know, that's what readers want. I do, too.

So what do you think? Are my reasons for breaking the rule justified, or, like my man Jon Snow, do I really just know nothing? Leave a comment with your email address and you'll be entered in Books We Love's October Blog Comment Giveaway. One winner will receive a festive holiday basket like the one pictured on the sidebar, plus the BWL title of their choice.

Find my latest novel, co-written with Books We Love's Jude Pittman, here. 

https://www.amazon.com/New-Directions-McWinter-Confidential-Book-ebook/dp/B01H2ZSN4A/

Find all my titles here:

http://bookswelove.net/authors/hill-jamie/


Thanks for visiting! 

World Building Part 2 - Putting Your Reader Into The World

PURCHASE FROM AMAZON

How do you start to build your dream world? If you’ve lucky and have chosen a world you know or one where you can find volumes of research. Then you rub those mental hands together and think this is a cinch. It ain’t necessarily so.

You’ve chosen today’s world in a town you can find your way around blindfolded. Your reader doesn’t know the world so you much provide them with information to draw them into the time and place you’ve chosen.

I often use a hospital setting in my contemporary stories. I’m a nurse so I’m familiar with the venue. Follow me back in time to the day I finished my first complete novel. The book was sent off. With the rejection letter came a helpful hint. “Your characters are existing in a vacuum/” I rewrote the book piling on the physical set up of the hospital, the unit and the patient rooms. Sent the book off again. Rejected again with this hint. "You definitely have shown me the hospital but your descriptions haven’t put me there. Try using the senses.”

I was fortunate. In those days editors wanted the full manuscript for fiction. Seldom happens today. So it’s up to you and me to create a setting the reader can step into.

One way to define a setting is to go from the large to the small.

Here’s an example from Wolfblade by Jennifer Fallon.

The hall was massive. Sixteen glorious cut crystal candelabras showed warm yellow light over the numerous arrivals. Musicians in a corner tuned their instruments. She caught a view of the handsome smartly dressed young men who had come to the ball.

As you’re establishing the setting, research is needed to help you focus on your world. Maps, descriptions and pictures of settings, houses, and furniture can be found in books or the internet. Since some of my stories are fantasies, I have copies of Archaeology and National Geographic to look for places and ruins I can use. Television programs can provide needed information.

I’ve published 2 books set in an alternate Egypt. They’re a cross between alternate world and pseudo-time travel. A documentary about camels taught me something I needed to know since I had first just wanted to use the ancient Egypt at the time of the Hyksos invaders. Wrong. Though there were horses present at this time there were no camels. I wanted camels so I created an alternate ancient Egypt.

When weaving word tapestries a light touch is good. Vivid words well chosen are a plus. Bogging the story down with volumes of data and description send a reader to find another adventure.

I judge a number of contests for unpublished and published writers. One was for the first chapter of a book. The first paragraph introduced me to a pair of intriguing characters. Then page after page the writer took me on a tour of a costal road detailing everything seen in glowing detail. Though the descriptions were vivid, nothing happened and earned the writer a low score.

Scottsdale, AZ, where the billionaires live - by Vijaya Schartz

Chaparral dog park in Scottsdale, where Talia and Kyle first meet

The city of Scottsdale, in Arizona near Phoenix, is to Phoenix what Beverly Hills is to L.A. That's where the rich and famous live and shop, play golf, attend horse shows, buy expensive foreign cars.

This is also the setting for my new release, a contemporary short novel titled ASLEEP in SCOTTSDALE.

North Scottsdale Desert Vistas

Xeriscape gardens, a marvel of water conservation

I live near Phoenix, and I had fun imagining my billionaire hero in familiar places, from the famous horse fountain, to the old town district, to the Fashion Square mall, and the Mayo Clinic, as well as fancy French restaurants.

The famous horse fountain of their first date

The old town district with art galleries and Native American artifacts

Nieman Marcus at the Fashion Square mall

Most fun was to imagine his mansion, an oasis in the desert, with tropical palms and a huge swimming pool. But I kept that for the cover. 

Asleep in Scottsdale
Contemporary novella
by Vijaya Schartz

Find it at the links below:
Amazon - Barnes & Noble - All Romance eBooks - Smashwords - iBooks - Kobo

When Talia runs over billionaire Kyle Dormant with her bicycle in the dog park, she considers their meeting a happy accident. He believes it is destiny, but her physician's mind rebels at such notions. Their budding romance comes to a grinding halt when Kyle won’t wake up from deep sleep... with no medical explanation. Baffled and deeply concerned, Talia digs into his recent past for a plausible cause. Instead, she uncovers dark family secrets. Convinced Kyle's condition was induced, and someone wants him dead, she is anxious to save him, but the closer she gets to the sordid truth… and a possible cure, the greater the risk to both their lives.

Vijaya Schartz
Blasters, Swords, Romance with a Kick
http://www.vijayaschartz.com