CREATING REALISTIC SETTINGS
Veronica Lynch ~ Writing as Kat Henry Doran
Several years ago , using the RIFLE [ Realistic , Interesting , Fun , Logical , Entertaining ] Approach , four romance writers came together and created a four story contemporary anthology , targeting the Wild Rose Press . The overall concept was based on five friends from high school who return to their hometown after twenty years when one of the five dies suddenly and leaves each survivor a legacy . Each novella focused on one of the four men .
The task then came down to ' inventing ' the setting . Since three of four authors live in Western New York , we decided to make that our “ World ”. Each of us took a season and used the weather and the lake [ that ' s Ontario , Queen of the Great Lakes ] as background flavoring .
To invent the “ City / Town ”, one of the authors explored a unique neighborhood in the city of Rochester , took photographs and brought them to the other three and soon Summerville was born ― on paper anyway . Though the anthology never came to fruition , the concept morphed into The Class of ' 85 , a reunion series for the Last Rose of Summer line at The Wild Rose Press .
As senior editor [ as well as one of the four originating authors ] for the series , it came to me to lay the groundwork and either invent or expand upon the social and political infra-structure of the town , further enhancing the “ City / Town ”.
As stories were contracted , the contributing authors tweaked the city / town into “ The Hood ” and then took it one step further to refine “ The Set ”. The inhabitants , primary and secondary were born and are unique to their individual needs and plot lines . The first ' alum ' to make the reunion , “ Getting It Right ” was released in August 2010 . By the Fall of 2011 , twenty four stories were released .
Here ' s how creating a setting that speaks to readers worked for us and hopefully will work for you : The World : Summerville , a town of 25,000 , sits on a bluff over-looking Lake Ontario , Queen of the Great Lakes . Water sports are a popular outdoor activity . The area is a busy assignment for the Immigration and Naturalization Service as well as the Coast Guard and County Sheriff ' s Marine Unit , preventing illegal entry via the lake from Canada , drug trafficking and alcohol related marine incidents . A large transient migrant population in the region who work large farming operations make the area a hotbed for activists and illegal immigration ― both in the past [ for some of the characters ] and current law enforcement personnel .
VICTORIA LYNCH
OVER THE YEARS SHE ' S HAD THE HONOR TO WORK AT A NUMBER OF OCCUPATIONS : NURSE , MALPRACTICE INSURANCE INVESTIGATOR , FORENSIC EXAMINER , VICTIM ADVOCATE , WIFE AND
MOTHER .
SHE RETIRED HER STETHOSCOPE AND SPECULUM A FEW YEARS AGO BUT CONTINUES TO ADVOCATE , QUIETLY , FOR MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS THROUGH AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AND DOCTORS WITHOUT
BORDERS .
WEBSITE WWW . KATHENRY . COM
WRITERS ’ TRICKS OF THE TRADE
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SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2016