The Shadowlands Series is partially set in Perth. For most people it hasn’t been an issue, however I do remember one woman at a spec fic event in Perth saying that it showed a lack of imagination as she looked down her nose at me. Unfortunately I had no comeback at the time. The next session went on to talk about spec fic with local settings, but I still remember feeling just a bit miffed that she’d judged my book already because I’d set it in my home town.
My next series is set in Charleston S.C and also California and Annwyn (fairy land). What I’ve discovered is it’s a whole lot easier to write about a place that you know.
Sure there are google maps and the internet, plus I spoke to people familiar with the area, but it’s not quite the same as local knowledge.
I spend a day walking around Kings Park, looking at the places Meryn and Nadine would meet, where he could live. I used to run up and down Jacob’s ladder and through the park before work and I know how creepy it can feel when there’s no one else around.
So when I write I have a clear picture in my head about what the place looks like.
There’s a difference between making up a place (like the Shadowlands) and having to write about a place I’ve never been and hoping that nobody pings me for getting it wrong.
For those wondering I did choose Perth for a reason for the Shadowlands series. Given my heroes were Celtic warrior returning them to Wales or even England would have been easy. But Australia is about as far away as you can get. The landscape is different, the plants are different and most importantly it wasn’t on any Roman maps. America would have worked, and it almost got changed, but there was one crucial point that didn’t quite work…Perth has mild winters.
Dropping Meryn into a northern hemisphere winter with nowhere to live and not speaking the language would have been tough. Survival would have been a real problem—not that it wasn’t an issue already.
So the series remained in Perth because of Meryn the hero of book 3, For the Love of a Goblin Warrior. He spends some time living rough in Kings Park before getting his act together and becoming the man Nadine deserves.
If you’d like to find out how he goes and how he redeems himself I have one copy of For the Love of a Goblin Warrior to give away. Winner drawn Monday the 14 January 2013 at 6am WST.
FOR THE LOVE OF A GOBLIN WARRIOR
In a Faraway Land...
There lived a man who was trapped—his only companions a horde of goblins consumed by their lust for gold. He thought he was lost forever, thought that no one would ever remember he'd been noble.
A Fearless Warrior…
Now he has been thrust into the human world once again, but so much has changed. How can he ever be rid of the darkness after so long in the Shadowlands?
It Starts with Dreams of a Castle...
And a woman who takes his breath away and makes him forget the pain of his past. He knows he must protect her at all costs. And perhaps in saving her, he can finally learn to love again.
It is definitely easier to write a story or novel where you actually know the setting. Even if the reader has never been there, it really does heighten the reality of the world. Shame on that woman looking down her nose at you for doing so. She clearly does not understand the intricacies behind an author deciding on important aspects such as setting.
ReplyDeleteI'd imagine it would be very difficult to write a story around a place you don't know. I give you great praise for doing it without firsthand knowledge.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the giveaway.
vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com
I agree with the others. It would be easier to write a place that you know.
ReplyDeleteI have to add that these covers are just WOW..Love them :)
elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net
I love that our heroes struggle with modern life in PERTH! Ahem. Hometown parochialism overcame me there :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Shona!
and pls don't add me to the draw. I have a copy on my kindle :)
How dare that woman look down her nose at you. They always say to write about what you know. I'm glad you wrote about what you know. I live in the US and would rather hear about Australia from a person's first hand knowledge of the place than that person's idea of what someplace in the US is like.
ReplyDeleteI personally feel that people who are so spitful are really unhappy with themselves and want everyone else just as miserable. I was curious as to why it was set in Perth until I read your bio, and for me it made sense. Growing up in a small town in Central Califonia, I prefered reading about anything that was set somewhere else. I still like reading books that are set in an exotic setting to me, however I appreciate books that remind me of home and places that I have been over the years. I'm looking forward to your new series. I loved the Shadowlands series. I love you characters. I already have Goblin Warrior so please do not enter me in the contest.
ReplyDeleteLove this =) Thanks for the giveaway
ReplyDelete& Happy Thursday!
//Linda
fr_larsson at hotmail dot com
I agree - writing about a place you know is so much easier - and why not write about it. I can't believe that woman. Lack of imagination, my butt!
ReplyDelete