A Change in Seasons
As I write this column, the wind howls in the nook outside my front door. In the backyard, six wind chimes jingle their tunes and the sound of our American flag flapping carries through the house.
The steady warm weather of springtime in California has been slow coming this year. We’ve hit record highs and then record lows. Usually spring brings that perfect temperature where you’re not sweating in a tank top, with your back stuck to the car seat, and at night only a sweater keeps the body warm.
Common elements run through all stories: There are characters, a plot structure and, of course, the setting. So how do you decide where to set your story, and what season?
Sometimes setting becomes intrinsic to the plot line. Obviously, my latest release “The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf: A New Orleans Threesome” plays heavily upon setting. The city of New Orleans breathes life itself. But, what time of year to set the story? I visited during the fall, so I wrote what I knew and experienced. Yet, with two sequels in the works, if I don’t address Mardi Gras, which happens in the spring, then people will probably start to wonder.
Seasonal releases, such as holiday special editions, dictate the seasonal elements. Could you imagine snuggling next to the fireplace with a hot toddy or a steaming mug of chocolate, and have the setting be a warm, balmy Florida?
My current work in progress (WIP) takes place in the Bay Area, and picks up with a few characters of my first novel, “Sex University: Physical Education.” Rather than taking place in the heart of San Francisco, where the main university is, the smaller “boarding house” lies across the water in Berkeley. Earlier this year, I visited a few friends and soaked up the elemental facets that are unique to the area: the sting of the air on my cheeks, the way one’s lungs constrict from taking in the coldness and the slight continuous drizzle.
So how do you decide the setting and season for your story? Or, do you have a favorite time of year to read about? (I’m a bit partial to summertime, and those holiday releases myself.) In real life, I prefer it hot. The hotter, the better.
Blurb:
The Vampire, the Witch & the Werewolf: Threesome in New Orleans
Haunted by paranormal abilities that she can’t control, and plagued by nightmares about a demon that seeks her soul, Lily Anima travels to New Orleans in search of salvation.
In the French Quarter, Lily dives into the paranormal world and enlists the help of an unlikely couple: a vampire, Lawrence Justice, and a werewolf, Trevor Pack.
As the trio encounters ghosts, voodoo and unspeakable evil, will Trevor and Lawrence be able to help Lily turn her powers into a gift rather than a curse? And when Lily discovers that she needs to lose her virginity in order to embrace her powers and get the demon off her back, will the twosome be able to survive as a threesome?
