When an author sets up the world building for any novel, there are two obvious choices: real world or complete original fantasy. But there are also subtle combinations of the two, taking creative liberty with a well known place, or keeping well-known elements in a wild new world.
It’s worth it to think about the world building in terms of what will give the reader the most entertainment.
How many readers have a thirst to visit New Orleans after reading a Kresley Cole Immortals After Dark novel or a Sherrilyn Kenyon Dark Hunter novel? Both authors have rooted their stories in the real world, and added completely imaginative settings into their storylines as well.
While a familiar place usually requires fewer cues to engage and hold the reader, a completely imaginative place can be a lot of fun to research, build and investigate. Fiction authors write to entertain and whatever world building we put on the page should support the mood and pace of the story we want to tell.
For me, the choice to plant the Matchmaker series in Charleston, South Carolina was two fold. It’s real, it’s practically in my back yard, and there’s plenty of paranormal history to go along with the ‘official’ history of record. (Although there are plenty of experts who will tell you the paranormal history is just as official as what’s stored in archives).
Researching the neighborhoods, churches and store fronts was a breeze, but taking creative license with them was also fun. As I poked around downtown, or rumbled along in a carriage, I could picture my characters moving about alongside residents and tourists. I like to think that feel made its way into The Matchmaker’s Mark and will please readers of the upcoming novels in this series as well.
And should my readers visit Charleston I hope they’ll recognize the real places like the Unitarian Churchyard and shops on King street while envisioning the fun adventures the characters of the Matchmaker series have had in those places.
Live the adventure!
