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Jun
5
Written by:
Lainey Bancroft
Friday, June 05, 2009 12:00 AM
Do you choose a comfortable setting where your characters can easily display their true self, or toss those characters into a place where they’re tempted to be the best—or worst—version of themselves they desire?
The Classic Romance Revival authors are having a lively discussion about setting and decided to have a blog carnival. Head over to the home blog to see what others have to say about setting and get a chance at terrific prizes!
Me? I’ve done both. In my Wild Rose Press contemporary romance, Settling Back, Angelina Jordan grew up in a lake front cabin in Northern Ontario. She thought of the tiny, nearby town as the armpit of the earth and couldn’t wait to escape the cozy but claustrophobic atmosphere and experience real life. Years later when she was called back unexpectedly due to her grandmother’s illness, Angelina discovered that perhaps her escape to the city was a role that no longer fit and that by leaving town maybe she’d left the best, and most real parts of herself behind. I really enjoyed writing about Angelina’s homecoming because I built the fictional town around a real Northern Ontario town where my family had a cabin for many years and I was lucky enough to experience some of the best times in my life. Here’s a brief excerpt from Settling Back:
~Built in the early forties from massive, hand-hewn logs of pine, the cabin stood less than a hundred feet from Otter Lake. A sturdy soldier that had weathered the changing seasons until it looked more like something that had grown up out of the rocks than been built there by the hands of mere men.
She paused and waited for the claustrophobic dread that usually characterized her arrival. It didn’t come. She wondered guiltily if that was because she knew she had the place to herself and wouldn’t have to make a lengthy justification of her life to Ida.
Whatever the reason, the house seemed to reach out and embrace her. The lowering sun gleamed off the red tin roof, turned the walls a rich and inviting honey gold and glistened on the stonework of the towering fieldstone chimney.
A soft breeze whispered through the aromatic pines and seemed to say, “Home. Welcome home.”~
When Cassidy Malone from my BookStrand contemporary romance, Jackpot, started whispering in my ear, she was the exact opposite of Angelina. Cassidy had enough upheaval in her life—most of it caused by her unreliable father and brother—that she was comfortable with her staid, boring job as a casino security supervisor and had no real desire for a relationship. I couldn’t just let Cassidy stay home in her comfy little Niagara Falls Ontario cave. Where’s the story in that? So I sent her off to Las Vegas where she had a sudden urge to explore a wild side she didn’t even know she possessed. Here is an excerpt of her arrival:
~Cassidy Malone wondered exactly how you met a man for a night of casual sex. A good pick-up line? She tried to formulate one, but started to giggle. She knew she’d never be able to deliver any of the lame phrases that came to mind.
Nice pants, can I talk you out of them?
Where have you been all my life?
If I told you that you had a nice body, would you hold it against me?
Not bloody likely. Just thinking the lines made her blush. She wondered if she’d have the guts to choke out a simple, “Hey, can I buy you a drink?”
It had occurred to her within minutes of landing at McCarran Airport, that she’d never been so far away from her responsibilities and she may never be again. At the hotel, she’d walked past face after anonymous face and the carefree attitude surrounding her had become infectious. The seed of an idea germinated. Throughout three days of a mind-numbingly boring security conference, she’d fed and watered the idea with her frustration until it grew—as quickly as Jack’s beanstalk—into a plan she’d mentally entitled tonight I don’t have to be Cassidy Malone.
She could wear her anonymity like a suit of armor. There was no one around to know, or see, or care what trouble she found for herself. She was in Vegas, baby. Anything went!~
But what happens when what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas? Here is another little blurb:
~ She glanced toward the one-way glass, behind which Lucas Smyth sat, and realized he was the last person on earth she wanted to see.
Omigod! She gasped in oxygen, almost hyperventilating. She closed her eyes in an attempt to shut out the images, but that only made it worse. Suddenly she could see the entire night in Technicolor and hear it in surround sound. Had she really moaned like that and said those things aloud? Omigod!
