Julie, Liz, and I are continuing to celebrate our triple birthday launch. When writing a series one of the biggest decisions is where to set the book and how to get your protagonist to that setting. All three of us took a different approach and thought we’d share a little bit about the process we went through to arrive at that decision. Look for a giveaway at the bottom!
Liz: I wanted Stan Connor, my protagonist in the Pawsitively Organic Mysteries, to be a little different right from the start. She is a successful corporate woman who made smart investment decisions, so when she loses her fancy corporate job, she can truly take time to take stock of her life without feeling pressured to jump right back into another job. As part of that taking stock, she drives through a small town far away from the city life to which she’s accustomed, and she falls in love with a little Victorian house sitting on the town green. Impulsively, she buys it and falls into a whole new world that takes her down a path she’d never have imagined otherwise.
Julie: I am fortunate, because this is my third series, so I thought a lot about the world I wanted to create, how it would support the series, and how I wanted Lilly, my protagonist, to be part of it. I wanted Lilly to be a woman of the world, but a an active citizen of Goosebush. I also wanted her to have some power, because I believe that women over 60 have a lot of quiet power to make things work. The final thing I thought about, think about, is how Lilly interacts with the other characters, and with her town. At this point in her life she’s all about rediscovering joy, and fixing the things she hadn’t noticed.
Sherry: It’s so interesting to see the different takes we all had on getting our protagonist to their towns! Sarah Winston grew up in Pacific Grove, California but after her divorce she didn’t want to go running home with her head hung down. I had her move to an apartment in Ellington, Massachusetts which was right next to the Air Force base she had been living on. That way she still had the support of friends and she’d fallen in love with the area. However, to further complicate Sarah’s life I had her ex-husband be the chief of police in Ellington. The police force is pro him and anti Sarah. As she builds her business and makes new friends she realized that this is the place for her.
Readers: Where would you set a book? We are each giving away a book to someone who leaves a comment.
