Tag Archive for: #settings

Setting Matching by Saralyn Richard

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Setting Matching

By Saralyn Richard

 

Should your reading setting match the setting of your current book? Not really. Otherwise, how could you enjoy historical or sci fi fiction? But some interesting things have occurred to me in the past when I read a book that matched the situation I was in at the time.

The first time I noticed this phenomenon was when I was sick with the flu. The rather unfortunate choice of books on my nightstand included Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. As I coughed and battled high fevers, I read about the English plague of 1666, and I shuddered all the more with the tension of the book.

I read Suzanne Morris’ Galveston while sitting on the beach, only a few blocks from the Victorian homes described in that book. The sights, sounds, and smells of Galveston surrounded me in real life, as I read Morris’ descriptions of them.

I read Emilya Naymark’s Hide in Place during a cold snap. I could feel the biting wind and hear the crunch of the snow as I read. The chills of the book became actual chills for me.

Not exactly serendipity, after visiting the National Aeronautics & Space Museum (NASA), I decided to read Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff. I had a greater appreciation for the astronauts’ personal journeys as described by Mr. Wolfe, because I had sat in one of the space vehicles mentioned in the book.

Of course, it’s not a requirement to select a book based on its location, time in history, or season’s matching the one you are currently in, but there’s an extra surge of fun when the match-up occurs.

If you’re looking for a sizzling summer mystery, Bad Blood Sisters might be up your alley. All the tension begins on the Fourth of July. And Quinn’s family, who owns a mortuary and sometimes jokes about death, decides that this summer death stops being funny.

Whatever you’re reading this summer, I hope you’re having a great time. Can you think of examples of setting matching that you’ve experienced?

 

 

Saralyn Richard writes award-winning humor- and romance-tinged mysteries that pull back the curtain on people in settings as diverse as elite country manor houses and disadvantaged urban high schools. Her works include the Detective Parrott mystery series, BAD BLOOD SISTERS, A MURDER OF PRINCIPAL, NAUGHTY NANA, and various short stories published in anthologies. She also edited the nonfiction book, BURN SURVIVORS. An active member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America, Saralyn teaches creative writing and literature. Her favorite thing about being an author is interacting with readers like you. Visit Saralyn here, on her Amazon page here, or on Facebook here.

 

Home, Sweet Home by Saralyn Richard

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Home, Sweet Home

by Saralyn Richard

I live on an island, and there’s a saying around here that when you cross the causeway coming into the island, you leave all your troubles behind. The saying must be true, because everyone I know says they experience something truly spiritual whenever they drive into town. It happens to me every time—a lightening of the mood, a warming of the heart, and sometimes, a tear in the eye.

Home is more than a place. It’s an atmosphere, an attitude, a group of people whom you love and who love you back, an album full of memories.

I left my island home many years ago, but the connection remained strong. I moved back in 2005, back to the house I grew up in. Not many people are lucky enough to do this, but I was, and I’m so grateful.

Here in this house, I sat at the kitchen table with my entire nuclear family, had girlfriends spend the night, was picked up for my first and subsequent dates, brought my husband-to-be home to meet my family.

The house and I have been through celebrations and tragedies. I know its every cranny, every pebble in its concrete, every branch of its trees.

No wonder, then, that the homes in my novels are practically characters, especially the estates in the Detective Parrott mystery series, located in Brandywine Valley. Bucolia, Manderley, Sweetgrass, and Moonglow—each with its own special characteristics—serve as places, but also figure into the books’ plots. Secrets abound within their walls.

What connotations of home have you found in some of your favorite books? How did the author breathe life into the homes in those books?

 

Saralyn Richard writes award-winning humor- and romance-tinged mysteries that pull back the curtain on people in settings as diverse as elite country manor houses and disadvantaged urban high schools. Her works include the Detective Parrott mystery series, two standalone mysteries, a children’s book, and various short stories published in anthologies. She also edited the nonfiction book, Burn Survivors. An active member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America, Saralyn teaches creative writing and literature. Her favorite thing about being an author is interacting with readers like you. If you would like to subscribe to Saralyn’s monthly newsletter and receive information, giveaways, opportunities, surveys, freebies, and more, sign up at https://saralynrichard.com.

Detective Parrott Mystery Series by Saralyn Richard

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My introduction to Brandywine Valley, Pennsylvania, was at a weekend retreat in one of the country mansions there. I was invited to a birthday party for one of the elite one-percenters who owned a gentleman’s farm. The thirteen guests were treated to three days of luxurious meals and accommodations, fit for royalty. That Saturday night we enjoyed a gourmet nine-course meal with wine pairings for each course. It was over the top, but tasteful at the same time. The conversation was intelligent and witty, and everyone had a wonderful time, especially the birthday celebrant, who beamed at his friends and family members the entire time.

After the elaborate dinner on Saturday night, our bellies and spirits equally full, we sat around near the fireplace in the den and talked about many things. The gathering reminded me of an Agatha Christie locked room mystery, where someone died, and the rest of the guests were suspects. I was struck by the idea that this would be the last place you’d expect a murder to occur. I turned to the person next to me and said, “This would be the perfect setting for a murder mystery.”