How had the wildly seductive and one and only, one-night-stand of her life followed her from do-it-all Las Vegas to tame little Niagara Falls, Ontario?~
Removing both Cassidy and Lucas from their comfort zones—their natural habitats—was a fun way to let them explore what was really important to them. Guess you’ll have to read the book to discover if Cassidy tames the big city playboy, Lucas, or if Lucas has awakened a hunger for excitement in Cassidy that refuses to go back to sleep.
I love to explore different settings when I read, but when I write I enjoy setting books right in my own back yard and sharing the wonders of living in Ontario.
When you choose books to read, does the setting influence you?
Don't forget to Visit the other participants and enter for a chance to win!
43 comment(s) so far...
Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Oh Lainey, I love that you have set your book in two of my favourite places, Ontario, home of my heart and Las Vegas, the place I love to visit. These two books are going on my tbr list, if they are not already there..
One of my favourite sayings " you can take the girl out of Ontario, but you can't take Ontario out of the girl"..
By Kathleen on
Friday, June 05, 2009 11:29 AM
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So true, Kathleen!
I love visiting and reading about other places, but I don't think I could ever bring myself to live anywhere other than Ontario--well, maybe a nice tropical island during those nasty winter months. lol
By Lainey on
Friday, June 05, 2009 11:34 AM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
I love Vegas! I grew up there and can't wait to read the book. Both of the books listed look amazing!
Val
lastnerve2000@gmail.com
By Val Pearson on
Friday, June 05, 2009 1:26 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Love your settings, Lainey! When I'm choosing a book to read the setting really doesn't matter. I'm much more interested in the characters. However, a good setting doesn't hurt and can influence the characters in ways that make me like them more.
By Robin on
Friday, June 05, 2009 1:27 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Hi Lainey! All the places you write about are wonderfully exotic to me - and you bring them so vividly to life.
By Lindsay Townsend on
Friday, June 05, 2009 1:27 PM
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Hi, Val!
Grew up in Vegas? How very cool. I've never been, but I had a lot of fun researching it and can't wait to visit it.
By Lainey on
Friday, June 05, 2009 1:31 PM
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I Agree, Robin
The characters always come first for me when choosing a read or writing, but I do enjoy a peek into different locals or even times.
By Lainey on
Friday, June 05, 2009 1:32 PM
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Thanks, Lindsay. =)
I try and make the settings interesting, but they aren't nearly as exotic as your wonderfully fleshed out historicals!
By Lainey on
Friday, June 05, 2009 1:34 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
All but one of my stories are set abroad - Zambia, the old Yugoslavia, Italy, in the Atlantic, the Congo etc. I usually set the books in countries I have visited though I have never been to the Congo. I love the setting to be expansive and an integral part of the stories.
Great writing, by the way. I'll get to Canada one day.
By Suzanne Perazzini on
Friday, June 05, 2009 5:07 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Conflict comes first when choosing a book to read. Situation/character come first when writing. But setting can't be separated from either one of those. Thanks for writing such an excellent blog post, Lainey. You really lay out the relationship between character, setting, and conflict.
By Jacquie Rogers on
Friday, June 05, 2009 5:07 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Beware when what you did in that exotic locale comes back to haunt you! I'll have to see how Cassidy gets herself out of it.
By Linda Banche on
Friday, June 05, 2009 5:07 PM
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LOL, Suzanne
Canada must be on the very short list of places you haven't visited! We don't have the centuries of history you've experienced in your travels, but we're unique in our own way. =)
(Side note, Peeps, Suzanne has led a fascinating life and lived in some amazing places. Well worth a visit to her site)
By Lainey on
Friday, June 05, 2009 5:12 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
What terrific excerpts, Lainey!
For me, I'm a Midwestern USA girl who really loves traveling :). I'll let my characters visit all sorts of neat places but, so far, they've all been midwesterners and have the POV of people who grew up here in the land of too much snow, Bears or Packers tailgating parties and a rather alarming number of cows once you've driven beyond the city and lingering suburbia... As a reader, though, I *love* reading about places other than my own--the wilder and more exotic the better!
By Marilyn Brant on
Friday, June 05, 2009 5:26 PM
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Thanks, Jacquie!
