Guest Post: Perfect
settings for writing stories.
Often
the book determines the setting. I’ve noticed many authors tend to set
their stories where they live or someplace close to where they live. In
my case, I’ve lived in a lot of places, so this gives me several choices of
where stories can be set. Anyone who’s familiar with my body of work
knows that some of the stories are set in Washington, D.C. I went to
college there and lived there for many years. My suspense novels that
involve the government or a government official beg to be set in or around the
District.
My historical CLARA’S
PROMISE set in 1899 is about a woman running away from her home in northern
Virginia. She had attended D.C. Teachers College and went to Montana to
teach and find her life and love. In this case, I needed a totally
different world from the one Clara lived in. They needed teachers out
west so west seemed the place to set the book. Why Montana? It
fascinated me. I wanted to know more about it and I’d met some people who
lived there. I could use them for research.
Currently, I have a new
e-book release entitled LEGACY that is an updated re-issue of a print
book. The hero in this book was traumatized after defending a deranged
man. He turns his back on the world and goes to live on a mountain in
Maryland. I’ve been to the Maryland mountains and know what the terrain
looks like. I didn’t choose Maryland, the character did, but since he did
I could write from a place of authority. To get him off the mountain, I
needed to send him to a metropolitan area, but not back to the same environment
where he’d been traumatized. Yet, I didn’t want him too far from his home
and family. They play roles in the plot. Philadelphia became the
setting.
I live in New Jersey an hour
from Philadelphia. I can go there and look at the land if need be.
Truth is I’ve been to Philly a number of times and don’t need to visit it for
writing. Sometimes familiar places are the best.
When I decide on a new
story, I want my setting to not only be where the story takes place, but to be
part of the definition of character. Sometimes that means being a
fish-out-of-water as in the case of CLARA’S PROMISE. It could also
be a place that is safe for the character. In MY LOVER, MY FRIEND,
the hero has PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). He returns to his
family home in Lighthouse, Maine. In the telling of his story, we go to a
small town where the residents all know each other. The entrance to the town is
over a bridge that not only symbolically links two types of lives, but aids in
transiting the hero to deal with the event that caused his stress. The
lighthouse, the sea, the homes of the hero and heroine (next door to each
other) all play into the character of the town and its people.
I began by saying authors
often use places where they live or know very well as settings. I have
never been to Maine and I’ve set two books there. I’ve never set foot in
Montana and I have two books set there -- third one in the works. Where
did I get the information about these places? The Internet is always the
first answer. But luckily I talked to other romance writers who live in
these places. For Montana it was easy since Robert Redford loves Montana
so much that he gives long sweeping visuals of the landscape in his
movies. Visuals and descriptions don’t give a feel for the people, how
they speak or how they feel about their area and other sections of the country
or how the residents feel about outsiders who come into their environment.
This is where other writers and social media come into play. Writers are
always willing to help with details. And fans are thrilled to help.
My latest e-book release, LEGACY,
is set in Princeton, NJ only fifteen minutes from where I live. The book
I’m working on now for my print publisher called WEDDINGS BY DIANA is
set in Princeton.
For readers who may have
never been to these places, making the setting a character not only adds to the
character of the book, but gives the reader a small trip to a place they
haven’t been. Long ago, before I began to write, I read a novel
practically every day. Many were set in Europe, Greece and Spain. I
so wanted to visit those places because of the books. I’ve been to Europe
a number of times. Greece and Spain are still on the list.
Closer to home, I read TIME
AFTER TIME by Jack Finney. It’s a time travel set in New York City in
the mid 1800’s. I was so intrigued by the places he mentioned in the
story that one night I went to New York to see if a particular building was
where the author said it was. The building was called the Dakota
Apartments. They’re famous now because John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived
there. At the time, it was the place where Rosemary’s Baby had
been filmed. The minute I saw it, I recognized it as Rosemary’s building.
Jack Finney made the
building so alive in his book, that I took a trip just to see if it was there,
yet it didn’t override the characters in the story. It enhanced
them. I still have vivid memories of the people. Readers find
settings intriguing, sometimes to the point that they have to go looking for
them, even if they’re fictional.
