The Importance of Setting by Thonie Hevron
In a recent
post, our host Marilyn Meredith talked about setting and
why it is important. I think it’s only fair to share with her my thoughts on
setting.
Setting is the reason I got serious about writing. I’d
always written but never seriously and rarely completed a work. By 1997, I’d
spent two decades in law enforcement in Northern California. When my fire
fighter husband suffered a career-ending injury, we stepped up plans to retire
to the high desert/mountains. Until I qualified to retire—a few years at most—I
got a job as a dispatcher at a small municipal police department. It took less
than a year in the Sierras when I found myself so homesick that even the
catastrophic floods of 1996-97 in my old neighborhood made me want to be back
in Sonoma County. I’d worked three previous floods and missed helping during
the disasters.
One night, seeking a bit of solace, I scratched out a
description of a Russian River (Sonoma County) home I saw in a magazine. Then
the seed of a story began. Then I wrote the story. That tale became By
Force or Fear, the Nick and Meredith Mysteries, about a
Sheriff’s detective Meredith Ryan (and her partner Nick Reyes) stalked by an
influential judge.
Sonoma County has a rich topography to draw from—Pacific
coastline, primordial redwood forests, mountains, vineyards, livestock
pastures, and the Russian River. Since my husband and I moved back in 2004,
I’ve written and published a total of four books—all set in Sonoma County (the exception
is Intent to Hold, the second book, begins and ends in Sonoma but the
bulk of the tale takes place in the outskirts of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico).
To me, setting is another form of character. Written
well, it can engage your senses with the smell of the redwoods, the spray of
the ocean waves, humus underfoot (smell and touch), and the inspiring sights of
all these. A good character portrayal often includes quirks and habits. So can
setting. I love to incorporate a natural event-often a disaster. In By
Force or Fear my deputies are called upon to rescue
residents of a tough-to-access canyon during a flood. A mudslide complicates
characters’ escape in Intent
to Hold. A rampant wildland fire almost thwarts a murder
investigation for Nick and Meredith in With
Malice Aforethought. In the fourth book, Felony
Murder Rule, I decided to rely less on Mother Nature
and make the most of maternal instincts. Meredith Ryan’s father dies leaving
her an ugly secret that endangers her family. I set this novel in Petaluma, my
hometown. I’ve been here off and on since 1976 and consider it home.
I hope I do this setting justice.
Thonie Hevron
Comments
My husband photographed the location, an artist "enhanced" its looks to fit the plot.
Hi Thonie,
I love the guest blog post. Setting is a huge attraction for me, too. And your post gave me a new thought about setting. A question, really, that might be fun to discuss as a group sometime. The question is: When you write, do you consider people to be part of the setting? I've always thought of setting as only the physical elements like the Sonoma forests, pastures, beaches, the Russian River, like you describe so well here. And of course that's separate from the characters, main and secondary.
But are the kinds of people who are sort of in the background, are they actually part of the setting? The sun-browned vineyard workers, the cowboy you see off in the distance on his horse, the park ranger in the redwoods, the chef in her restaurant garden?
I honestly just now thought of this and would find it fun to talk about. Wasn't sure when you asked if we had anything to add whether it would be included in comments or in an edit on the post or what, so I just thought I'd fire it off as an email, for what it's worth. Thanks for letting us know about the blog post!
Cheers,
Deb McCaskey