Tricia Tyler | Using the Setting as a Character

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.