I agree, when I choose a book to read I look first at the conflict--the 'how can you possibly get them out of THAT and have a HEA' factor. But thanks to numerous clever authors, I've seen how the setting itself can play into the conflict. Usually after the characters I'm writing have 'declared themselves' I look for a way to make them less comfortable and reveal a bit more about their inner conflicts.
By Lainey on
Friday, June 05, 2009 5:26 PM
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Welcome, Linda
So true! (insert maniacal laughter) in today's world of instant info, I don't think an exotic enough location exists to keep misbehavior from haunting you within minutes on YouTube or MySpace or Facebook....not that I'd know, of course. ;-)
By Lainey on
Friday, June 05, 2009 5:31 PM
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Marilyn!
Yep. Take out Bears and Packers and insert 'Leafs' 'Argos' or 'Jays' and keep the cows and snow and I'd swear we lived a few minutes down the road from each other!
I also write 'local peeps' but now and again I take them out of their own (my) backyard. I think the biggest stretch I made setting-wise is Cozumel Karma which is, um, yeah, set in Cozumel. Duh. But I'd been there and thought it was absolutely unique and fantastic.
I love visiting exotic locales and time periods when I read, too, though.
By Lainey on
Friday, June 05, 2009 5:38 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
The place of a story doesn't affect my deciision to read a book. I choose a book because I like what the story is about. Once I begin a story though I want to know about the place the tale occurs because it will affect how the characters act and what they do. I also like to learn about new places especially places I will probably never visit or can never visit because the time period the story is set in no longer exists.
By Sheila Gallagher on
Saturday, June 06, 2009 7:42 AM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
It is a case of writing what you know Lainey in your choice of setting. Well done, your story sounds great.
Maggi
By Maggi Andersen on
Saturday, June 06, 2009 7:43 AM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Lainey - both stories sound interesting and I like how your characters sort of directed you where they should be located!! Or, maybe you pushed Cassidy and directed her! I think setting plays a big part in making the story flow because the characters have to fit in or at least interact with the locations! I don't always choose a book for location but I would probably pick up a story set in Ireland before picking up one set in New York!
By MarthaE on
Saturday, June 06, 2009 4:21 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Nice post, Lainey! (I actually sent this Friday, but that must be lost in cyberspace!)
I tend to fall in love with cities I visit, then I use them as a setting for a story. Chicago, San Francisco, and the last trip I took was New York. They'll all appear as the backdrop for one of my books. :-)
By Sandy James on
Saturday, June 06, 2009 8:05 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Absolutely, YES. A setting has a huge influence on whether or not I choose to read a book. It's not just the blurb & characters, but how the setting will affect the characters and the plot. I like to read about what I like and what I want to learn. Setting can be just that.
By Danielle Thorne on
Sunday, June 07, 2009 8:22 AM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Your title actually says it all, Lainey. Dream big dreams and paint big pictures, whatever your medium. Continued good luck to you in doing just that!
By Miriam Newman on
Sunday, June 07, 2009 8:22 AM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
The setting, per se, does not make me choose a book; but the period of time in history will draw me to a book. The blurb itself and if the story interests me is what makes me buy a book, except for those by authors who are auto-buys to me. I do think that the setting can make a big difference in the story.
By PhyllisC on
Sunday, June 07, 2009 8:31 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Lainey, I love both of your excerpts! The setting doesn't usually affect my book buying. It's normally the characters and the premise that appeal to my wallet.
By Edie on
Sunday, June 07, 2009 8:31 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Lainey, your words wrap their arms around me. How beautiful!!!
I am not able to send to your email. I tried my gmail and it said your email doesn't exist. They must be having a problem. I know Yahoo has one too.
Big Hugs, Blue
By Blue on
Monday, June 08, 2009 9:22 AM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Hey Lainey!! Great excerpts from Jackpot!
The setting of a story doesn't usually affect my decision to read it. The period may affect my choice because I love historicals, or the character descriptions might make me want to read the story just to see how the hero and heroine end up.
And If you one the authors who's stories I love, I'll automatically buy their new ones.
