Writers Tricks of the Trade May-June 2015

PRESS “CONTROL” THEN CLICK “BUY” TO PURCHASE THE BOOK Editors Note: This article ran in the August, 2012 issue, but was worth running again. CREATING REALISTIC SETTINGS VERONICA LYNCH VERONICA LYNCH WRITING AS KAT HENRY DORAN Several years ago, using the RIFLE [Realistic, Interesting, Fun, Logical, Entertaining] Approach, four romance writers came together and created a four story contemporary anthology, targeting the Wild Rose Press. The overall concept was based on five friends from high school who return to their hometown after twenty years when one of the five dies suddenly and leaves each survivor a legacy. Each novella focused on one of the four men. The task then came down to 'inventing' the setting. Since three of four authors live in Western New York, we decided to make that our “World”. Each of us took a season and used the weather and the lake [that's Ontario, Queen of the Great Lakes] as background flavoring. BUY To invent the “City/Town”, one of the authors explored a unique neighborhood in the city of Rochester, took photographs and brought them to the other three and soon Summerville was born―on paper anyway. Though the anthology never came to fruition, the concept morphed into The Class of '85, a reunion series for the Last Rose of Summer line at The Wild Rose Press. As senior editor [as well as one of the four originating authors] for the series, it came to me to lay the groundwork and either invent or expand upon the social and political infra-structure of the town, further enhancing the “City/Town”. As stories were contracted, the contributing authors tweaked the city/town into “The Hood” and then took it one step further to refine “The Set”. The inhabitants, primary and secondary were born and are unique to their individual needs and plot lines. The first 'alum' to make the reunion, “Getting It Right” was released in August 2010. By the Fall of 2011, twenty four stories were released. Here's how creating a setting that speaks to readers worked for us and hopefully will work for you: BUY MAY-JUNE 2015 The World: Summerville, a town of 25,000, sits on a bluff over-looking Lake Ontario, Queen of the Great Lakes. Water sports are a popular outdoor activity. The area is a busy assignment for the Immigration and Naturalization Service as well as the Coast Guard and County Sheriff's Marine Unit, preventing illegal entry via the lake from Canada, drug trafficking and alcohol related marine incidents. A large transient migrant population in the region who work large farming operations make the area a hotbed for activists and illegal immigration―both in the past [for some of the characters] and current law enforcement personnel. PAGE 22 WRITERS’ TRICKS OF THE TRADE

Writers Tricks of the Trade May-June 2015 | Page 32