Setting a Book in a Small 1980s Town

Earlier this week, I wrote "The End" on my book manuscript, Evening of the Dragonfly. Writing those words at last gave a feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment. It also offered the opportunity for reflection about the setting.

Unlike my "Passenger to Paradise" books, this story features no exotic destination. Instead the setting is Jefferson City, Virginia. This fictitious town is a little like the community where I live but not exactly. Jefferson City is the same town I used for my novel, Daddy's Christmas Angel.

Small Town VA 2006  MMSikes

Creating a fictitious location gives the author a lot of opportunity for use of the imagination. While actual places can be sprinkled into the story from time to time, it's fun to watch completely fictitious locations develop and become real in a book.

This book, like Daddy's Christmas Angel, is set during the 1980s. I've chosen that time period because it's a time prior to 9 11 when we were more innocent and didn't know as much about hatred in the world. It was an era when people strolled along streets and looked around them at the scenery, not at the cell phones in their hands.

As in Daddy's Christmas Angel, the heroine of my story is a school teacher. Farrah Ferand is also an artist, and her paintings play a big part in the story.

In coming weeks, I'll write more about my new book.

Do you set your stories in fictitious locations? Do you set them in the present time or do you have a different time period that you like better?

Loving Tropical Settings

"On the Lagoon" MMSikes

For years we have loved to travel in the Caribbean. The fragrant scents in the air, the sounds of waves stroking sandy beaches, the casual ambiance everywhere around all have inspired us to return to the islands again and again.

A few years ago, Sint Maarten became one of our favorite destinations. Although the one main highway around the half-Dutch, half-French island is often terribly congested, that island is now one of our preferred vacation spots. It's also a great base for boat trips to Anguilla or to St. Barth's.

If you don't mind the long (especially from the East Coast) airplane flight to Hawaii, that's another wonderful tropical setting to visit. Lush gardens, magnificent waterfalls, and a spectacular Grand Canyon are all part of the magic there.

Recently, during a visit to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, I sat on a deck by a palm tree watching the waters in a lagoon. The perfect temperature and the scenic setting reminded me of the Caribbean. They also reminded me of the settings I enjoy most in my books.

I love tropical settings. What about you?

--Mary Montague Sikes

 Please visit Doug Danielson's The Nautical Muse at
http://www.doug-danielson.com/blog/novels-set-by-the-sea-in-exotic-places/ 
I'm a guest there. Check it out.

Timeshares--Love Them or Hate Them?

Resort at Puerta Vallarta in Mexico--MMSikes

In recent months, we've gotten many annoying unsolicited telephone calls from companies wanting to relieve us of our "timeshare burden". We have owned timeshares since 1980 and have enjoyed using them and trading them. They have made possible trips we probably never would have taken without our timeshare ownerships.

Some of our destinations have included Trinidad, Puerta Vallarta, Los Cabos, Kauai, Maui, St. Thomas, Sint Maarten, Barbados, Antigua, Key West, Palm Beach, Palm Springs, San Diego, Sedona ... The list goes on and on. We've visited numerous resorts in Canada that we would never have known about without our timeshare affiliation. Several years ago, we went on an adventure to the south of France, encountering a railroad strike en route.

Twelve years ago, we purchased a second timeshare at Island Club in Hilton Head, SC because we wanted to use it each year as our tennis week. The resort has outstanding tennis facilities and excellent teaching pros which makes it ideal for our vacations.

Horses near Avon, Colorado timeshare -- MMSikes

There are people who feel burdened by timeshares they purchased under duress of persistent sales people. Maintenance fees and other costs have risen. Still, we have enjoyed our ownerships and our trades. We have experienced many amazing adventures because of them. And I have found numerous possible settings for new books. A win/win for timeshare ownership.