~Afshan
Afshan522@aol.com
By Afshan N on
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 6:41 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Lainey, your excerpts are great. The lakeside cabin sounds truly beautiful and romantic. What a wonderful memory for you to glean setting ideas from.
I consider setting when I pick a book to read. It helps me to put the characters in perspective.
By Sandra Kay on
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 6:40 PM
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Well said, Sheila!
I agree, I wouldn't choose a read based on setting, but getting to vicariously visit a time or place I'll never see is definitely a bonus!
By Lainey on
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 6:45 PM
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Hi, Maggi!
Thanks! ((Hope if you see this, you know I'm thinking of you))
By Lainey on
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 6:53 PM
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Hi, Martha
I agree! I love Ireland. And although I've never been to Ireland or NY, I relate better to Ireland (been in Scotland, England, Holland, Germany...)
Sometimes I guide the characters to a 'place' they always guide me in what they're going to do there!
By Lainey on
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 6:56 PM
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Sandy!
You've done a great job of your settings. Can't wait to see New York...Toronto...Niagara Falls...
By Lainey on
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 6:58 PM
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Cool, Danielle!
Very nice way to look at it, as a geography/psychology lesson of sorts.
By Lainey on
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 7:00 PM
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Thanks, Miriam!
I wish you the same!
May we all go 'big' enough to 'go' or 'stay home' as we choose!
By Lainey on
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 7:02 PM
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Agreed, PhyllisC
I admit to a weakness for the Civil War and WW1, and that will draw me in as a 'time' setting. I'm curious, if you stop back (bless you) who are the auto-buys and do you care if they explore different time periods, or do your regular buy authors tend to stick to an historical period you most seek?
By Lainey on
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 7:07 PM
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Thanks, Edie!
I agree. For me lately it is all about character--mostly the 'character' who writes the book. :-)
I have stuck very closely to online 'friend' buys for the last year or two. (Thankfully my sisters are avid readers with more money than me, so I've had a little bit of everything.) =)
By Lainey on
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 7:10 PM
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(((Blue)))
I'm telling you, cyber-space hates me! Why else would it cut me off from one of the people I most love to hear from?
I loved your email and am so tickled your beautiful pictures are taking you places. I'll try again and againandagain to get the message through from the bad addy!
It was great to hear from you.
By Lainey on
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 7:16 PM
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Hey, Afshan N!
Welcome. Glad you enjoyed the excerpts!
If you happen to pop back in, please share the elements that place an author on your auto-buy list. Pretty please. I want to be there. =)
By Lainey on
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 7:29 PM
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Welcome, Sandra!
You're right, setting does set perspective. Sometimes I'm in the mood for an escape to a big city scene I've never experienced, or a time and place I never will experience, and sometimes I just want to see an HEA in a 'backyard' I can relate to.
How wonderful that we have the broad scope to choose from.
By Lainey on
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 7:33 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Oh Lainey I love that you were able to do both big and small locations. Both of your books sound wonderful, of topic a bit so does Action & Satisfaction. I have them all on my wishlist!
I like books with small locations every bit as much as ones with big locations, it all depends on the premise and how they coincide with one another.
By Pam S on
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 3:42 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Love the excerpt from Settling Back! It sounds like such a beautiful, peaceful place. And isn't it fun to drop characters into settings or situations that take them out of their comfort zones? I always love to see how they react.
By E.A. West on
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 5:01 PM
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Hugs, Pam S
Thanks for the kind words. Must go find your contact info. I think you just won the 'secret bonus for my blog only' prize of a pdf of Action and Satisfaction. Hope you enjoy it. =)
By Lainey on
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 5:04 PM
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Hi, E.A.
Thanks! It is a special place ( a couple pics in my gallery of the place my Mom & Dad sold last summer--very difficult decision for all involved)
And I agree, it is totally fun to see what a new 'stage' does to the players in a story!
By Lainey on
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 5:08 PM
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Re: Where to Set Your Story? Go Big, Or Stay Home?
Sometimes we cannot wait to leave home and later we cannot wait to get back. Both stories sounded interesting.
lbcanton@verizon.net
By lorettaC on
Saturday, June 13, 2009 10:36 AM
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