How many of you have thought of setting as a character?
As readers, don't we all love to be taken away and sucked
into the world we are reading about?
A great example of getting sucked into the world you are
reading about is Julie Ann
Walker's Black
Knights Inc. series. While I have
never been to
Chicago or been immersed in the biker culture, I could vividly picture it. She
deftly draws you
into the world until you can not only see it, you can hear and smell it as well.
It's like you're in
Chicago.
Of course, I'd heard about settings being their own
character, but it never really sank in until I was writing DARK WATER. Not only
did the lush
beauty surrounding the Louisiana bayou firmly claim its place in the story, but
New Orleans
tagged in and brought its own personality to the page.
My ideas come to me randomly and in a different way every
time I begin a new story. It can be plot, character… Etc. Well, you get the
idea. With DARK WATER it
was my heroine, Evangeline's Cajun grandmother, Maw Maw, who
came to me first,
and the setting was born. What could be a better than the dark haunting mystery
of the bayou
for a tension filled romantic-suspense with one sassy psychic, one hotter than a
Louisiana
summer FBI agent, and a serial killer on the hunt?
Not only did it create the perfect eerie backdrop for the
danger lurking in their world, but it also allowed the paranormal twist a chance
to shine. And
let's not forget those sultry summer nights where the heat between Nick and Evie
soar even
hotter than the steamy temps surrounding them.
With Autumn right around the corner bringing a chill to the
air, cozying up under a warm throw with a great book comes to mind. I hope you
add a couple
great books to your to-be-read pile that teases you into falling in love with
not only the
Hero/Heroine, but also that extra character, the setting.
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