When an idea comes forms for a story, the setting is crucial, and there may be numerous locations in the book. My Servant of the Gods trilogy has multiple locations as the main character, Evan, moves through the narrative to complete the quest of the gods. The same applies for my novella series, The Coin of Time: the main character Nik, travels to Europe in search of a mystical coin and learns his grandfather is kidnapped. Both characters live in Perth, Western Australia, which I have written about: Perth, Evan’s home and Perth from above, and you can check out the photos posted of my home city.
The setting for the remainder of the story is Paris and Marseilles. I’ve been fortunate to travel to Paris three times, a beautiful city and hope one day to visit again. Marseilles, I’ve yet to visit, and is on my list of places to see. It is included as a back drop to the location of Nik’s sleuthing and where his grandfather disappeared.
The photos I took of Paris are 11 years old and the one of Notre Dame was before the fire damage. Here’s a few of my shots.
The setting of any story adds ambiance and relatability, even if the locations are set 100 or 1,000’s of years ago. Regardless of the time period, research is important as it helps to create a sense of understanding and develop relationships between the character/s and reader. Vicarious experiences gained from reading allows us to travel across the world, into new universes and back in time. That is what I love about writing and reading.
What vicarious experiences have you enjoyed and were you surprised by any of the books you’ve read?
Thank you for your continued support and as always, I look forward to your comments and will respond.
Historical fiction novelist and a secondary teacher, Luciana Cavallaro, burnt out but not done… yet.
Luciana Cavallaro 
Absolutely agree about locations. I’ve been to some of mine and visited others on Google Earth. It does give my story much more credibility, I think. Your locations are always completely believable so you’re doing something right!
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I totally agree, Jacqui. Authenticity helps with setting the reader in the location and placing them with the character.
Thank you very much for your compliment!
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Locations are important, and I love doing the research on them, too. Lovely pictures, btw!
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I get invested in the research, sometimes at the cost of writing.
Thank you 🙂 and for stopping by.
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My current WIP starts in one of the major cities of the US, Kansas City, Missouri. Eventually, my protagonist will be up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, several states away. I’ve had to do some research on Kansas City because I haven’t spent any time there. I’m pretty familiar with the UP of Michigan though. I lived five years up there.
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It helps when you know a place, but research is always helpful 🙂
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