Does your hometown influence your writing?
The ever-so-adorable Theresa Milstein is with me today with a guest post to promote Fangtales. Her short story 'Allured' is included in this YA anthology. Theresa spent time thinking about setting when writing her piece, so she thought she'd share her perspective on how our hometowns shape us and frame our writing.
Here's Theresa:
“It’s a suburb of New York City where moms drive oversize silver trucks to Starbucks and most kids play soccer whether they want to or not. It’s the kind of place where kids are trained from birth to compete. In everything. School, sports, friendship, clothes. . .you know, everything.”
- D.J. MacHale, Morpheus Road: The Light
My blogging buddy, Jessica Bell wrote a recent post asking the question:
What's the first wonderful aspect of your hometown that comes to mind when you think about it? And does it make you feel nostalgic?
Just 1 aspect and 1 hometown?!
My blogging buddy, Jessica Bell wrote a recent post asking the question:
What's the first wonderful aspect of your hometown that comes to mind when you think about it? And does it make you feel nostalgic?
Just 1 aspect and 1 hometown?!
How about 10 aspects and 2 hometowns?
Until age 9, I lived in New York City. This is my childhood list:
Until age 9, I lived in New York City. This is my childhood list:
Soot snow mountains
Fire hydrant sprinklers – watching on
X-rated movie theatre ‘round the corner
Giant Catholic Church, opposite direction
Friends and neighbors from everywhere in the world
Walking everywhere and noisy elevated subway
Dark school with caged stairways and paper towel ceilings
Parks with cement cause scraped knees
Crowded and noisy, horns and double-parked cars
Independence with caution
For the rest of my childhood, I lived on Long Island. If I hadn’t lived in NYC first, this list might be different. If I write it from my teen years, it would also be different. This is my childhood list:
Sameness of big houses and people
For the rest of my childhood, I lived on Long Island. If I hadn’t lived in NYC first, this list might be different. If I write it from my teen years, it would also be different. This is my childhood list:
Sameness of big houses and people
Mowing lawns and lawn pride
Mandatory soccer
Cars drive everywhere
Bicycling through lazy summers
Playing video games at the bowling alley
Backyards with sprinklers
Basements with toys
Inhaling greenery from flower and vegetable gardens
Designer jeans
Though these places are only an hour drive apart, the contrast is great. Being a city kid and suburban kid are like two different beasts inside me. My childhood experiences help me write city and suburban characters.
Kimberley Griffiths Little writes about life on the bayou in The Healing Spell and her soon-to-be-released Circle of Secrets. I wouldn’t have the faintest idea what that life is like there if I hadn’t been introduced to that world by her:
“I sit in the prow of the motorboat, worms jiggling my gut the whole way, fat and sassy on all that cake I just ate.
When we get to the swamp house, I watch my daddy tie the rope around the dock piling, get my suitcases out, and set them on the scraggly lawn. Wind moans through the giant cypress trees surrounding the house, making the Spanish moss float in the air like mermaid’s hair.”
- Kimberley Griffiths Little, Circle of Secrets
Recently, I read Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord in one sitting. Because she spent time on an island in Maine, she could bring that tiny world realistically to me, as I sat in on the Charles River in Cambridge, overlooking the Boston skyline.
I’ve mentioned before that I can make up anything in the world in my books, but I like my setting to be based on a place that I know. I must know the physical ground to ground my book, no matter what other fantastical elements exist. The places I’ve lived have had a profound impact on me as a person and as a writer. And knowing a place helps me bring authenticity to my pieces. But I need to take it further like other authors who know their settings enough to make them character-like – Carl Hiaasen and Kate DiCamillo, for example.
Where we’ve lived is so much of who we are.
In November, I’m going to post an interview with Jessica Bell about her upcoming book, String Bridge. She explains how living in Australia and Greece has influenced her writing.
Can you list aspects of your hometown?
Though these places are only an hour drive apart, the contrast is great. Being a city kid and suburban kid are like two different beasts inside me. My childhood experiences help me write city and suburban characters.
Kimberley Griffiths Little writes about life on the bayou in The Healing Spell and her soon-to-be-released Circle of Secrets. I wouldn’t have the faintest idea what that life is like there if I hadn’t been introduced to that world by her:
“I sit in the prow of the motorboat, worms jiggling my gut the whole way, fat and sassy on all that cake I just ate.
When we get to the swamp house, I watch my daddy tie the rope around the dock piling, get my suitcases out, and set them on the scraggly lawn. Wind moans through the giant cypress trees surrounding the house, making the Spanish moss float in the air like mermaid’s hair.”
- Kimberley Griffiths Little, Circle of Secrets
Recently, I read Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord in one sitting. Because she spent time on an island in Maine, she could bring that tiny world realistically to me, as I sat in on the Charles River in Cambridge, overlooking the Boston skyline.
I’ve mentioned before that I can make up anything in the world in my books, but I like my setting to be based on a place that I know. I must know the physical ground to ground my book, no matter what other fantastical elements exist. The places I’ve lived have had a profound impact on me as a person and as a writer. And knowing a place helps me bring authenticity to my pieces. But I need to take it further like other authors who know their settings enough to make them character-like – Carl Hiaasen and Kate DiCamillo, for example.
Where we’ve lived is so much of who we are.
In November, I’m going to post an interview with Jessica Bell about her upcoming book, String Bridge. She explains how living in Australia and Greece has influenced her writing.
Can you list aspects of your hometown?
How did where you grew up influence your writing?
Which books or authors do wonders with setting?
Links you might want to use:
My blog: http://theresamilstein.blogspot.com/
Fangtales:
Links you might want to use:
My blog: http://theresamilstein.blogspot.com/
Fangtales:
Barnes and Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fangtales-berni-stevens/1105876583?ean=9780956036360&itm=1&usri=fangtales
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Fangtales-Berni-Stevens/dp/0956036368/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317157075&sr=8-1
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Fangtales-Berni-Stevens/dp/0956036368/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317157075&sr=8-1
