Author Marilyn Meredith on the importance of setting
Your reader needs to know where the story is taking place
and what is going on around the characters as the story unfolds.
Years
ago when I was a Writers’ Digest School instructor, I’d receive written lessons
where two characters were speaking to one another and not once was it mentioned
where the conversation was taking place. Sometimes a piece would be all action
with no clue as to where it was happening. It doesn’t matter how wonderful the
dialogue is or exciting the action, the reader needs to be able to “see” the
whole scene.
Raging
Water
takes place in a mountain community called Bear Creek in the Southern Sierra.
Sierra means mountains—so this is the southern part of the Sierra Nevada range
in California
An
Inn, a grocery store, the Café, the fire station, the school, the Bear Creek
Community Church
The
town is named for the creek that runs through it, but in this story an ongoing
rain storm has turned it the creek into a raging river that is flooding the
lower parts of the town and the homes built along it.
There
is only one way in and out of Bear Creek and the deluge causes a huge mud slide
to block the road.
Bear
Creek has great similarity to the town I live in, however, I moved it higher in
the mountains 1000 feet so it would have better trees and more chance for snow.
My town mostly has oak trees and cottonwoods, and a scattering of bird-planted
palm trees. We’ve had one big snow storm since I’ve lived here. When you travel
just a few miles higher, there is an abundance of pines, other evergreens, and
even a stand of wonderful giant Sequoias along with snow storms in the winter—and
that’s what I wanted for Bear Creek.
Besides
giving the readers visual aids to “see” the setting, it is important to add the
smells, colors and sounds. As a writer, we should hope to make the reader feel
like they are right in the story with our characters. I certainly hope my
readers will see the town of Bear Creek as Tempe
Raging Water Blurb: Deputy Tempe Crabtree’s
investigation of the murder of two close friends is complicated when relentless
rain turns Bear Creek into a raging river. Homes are inundated and a mud slide
blocks the only road out of Bear Creek stranding many—including the murderer.
Where to buy Raging Water
I know there are some people
who like to read a series in order, but let me reassure you that every book is
complete. Though the characters grow through each book, the crime is always solved.
Here is the order of the books for anyone who wants to know: Deadly Trail, Deadly Omen,
Unequally Yoked, Intervention, Wing Beat, Calling the Dead, Judgment Fire,
Kindred Spirits, Dispel the Mist, Invisible Path, Bears With Us, Raging Water.
Bio: Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty published
novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the
latest Raging Water from Mundania Press. Writing as F. M.
Meredith, her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel us No Bells, the forth from
Oak Tree Press. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, three chapters of Sisters in
Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety
Writers of America.
Marilyn
borrows a lot from where she lives in the Southern Sierra for the town of Bear
