Take Me Away From This Place...

***I've updated Wednesday's post just to let you guys know I'm going to be taking Fridays off from blogging from now until September.  There doesn't seem to be much activity right before the weekend and the kids are making it hard for me to post and comment on my usual schedule so voila!  I hope you all have a great weekend!***

I’ve been reading a few books lately where the plot and characters aren’t the only things drawing me back for more.  In fact, one of the biggest appeals of all is the setting.

Done right, the setting can pluck you from your comfy couch and drop you smack dab in the middle of another place.  Sometimes it’s a place you’ve never seen and have to discover right along with the characters;  a place that grows just as familiar and comfortable over time- like Hogwarts castle in Harry Potter.

Then there are settings that are already familiar and comfortable- like the little town of Bontemps in Charlaine Harris novels.  It’s easy to imagine the small town bar, or having to drive into a different parish to get to a WalMart, or the roadways lined with fields and forest.  Because many of us have grown up in or around a town like it.

Kristan Higgans novels take place in New England- which is a real treat for me because that’s where I grew up.  I sink into the setting right away, thankful for the descriptions of fall foliage, small town restaurants, and coastal villages.

If you’ve ever read ‘Anna and the French Kiss’, then you’ve spent a semester abroad in Paris.  Stephanie Perkins setting descriptions were that good.  And I should know- because I actually did study two semesters in Paris and she made me feel like I was right back there.

Done right,  setting can have just  as much draw for the reader as the characters and their plight- pulling you further into the story than you ever thought possible.

What are some of your favorite ‘setting’ stories; Books that made you feel like you were really in the place described?  

Internal Conflict Blogfest

Today I’m contributing a scene to the Alliterative Allamorph’s Internal Conflict Blogfest!

The following is a scene from my recently finished novel ‘Welcome to Coventry’.  I finally got around to creating a page for the book with a poll so if you have the time and you’re interested in knowing more- please feel free to visit and vote:).

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Scott sat back in his chair. “We got a new student.  That girl I told you about who moved in across the street.”

“Oh.  Is she nice?” Sophie gave him a knowing look.

Craig scoffed and Scott hoped for a moment he’d choke on his pasta as he opened his mouth and spoke while chewing. “Yeah, she’s cute alright.  But a total headcase.  Told the whole school she’s a witch, like Old Evelyne.”

Sophie’s eyebrows rose.  “Huh.”

“That’s not true.” Scott interjected.  “She’s Pagan.  Her mom’s Pagan too.  I think it’s kinda cool, you know....alternative religions and stuff.”
"What the hell is Pagan?  Is that some kind of, like, cult where they speak pig latin?” Craig took a swig of coke and wiped some sauce from the corner of his mouth.

Scott narrowed his eyes. “No, Forrest, it’s a religion that was around before Christianity.”

Craig sat back. “Chill man.  You got the hots for the girl.  I get it.  You guys can go dance naked around a campfire like the natives.” He pointed to his chest.  “I don’t care.”

“Jesus, you’re such a douche.”

“Right back at you, jackass.”

“Boys that’s enough now.”  His father’s voice broke through.

            “May I be excused?” Scott grabbed his plate and headed toward the stairs before receiving an answer.

“Scott?” Sophie pleaded. 

“Just let him go, hun.  It’s alright,” his father said gently but followed him with his eyes.

            Scott dropped his plate on the desk next to his computer and ate while he checked his emails.  He could understand what his father saw in Sophie.  She was nice and kind of pretty with her dark hair and eyes.  And she was a great cook. 

            But his stepbrother Craig was almost enough to make him wish that his dad had never married Sophie at all.  Craig was a senior.  He was all-star basketball, football, wrestling and basically good at everything. 

Scott hated him.

 And it wasn’t just because ever since he moved in, his own father had jumped on the Craig Savoey Bandwagon.  It was because even though Craig was a complete jerk, everybody still seemed to love him.  His teachers loved him.  His father loved him.  The entire student body would probably give their right kidney for him.  Scott had never seen anyone who tried so little and gained so damn much.  The freaking jock even managed to get straight A’s.  Scott was a perpetual B student and his dad never failed to point out the differences in their report cards. 

It made him sick.

A light flickered on across the street and Scott stood and looked out the window, wondering which room in Old Evelyne’s farmhouse belonged to Avery.  There was something about that girl.  Craig was right about one thing.  Avery was really cute.  He sat back down in his computer chair and turned off the desk lamp so he could get a clearer view of the farmhouse. 

There was some movement behind the window; someone obviously moving around the room but Scott couldn’t make out who it was.  ‘Damn.  If only I had some binoculars.’

He leaned back and stared at the ceiling for a moment, thinking about Avery’s crystal blue eyes and pink mouth that curved up in the corners when she was being a smart ass.  She was the perfect height; not so short that he’d have to lean down too far if he kissed her. 

He smiled and closed his eyes.  The sun had shone off her hair that afternoon on the fire escape.  There were so many colors in it, he could have stared at it for hours.  He’d had to resist the urge to sweep one of the locks away from her face, just so that he could see how soft it was.  Yeah, she was something alright.

Scenes with a Mind of Their Own

Has this ever happened to you? 

I sat down last night to finally write this scene that has been going through my head since I started my work in progress.  It was there from the very first outline, and it was supposed to be a definitive scene where two of my main characters get together.  In my mind, I’d always imagined this scene as mildly romantic and more than mildly hot.  It’s YA, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to go too into detail, but I wanted some warm blooded heart pounding in any case.

SO, I’d done a dry run of how this scene was supposed to go, over and over again in my mind and last night I finally got to the point in the book where it takes place.

I started writing and…it was like something else just completely took over.  I ended up with a final product that was so far away from what I originally imagined.  The scene turned into something much more emotional that I had intended and instead of a hot romp in the hay with a ‘eureka, I want you!’ moment, the characters share this really emotional scene where she blubbers into his shirt and he consoles her.  Of course, their feelings for each other are plain, but They don’t even KISS!  Wtf?

I mean, I’m happy with the scene and the kissing will come, I was just completely taken by surprise at how it played out when I had spent so much time writing it differently in my head.

Have you ever imagined a scene one way, and then have it take on a mind of its own once you sat down to write?

Why do you think this happens?