Immigrants Daughter by Mary Terzian

Cairo, Egypt, where I grew up, is the setting of my book, The Immigrants' Daughter. It is a very hospitable country and it opened its doors wide to the Armenians escaping from the massacres in Turkey in the early 1920's.

Cairo was a cosmopolitan city in the mid thirties through the 1960's when I left. Most salesclerks in department stores like Cicurel, Orosdi-Back, Chemla, Gattegno, Yacoubian, spoke French. The business language was English. Arabic was used with vendors. There was large community of Greeks, Italians, Maltese, English, French, Germans and a sprinkling of Swiss and other Europeans. Television arrived in Cairo in the early 1960's.

The sunsets along the river Nile are memorable, the sun sinking through the palm leaves. The Nile was a quiet river than, an occasional barge or boat sliding with languor along its shores. During World War II Egypt was a protectorate under Great Britian but was secretly aspiring for independence which it achieved eventually.

Mary Terzian

www.maryterzian.com
Author, The Immigrants' Daughter
Winner, Best Books 2006 Award
Finalist, National Indie Excellence 2007 Book Awards
multicultural, non-fiction category

Silk Palace by Colin Harvey

Why you chose that particular setting?

I wanted a world that wasn’t this one, nor in any way linked to ours, because the logic of having the Gods walking among us does not relate in any way to our world or our history.

As a part of that world, Whiterock is in a central position as the tipping point between two much larger Empires; it’s literally a fulcrum for the world, as one of the characters observes.

What does the setting add to the story?

At times the Silk Palace is almost a character in its own right – it’s a lurking, brooding presence where strange things skitter and lurk in the corners.

Could you write the same story in a different setting?

I don’t think so, unless I had another place with such strong characteristics.

Why or why couldn't you use a different setting?

For all the reasons given above!

Did you use a real place as a basis for your setting? Or, did you create the setting from scratch?

No – it’s a composite of many places and my imagination.

Is there anything else about your setting that we need to know? Feel free to share.

These are my original notes:

The Silk Palace is built on a huge white rock, which gives the Kingdom of White Rock it's name. The town of the same name is a wooden walled one, that's spread around the rock. The Kingdom extends 10 miles North and 40 miles South, by 15 miles East and 25 miles West. So the Kingdom is 50 miles long by 40 wide.

The Kingdom is situated in the only sizeable gap in the Spine Range, which bisects the Continent of Tarknang. The continent is at this point (it's narrowest) six hundred miles from North-South. To the North of the 200 miles of Spine are scattered islands in a sub-arctic sea, which with no warm current, freezes over badly outside of Summer.

North of White Rock, are the marshes of Llamarghesa, perhaps 35 miles long by 50 wide. Flamingoes, bulls, pelicans, all inhabit the marshes. So do other, more sinister creatures. Northwards again, the Spine rises steeply, perhaps on a 1 in 5 gradient, so by 10 miles northwards, the mountains are up to 10000 feet high. Southwards, they rise at perhaps 1 in 6, so that by 15 miles south of White Rock, they're 13,000 feet high. So there are mountains perhaps 55 miles in each direction, clearly visible on a very clear day.

Please provide your website link.

http://www.geocities.com/colin_harvey/TheSilkPalace.html

What is the link to buy your book?

In the USA ; http://www.amazon.com/Silk-Palace-Colin-Harvey/dp/1934041424/ref=sr_1_1/103-3811783-1271041?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193587154&sr=1-1

In the UK ; http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silk-Palace-Colin-Harvey/dp/1934041424/ref=sr_1_1/203-2993755-7182356?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193586998&sr=8-1

Or electronically: http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook51966.htm?cached

Tell us some specific details about your setting. What would we see?
A flat grassy plain from which a vast white monolithic rock like a giant albino Ayers Rock rises sheer to the point where you have to crane your neck. On top of this, if you took a balloon ride up there, you would see a citadel miles in diameter spreading across the surface.

What sort of people are there?

All sorts! There are chisellers, hucksters, nobility – like all trade routes, blacks and whites and others mix together.

If we were traveling to your setting, what should we bring with us?
Some money to pay the inevitable tax that they’ll charge you for traveling through their land. A small dagger for guarding against pick-pockets.

Thank you for sharing details about your book setting. Now, what's the title of your book and where can we buy it?