I have a romantic suspense (MORE
THAN GOLD) partially set in St. Louis. In the book there is a
fictitious abandoned air force base that I use as a hideaway for the hero and
heroine. At a booksigning after the book was released two women who live
in St. Louis told me they went looking for the base and couldn’t find it.
They wanted to know where it was and were totally disappointed when I told them
I made it up. I’m not sure they believed me.
Settings matter to readers
-- to those who live near the places and to those who get to vist them
vicariously. Settings are like music in a movie. They act as
background to tell the story and not intrude upon it. But they bring the
story alive. No matter if the place is around the corner or across the
globe, if we’re true to our depiction of the place and the people, readers will
see it -- and love it.
Interview
How
did you come up with the idea of White Diamonds?
I
wanted to write something different, something I didn’t read in every other
romantic suspense I picked up. Since I went to college and spent a lot of
time in Washington, D.C., I decided to use that as the backdrop for my
book. D.C. has so much potential with the government there. They
can be the good guys or the bad guys. So the idea of a guy dying and
sending something to his best friend, who is then fighting for his life but
doesn’t know why, was too good to ignore. At the time I was unsure of
what the “thing” was. Then I thought of a communication system that used
white diamonds and the book was born. The world has become so small with
the advent of the Internet. I thought what if someone could ease drop on
a device, like a phone or a computer from anywhere in the world. I knew
it was possible but didn't realize how close we were to that reality until
after the book was published.
Did you draw inspiration
for any of the characters from anybody in particular?
No, I don’t take inspiration
from anyone I know. I tried once to name a character after one of my
nieces, but I found myself giving the same traits to the character that my
niece had. I immediately scraped thoughts of doing that. It took
away from the true characters in the story.
I usually work on who I need
the character to be in the story. Eventually, they take on a life of
their own and they tell me who they are. I do extensive character sheets,
writing down all their characteristics, hobbies, likes, dislikes, fears,
accomplishments, family, including their occupations, whatever is necessary.
I often get my plot first,
then I find the people to go with the story. When it happens the other
way around, it may take years to get a story to go with a character. This
happened in the book LEGACY (an e-book that was just released).
The hero dropped in my head one day and said I needed a story for him, but I
didn’t have one. He sat virtually in my head for three years before I
found a story that worked for him.
Is
there a quirk of yours that translates in your books, something you know is a
part of you?
I
tend to build something. I can rebuild it, decorate it or totally
describe it, making it a focal point of the story. I used to tease and
say in a past life I must have been an architect. After HGTV and the DIY
Network became so popular, I started doing some of the small things around my
own house and found I love doing it myself.
I also tend to make my heroines extremely capable, able to handle whatever
comes their way. I think this is part of my makeup. I’ve had to
handle a lot from childhood on and I think that makes for strong characters.
Review:
4.5 Stars
Sandra Rutledge stumbles missing Senator Wyatt Randolph, who
is in need of help and unconscious, while taking a mini vacation at her family
cabin . Wyatt awakens wanting the
diamonds he was carrying and wishing beyond hope he has not just put the
beautiful woman who saved him in harm’s way.
Finding out that she is the daughter of the man he believes is a traitor
to his country.
Sandra doesn’t believe her father is involved, but with
evidence mounting against his innocence, Sandra plans to stick by Wyatt’s side
until she figures out the truth. Wyatt
is falling hard for Sandra and the feelings are mutual, but every time they
have a second to embrace their feelings they are reminded that their lives are
in danger and the list of suspects involved in the secret behind the diamonds
leads all the way to the White House.
Intense cat and mouse story, I thought the concept was
fascinating. You are pulled into the story
right away and it has layers that continue to unravel as you read. Excellent read, the first book for me of
Shirley Hailstock’s, will definitely be reading more.
Author Bio:
Shirley
Hailstock began her writing life as a lover of reading. She likes nothing
better than to get lost in a book, explore new worlds and visit places she
never expected to see. As an author, she can not only visit those places,
but she can be the heroine of her own stories. A past president of
Romance Writers of America, Shirley’s has authored 29 books and won many awards
and accolades for her work.
Connect
with Shirley!
Buy
the Book!
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