From that moment on, I wanted to write about these rich and powerful people, this setting, and the elements of social class that distinguish the ultra-wealthy from those who serve them. That was the beginning of MURDER IN THE ONE PERCENT.

Since that time, I’ve traveled all over the country, talking about Brandywine Valley. The Detective Parrott mystery series has become popular, and it’s grown from a single mystery to four, the latest of which is being released January 5, 2024, MURDER OUTSIDE THE BOX. In each of the books, Detective Parrott learns and grows, while his cases intertwine with his real life.

The series, along with two standalone novels set in less opulent environments, has won numerous awards, favorable reviews, and loyal fans. I’ve conducted extensive research on various aspects of the Brandywine community, and I’ve acquired many first-hand sources who are happy to fill me in on details about the topography, history, architecture, artistry, equestrian activities, artistic endeavors, gardens, museums, shopping areas, bank barns, funeral customs, wildlife conservancy, and other aspects of the community.

The area has turned out to be a second home for me and a favorite escape for my readers. I love the less posh settings of my other books, too, but that long-ago birthday celebration in Brandywine Valley has turned out to be a seminal event in my writing life, and my fascination with the Brandywine culture continues to grow.

Do you have a favorite setting, either fictional or real, that holds you with its magic? Tell me about it!

 

 

IT’S A MATTER OF BIRTH AND DEATH.

The serene Brandywine Valley wakes up to an intoxicating double shock: a baby abandoned on the porch of a caretaker’s cottage, and a young post-partum woman lying dead on the estate of a billionaire scotch whiskey magnate. Detective Parrott’s instincts tell him the two crimes are connected, but the evidence points him in directions that are both baffling and personal. Parrott searches for answers in high and low places, including his own office.  As he races to find the truth about the baby’s origin and best placement, he untangles chilling murder clues that implicate people who harbor secrets that even their positions of power and trust can’t protect. Once again, Parrott may have to risk his reputation—and even his life—to uncover the real story.

A compulsive and compelling police procedural with relatable characters who remain in your heart. If you like detectives from Louisa Scarr, Clare Mackintosh, and Michael Connelly, you’ll love Detective Oliver Parrott. Purchase at your favorite bookstore or here.

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Settings

by Saralyn Richard

 

The five books I’ve written have three distinct
settings, all different, all places that I know and love. The two books in the
Detective Parrott mystery series take place in Brandywine Valley, Pennsylvania.
I have family members who live there, and I’ve been privileged to visit many
times. A paradise for equestrians, artists, and nature-lovers, this is a landscape
filled with wide, beautiful, and peaceful vistas. Country mansions,
old-fashioned bank barns, horse stables, and wildlife abound, and many of the
people who live and work there are healthy, wealthy, resilient, and
independent. Brandywine is the last place you’d expect a crime to take place,
so when outsider, Detective Oliver Parrott, shows up to investigate deaths or
thefts or other crimes, he has an uphill battle.

            Along
the way, the books take readers to many of the unique attractions of Brandywine
Valley, including Longwood Gardens, The Brandywine River Museum of Fine Arts,
Kennett Square, incomparable horse trails, and outstanding restaurants. Many
readers have enjoyed these glimpses so much that they have traveled to the area
to experience it for themselves.



            By
contrast, the stand-alone mystery, A MURDER OF PRINCIPAL, is set in a far
different universe—the urban high school. Aside from the differences of
outdoor-indoor, wealthy-disadvantaged milieus, the worlds depicted in these
novels contain similar types of tension and drama. The urban high school is a
familiar and much beloved setting for me, since I spent many years as a
teacher, administrator, and school improvement consultant there. In this book,
readers are treated to an administrator’s view of the principal’s office, the
teacher’s lounge, the cafeteria, the football field, and the auditorium—a million
stories beyond the flagpole.


            A
third beloved setting is a coastal island, where the closeness of the community
and the intensity of the summer temperature can be sometimes comforting and
sometimes oppressive. My children’s book, NAUGHTY NANA, and my newest adult
mystery novel, BAD BLOOD SISTERS, are situated there. Having been born and
raised on such an island, I’ve enjoyed sharing the various sights, sounds, and
smells of this setting, and placing my protagonists there.

            Much
has been written about the importance of setting in a work of fiction.
Sometimes the setting is mere wallpaper, and other times setting is as
important as a character in telling the story. When I read novels, I learn from
and enjoy the settings. It’s hard to imagine GONE WITH THE WIND apart from the
South during the Civil War, THE POISONWOOD BIBLE without the African Congo, or
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD in any other location besides the fictional Maycomb,
Alabama.

            As I
write, I cannot separate the setting from the plot or characters, and I hope my
readers sense how integral the setting is to the story.

            How
about you? When you read a wonderful book, how important is the setting?

 

Saralyn
Richard’s award-winning humor- and romance-tinged mysteries and children’s book
pull back the curtain on people in settings as diverse as elite country manor
houses and disadvantaged urban high schools. Saralyn’s most recent release is Bad Blood Sisters. A
member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America,
Saralyn teaches creative writing and literature at the Osher Lifelong Learning
Institute, and continues to write mysteries. Her favorite thing about being an
author is interacting with readers like you. Visit
Saralyn here, on her Amazon page here, or on Facebook here.

