Judgment Fire by Marilyn Meredith

Why you chose that particular setting?

In my Deputy Tempe Crabtree mysteries, my main setting is in a mountain community of the Southern Sierra. Though quite similar to where I live, the area has been fictionalized a great deal. Locals recognize places, but nothing is quite the same.

Lake Dennison is much bigger than the mudhole we call a lake.

Bear Creek Indian Reservation has many similarities to the Tule River Indian Reservation, but the reservation and the Native Americans who live there are all fantasies of my imagination.

What does the setting add to the story?

The setting is important to the story because Tempe is the resident deputy of a very different area than most stories involved with law enforcement.

Could you write the same story in a different setting?

It wouldn't be the same story in a different setting.

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

Small towns have a very different dynamic than larger cities--and even more so when the town is in a mountain area. I also enjoy including the Indian reservation.

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

In some ways--Bear Creek is similar to the town I live in some ways and very different in others.

Or, did you create the setting from scratch?

So though I didn't create Bear Creek from scratch, there are many things that are different--and the same goes for the Indian reservation.

Is there anything else about your setting that we need to know?

Feel free to share. In any book, setting is very important--it can almost be as important as a character. The setting can help set the mood and it gives certain parameters to the plot.

Please provide your website link.

http://fictionforyou.com

What is the link to buy your book?

http://www.mundania.com

or Amazon.com

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

After leaving the town of Dennison you will drive on a winding road toward the mountains, passing orange groves, Dennison Lake and the road to the reservation. The higher you go, the more winding the road, and the trees change from oaks to pine trees and cedars. The town itself is lined up on either side of the road with a post office, grocery store, a saloon, cafe, fire station and the Bear Creek Inn. The Bear Creek Community church is on the way to the higher elevations and camp grounds, homes and cabins, Tapper Lodge, and the giant Sequoias.

What sort of people are there?

Many of the residents are second and third generation, but new people have started moving in, many from Southern California.

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

If you're going higher into the mountains bring the right kind of clothes for hiking and in case the weather changes--which it's prone to do. In the summer, bring your bathing suit to take advantage of the great swimming holes.

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

They will need to enjoy the great outdoors.

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

http://www.mundaniapress.com

or as an e-book

http://www.fictionwise.com

See what's new at: http://fictionforyou.com
Judgment Fire, Eppie Finalist
NEW BLOG at http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

I Remember Tomorrow

Why did you pick the setting you used in your story?
The adage "write what you know" applies here. While raised in the metropolitan environment of Los Angeles, the past 25 years of my life have been spent in the rural environment of Northeast Texas. Because I wanted to write a story that felt like real people, I chose the smaller, more comfortable setting of a community much like the one I've come to know in my current hometown.

Why you chose that particular setting?
Again, it was important that the story feel small and comfortable. My desire was to create a world that the reader could "snuggle up to" like a warm blanket on a cold night.

What does the setting add to the story?
The setting lends itself to the feeling of a close-knit community. A place where, for the most part, everyone knows everyone else. Small town American is an ideal; a place we've seen on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post; a place we've read about but that most of the country has never really visited.

Could you write the same story in a different setting?
Yes... but the effect would not have been the same. I could have placed my main character in a larger city; one with planes, trains, and automobile but it would have been a very different story.

Why or why couldn't you use a different setting?
My main character is running from her past. She's running from a failed marriage (hmm, imagine that) and a life filled with too many people. To drop her in a place just like the one from which she was fleeing would not have provided the change she sought.

Did you use a real place as a basis for your setting? Or, did you create the setting from scratch?
While based heavily on the actual city where I live, I changed the name of the town and mixed things up a bit.

Is there anything else about your setting that we need to know? Feel free to share.
Not really. I try to write according to what I believe are my strengths: dialogue and setting. I go to great lengths to paint a picture of a surroundings, up to and including weather and the physicality. I want the reader to see, hear, smell, and feel the environment I've drawn. As such, there are continued references (either in dialogue or narrative) to those aspects of the setting.

Please provide your website link.
http://iremembertomorrow.com

What is the link to buy your book?
http://www.amazon.com/I-Remember-Tomorrow-William-Butler/dp/1424188903

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?

Northeast Texas is called the Piney Woods area of the state. Most envision Texas as a part of the southwest. However, this part of the state has a more "woodsy" feel to it. Wooded areas abound; even in the larger cities. It is a farming and ranching environment full of harvest festivals in the fall of every year. Winters are cold and wet with the occasional snowfall. Summers are hot and humid with heavy thunderstorms, and the subsequent threat of tornadoes, frequenting the area. The rural communities tend to be quiet and comfortable. But like most such places, that's just the surface. Scratch beneath that and you will find the same things here as in any other community. Every town has its secrets. The area (much like the state as a whole) tends to be rather conservative. There are many, many churches--more than one would think the community could support. High School football is important. But that seems to be true for Texas as a whole rather than something reserved for small towns. For the most part, it's the kind of place where you can raise a family and worry less that the environment will have a greater influence than the family.

Now, what's the title of your book and where can we buy it?
Title: I Remember Tomorrow (ISBN: 1424188903)
Where to buy: Amazon or the publisher's website http://www.publishamerica.com

Synopsis: Jeanette just wants to be normal. She wants to have a good job, meet someone she can love, and someday get married and have a family. She just wants to be happy. But fate whispers to her, tells her its secrets, and shows her the things it knows. And so, when she relocates, trying to start a new life after a failed marriage, she quickly learns her past is the least of her worries, because the future is the thing that scares her most. Now, rather than finding happiness, she’s trying hold onto her sanity—because tomorrow is here and she remembers tomorrow