Posts Tagged "Settings"

Researching Highwaymen for GLIMPSE

Posted by on Aug 9, 2014 | Leave a comment

Researching Highwaymen for GLIMPSE

I’m a little in awe of authors who write historical novels. Crafting a good story and researching all the details is some feat. I had a taster of that research with Glimpse, which is inspired by Noyes’ poem ‘The Highwayman’ (published in 1906 but set much earlier; probably the 1700s, which was the heyday of highwaymen). While I didn’t need a lot of historical information for my plot (which is mostly set in the present day), a chapter or two relied quite heavily on it, and I wanted to be able to throw in an occasional detail here and there. Here’s what my research looked like. Voice and Language   I stumbled across the Huzzar...

Inspiration for GLIMPSE’s Settings: Ruined Castles, Secret Passageways & Haunted Inns

Posted by on Oct 30, 2013 | Leave a comment

Inspiration for GLIMPSE’s Settings: Ruined Castles, Secret Passageways & Haunted Inns

Today, I’m posting at Author Allsorts about my inspiration for one of Glimpse‘s main settings: the haunted Highwayman Inn. I talk about classic Gothic fiction, real-life haunted inns, and how settings can be used to reflect characters. You can read it here. Share...

Real-Life Inspiration for Writing Settings

Posted by on Jun 20, 2013 | 4 comments

Real-Life Inspiration for Writing Settings

Take inspiration from what’s around you. Meet Suzie, my friend’s dog. I walked Suzie once a week for almost the whole time I worked on Glimpse. It was while driving to Suzie’s house that I came up with the idea for the book, and it was during her walks that I honed those ideas and did lots of vital daydreaming (in-between throwing balls and scooping poop, of course). Almost without thinking about it, the village where Suzie lived and the landscapes I walked her through—a tree-filled nature reserve and countless empty fields—became settings in my story. When that happened, I started paying even greater attention to the world around me as I...