The Silk Palace – it’s out from Swimming Kangaroo Books, and you can buy it from amazon or fictionwise, or you can drop me a line via MySpace if you want a signed copy!

Thanks for reading this, if you have, and to Nikki for allowing me the opportunity.

Novels from Swimming Kangaroo Books:
Lightning Days -- SF, Finalist for the USA Book News Awards
The Silk Palace -- "compelling" Library Journal
"Intrigues, betrayals, murders, love affairs, transformations, and
revelations," Bruce Boston, author of The Guardener's Tale

www.geocities.com/colin_harvey www.myspace.com/colin_harvey

Late Night Sessions

Why you chose that particular setting?

I wanted to write about music, musicians and most especially folk. It made sense to use the West midlands folk scene as my setting because I know it fairly well. All of the festivals mentioned in the story either exist, or have done in the past. I made up some of the sessions because those tend to come and go anyway, but otherwise it’s a fairly accurate portrayal.

What does the setting add to the story? The folk scene is a colourful place full of interesting characters and unusual goings on. It’s rather like a large village that has been dispersed across the country, but which reforms whenever it can. Friendships in this community tend to last. Clubs, festivals and sessions create friendly environments in which like minded people can get together, making it the perfect place for a young folk enthusiast to find love.

Could you write the same story in a different setting?

No. The frequency of festivals across the summer (at least one a month in easy driving distance from Birmingham) is essential to the story, and I’m not sure where else I could realistically place such a thing. Given how small a world the folk environment is, it allows people to run into each other without stretching credibility at all.

Why or why couldn't you use a different setting?

The folk world isn’t just about the music – it’s a culture and a community. People tend to look out for each other. As a young single woman, you can wander round a festival alone late at night and feel perfectly safe. If other music genres function in the same way, I’m not aware of it so couldn’t write it anyway.

Did you use a real place as a basis for your setting?

Yes, for the greater part. All of the festivals mentioned in the story are real, or used to exist. The parts of the story set around Malvern also use real places, as are most of the scenes set around Birmingham. The houses are all inventions, as are some of the sessions, but everything else has some real basis. The ford at Coughton, the Feckenham Woodland burial site, Hobgoblin Music store, and others are all real.

Tell us some specific details about your setting. What would we see?

At a typical festival you would see fields full of canvas, with numerous tents and caravans surrounding several big marquees. The ground is muddy and most people wear boots or wellies, because the great British summer can seldom be trusted. There are strains of music in the distance, smells of cooking food and beer. All around, people are conversing in small groups, waving to friends and enjoying themselves. Soon the concerts start, and the chairs in the marquees will with an eager audience. Some time after midnight, the sessions begin, when the real devotees stay up to share songs and music, often singing in the dawn, staggering arm in arm back to tents and sleeping bags.

What sort of people are there?

Everyone from babes in arms to the elderly, although the majority are middle aged, middle class and a touch bohemian. Expect long hair and beards, flowing skirts, tankards worn on belts and an enthusiasm for real ale. Folk people are passionate about their music, story telling and dance, and are generally a laid back, good humoured crowd out to have a good time regardless of the weather.

If we were travelling to your setting, what should we bring with us?

A tent, sleeping bag and other camping kit is advisable. If you play a musical instrument, bring it (if it’s portable) otherwise, be ready to sing. Beer money is essential, and a warm jacket for when things turn cold late at night will serve you well. Come with an open mind – folk is not all hanky waving morris men and beardy guys with their fingers in their ears. It can be young and sexy too. Or old and sexy for that matter.

For visitors, what do they need to know to visit your setting?

If you are polite, responsible and follow the perfectly reasonable instructions you may get from the stewards, then you will have a good time. It’s always colder than you expect it to be, and there is usually mud so come prepared!

Thank you for sharing details about your book setting. Now, what's the title of your book and where can we buy it?

Late Night Sessions

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Late-Night-Sessions/dp/1934446076/ref=sr_1_1/202-6559455-6676664?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191227563&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Late-Night-Sessions-Bryn-Colvin/dp/1934446076/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in/105-8048599-4428442?ie=UTF8&qid=1191227046&sr=8-8

Judgment Fire by Marilyn Meredith

Why you chose that particular setting?

The setting for Judgment Fire and most of Deputy Tempe Crabtree series is a mountain community in the Southern Sierra (CA) called Bear Creek. It is very much like the town I live in except I moved it up into the mountains a thousand feet for better trees.

The Giant Sequoias are in the higher elevations, a river runs through the area and it's called Bear Creek, there is a lake several miles below the town, and an Indian Reservation nearby. (All these things are true for where I live too except for the names of places and things.)


What does the setting add to the story?

I like writing about a small town, a small town surrounded by mountains and wilderness areas. Because of the Indian reservation, people from the reservation often play important roles in the stories. There is a lot of draw on from the setting.

Could you write the same story in a different setting? No, then it wouldn't be the same story.

Why or why couldn't you use a different setting?The setting plays a very important part in every one of my stories, often as important as the characters.

Did you use a real place as a basis for your setting? Yes, as I said earlier, it is where I live. I grew up in Los Angeles and the dynamics of a small town are fascinating to me.

Or, did you create the setting from scratch? No, but I've certainly taken a lot of liberties with the setting.

Is there anything else about your setting that we need to know? Feel free to share. In each book, I focus on a different area of where I live--might be the reservation, or the lake, or higher in the mountains. In the book coming next year, Kindred Spirits, Tempe will spend time in Crescent City and Santa Barbara CA.

Please provide your website link.

http://fictionforyou.com

What is the link to buy your book?
http://www.mundania.com

Tell us some specific details about your setting. What would we see? What sort of people are there? If we were traveling to your setting, what should we bring with us? For visitors, what do they need to know to visit your setting?

Our town is the gateway to the Sequoias. It is a place where many visitors pass through on their way to the high country. The real town has a rodeo every year, an Apple Festival (30,000 people come to this two day event), a Jackass Mail Run, Music in the Park on Friday nights during the summer. We have no bank, only an ATM, an Inn (which is often featured in my books), four other cafes (though this changes), a dress shop, two gas stations with grocery stores, a newspaper office which doubles as a visitors', two second hand stores,
and a post office. The river has several nice swimming holes including a great one right behind my house.

We have wild animals: deer, bobcats, mountain lions, raccoons, possums and an occasional bear.

Lots of folks live in the mountains in houses and cabins. There are many ranches and orange groves--and people are moving up from the cities and building big houses.

If you're coming in the winter time, bring clothes suitable for snow, if you're coming in the summer bring your swim wear, sun screen and bug repellant.

Thank you for sharing details about your book setting. Now, what's the title of your book and where can we buy it?

Judgment Fire can be ordered through any bookstore, but easiest to purchase from the publisher:
http://www.mundania.com

See what's new at: http://fictionforyou.com
http://www.policewriter.com
NEW BLOG at http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

A Prescription for Love - Leeanne Marie Stephenson

Why did you pick the setting you used in your story? I'm not looking for -- "because I live there". I want you to dig deep and tell us

Why you chose that particular setting?
I chose Michigan and the community I worked in as a Registered Nurse. I take the reader on a journey back into the 1970's at Blodgett Hospital where I began my own career as a nurse. All the places in Michigan that I write about, I have visited, so I have a first hand knowledge of their beauty and significance!

What does the setting add to the story?
Since my story is a medical romance, it depicts the heart of the medical community in Michigan. it also takes the reader into a world of wealth and prestige in the varios wealthy areas of Michigan.

Could you write the same story in a different setting?
I could write the story in another hospital setting.

Why or why couldn't you use a different setting?
A different setting would be difficult, because the personlity of the setting wouldn't come through since I never experienced the setting myself. In particular, Michigan's Mackinac Island is such a glamorous romantic setting, it couldn't possibly be repaced in my story!

Did you use a real place as a basis for your setting?
Every place I wrote about existed back in the 1970's, and I have been to all these places.

Or, did you create the setting from scratch?
Is there anything else about your setting that we need to know? Feel free to share.
This romantic journey highlights Grand Rapids, East Grand Rapids and the beautiful historical Mackinac Island of Michigan. The details of the setting make you feel as though you are right there with the characters. You willparticularly fall in love with the romantic Mackinac Isalnd! It's a love story in a setting you don't want to miss!

Please provide your website link.
http://www.lmstephenson.com

What is the link to buy your book?
http://www.amazon.com/Prescription-Love-Leeanne-Marie-Stephenson/dp/1424165075/sr=8-12/qid=1172424584/ref=sr_1_12/104-7067955-3361511?ie=UTF8&s=books

A PRESCRIPTION FOR LOVE
BY
LEEANNE MARIE STEPHENSON