 

           

Real world or imaginary places?

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One of my author loops started talking about setting the
other day. Did people use real places in their stories, or made up ones? The
answered varied from one extreme to another.
Some people were like me. They used real, made up places.
Confused? Let me give you an example.
In the Bull Rider series, the first book is set in fictional
Shawnee. A town with as many churches as bars. Nestled in between two
mountains, the town follows the river as it meanders through town. The rodeo
grounds are set outside town, next to a grassy hill where observers can bring
their own picnic dinner and blankets and watch the festivities in style. The
descriptions mirror a real little town known for it’s easy access to salmon
fishing and a rodeo weekend, Riggins, Idaho.

So the book is set with a mix of the real and the made up.
Later books in that series are set in my old stomping
grounds, the Boise, Idaho area. Real town with a little fiction magic, and a
book is born.
My novella, Temporary Roommates, is based on a neighborhood
in St. Louis close to Forest Park. Real place, made up apartment building.

Finally, South Cove, my setting for The Tourist Trap
Mysteries, is set on the central California coast. Readers may think they can
guess the town South Cove is representing, but that series was all based on one
old house. 

What about you? Do you like real settings? Or are you happy
with a fictional world?
Guidebook to Murder releases April 17th! 
In the gentle
coastal town of South Cove, California, all Jill Gardner wants is to keep her
store–Coffee, Books, and More–open and running. So why is she caught up in
the business of murder?
When Jill’s elderly friend, Miss Emily, calls in a fit of
pique, she already knows the city council is trying to force Emily to sell her
dilapidated old house. But Emily’s gumption goes for naught when she dies
unexpectedly and leaves the house to Jill–along with all of her problems. .
.and her enemies. Convinced her friend was murdered, Jill is finding the list
of suspects longer than the list of repairs needed on the house. But Jill is
determined to uncover the culprit–especially if it gets her closer to South
Cove’s finest, Detective Greg King. Problem is, the killer knows she’s on the
case–and is determined to close the book on Jill permanently. . .

Lynn Cahoon’s a multi-published author. An Idaho native, her
stories focus around the depth and experience of small town life and love.
Lynn’s published in Chicken Soup anthologies, explored controversial stories
for the confessional magazines, short stories in Women’s World, and
contemporary romantic fiction. Currently, she’s living in a small historic town
on the banks of the Mississippi river where her imagination tends to wander.
She lives with her husband and four fur babies.

Some Thoughts on Setting

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Whenever I go anywhere I always pay attention to everything that’s around. Who knows, someday I might write about a place like that.

My Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novels are set in a fictional small beach town between Santa Barbara and Ventura. There is such a place and it’s called Carpenteria. It is too large for the community I write about and I prefer not to use a real place so I don’t use a business that goes belly-up or have a problem with new city ordinances or changes in streets.

However, Rocky Bluff has similarities to Carpenteria when it comes to weather and what it’s like to live near the beach in that part of Southern California. Whenever I spend time in the area I like to soak up the flavor and spend time seeing what people are doing, what the houses look like, what kind of plants thrive. Recently when I attended a wedding in my grandson’s uncle’s huge and elegant backyard, which I soon learned I should have called it a private estate in Santa Barbara, I  realized that one day I could have my characters do something in a “private estate” which would give me a while new setting. It’s a whole new lifestyle than what I’m used to and been writing about though I’ve known the uncle since he was barely out of high school, and he graduated with my middle daughter.

But, I digress. The whole point is that though I’m writing about a fictional town I want it to seem real and represent the area that I am writing about.

My Deputy Tempe Crabtree mysteries are set in a place much like where I live except that I moved it up in the mountains another 1000 feet. The other wedding I went to was at a hidden away resort with a gorgeous lodge and many cabins tucked away among the pines, cedars and Sequoias along with with waterfalls and ponds. It occurred to me that it was much like my imaginary Bear Creek. So again, I took in all the smells, the beauty of the place.

My made-up town of Bear Creek has a strong resemblance to Springville where I live. I chose not to call it by it’s real name, not just because I moved it, but because the businesses don’t last long and then new ones come in. I wanted a more permanent look to my main street. We are very near an Indian reservation so I also have one in some of my mysteries. In fact, Deputy Crabtree herself was inspired by a young Native woman I met quite a few years ago. We chatted and she told me a bit about growing up on the reservation. Tempe looks like this woman. I saw her once again when she had art on display at the Springville Inn (yes, it plays a prominent role in many books) and my first Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery had just been published and I gave her a copy.

Many of that series have been published since then. Recently, I had the opportunity to spend some time with my model for Tempe again–like Tempe she has aged a bit, but still looks like who I see in my mind’s eye as I’m writing. She doesn’t live on the reservation anymore, but close by and has been lately engaged in decorating the school bus stops with native designs–she draws them and supervises children and adults in filling in the colors. H’mmm, maybe I can write something about that in one of my mysteries.

With either series, fictional or not, I want the settings to see real when someone is reading one of the books.

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith