Storybuilding Places – Inspirations from the click of a camera

by | Mar 20, 2011 | Fiction Book Reviews | 1 comment

Are you guys as crazy as I am? Do you take your camera with you everywhere?

I do.

Because I never know when I might walk into a place of inspiration. A sunset. A interesting panoramic scene. A historic bit of information.

Who knows!?!

In fact, I’ve taken pictures of places that are a part of my novels. Let me show you.

For my contemporary romance, I have two settings. The Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and the rolling hills of Derbyshire, England. Not only that, but I have the perfect manor house I use as the inspiration for the 600 year old manor house in my novel.

Here are a few pictures. One is of the Blue Ridge Mountains – my heroine’s home

Next is a picture of the hills of Debyshire – my hero’s home

And third is Haddon Hall, a manor house in Derbyshire and the ‘model’ for my mysterious backstory.

Isn’t it beautiful?

 Since most of my novels are inspired by my home in the Blue Ridge, many of my contemporary novels are influenced by that world and culture.  The uniqueness of Appalachia, the importance of oral history, and the quirky culture makes it the perfect fuel for story ideas 🙂 I have family members who are just waiting to creep on a novel page in some form or other 🙂

With my historical novel, I needed inspiration that showed WWI, England, and the setting of the magnificent ocean liner, Lusitania. For me, the setting becomes a part of the story – especially in my historical. (I didn’t take these pictures, of course 🙂

 WWI reflects the internal struggle of her hero and heroine.

The cold stone of my heroine’s home reflects the relationship she had with her father and has with her sister.

And the Lusitania is a mirror of the pretension in her world.

All the wealth and prestige in the world could not protect those travelers from the devastation of a German torpedo.

What about you? Do you have pictures you’ve taken to inspire your work? Have you found some online? Does your setting reflect your story in any way?

1 Comment

  1. Sherrinda

    Oddly enough, I do not have any pictures of the landscape, but I definitely should. Seriously, I’m not sure why I don’t? I bet it’d help me with my lack of storyworld. 😉

    Reply

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