Creating the Setting: New Orleans
April 12, 2011 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Louisa Bacio, The Vampire, The Witch and The Werewolf: A New Orleans Threesome
Shut your eyes, and think about your favorite vacation spot. What sounds do you hear? What’s the temperature like? Any memorable smells? What does the air feel like against your skin? And, what are some of the culinary delicacies of the area> Finally, how do you take all those details and infuse them within writing to that a reader can capture the same senses?
The skill to writing setting, and in this case in particular setting based on reality can be hard or it can be easy. Some people do world-building where all the details come from the imagination, or an alternate reality that’s loosely based upon our world.
When I thought about the setting of my recent release – an erotic paranormal – the location because intrinsic to the storyline. THE VAMPIRE, THE WITCH & THE WEREWOLF: A New Orleans Threesome obviously lives within the Big Easy – Louisiana.
Last October, when my husband said he was going to New Orleans for a conference, and asked if I wanted to tag along, I quickly contacted my parents for babysitting duties, booked a boutique hotel in the French Quarter and bought a plane ticket. (It helped that the trip fell right after my birthday, so my parents more readily accepted the task of taking on the 4-year-old).
Despite all the hardships of the past few years, the city completely lived up to expectations. And, I felt very much like in Florence, Italy, connected to the soul of the city.
In a recent interview with Desmond Haas of the Romance Radio Network, Mr. Haas commented on that in my first book Physical Education I did a good job capturing the setting. He felt like he could visualize the school courtyards and dining area. I believe that comes from the details, and my background in journalism.
While in New Orleans, I took a cemetery tour, a ghost tour, a Cajun-Creole cuisine cooking class, and partook in most of the infamous pastimes (Hurricane anyone?). Yet, there’s so much more I want to see and experience, such as a swamp tour.
Mardi Gras doesn’t fascinate me. My husband has experienced it a few times, and something about knowing a 6 foot, 4 inch, 250+ pound man being swept off his feet and directed within the crowd scares me.
But ghosts? Bring them on.
In 2012, the Future, Fantasy & Paranormal chapter of the RWA is planning their first conference in New Orleans, and it seems like a very good reason to attend.
Until then, I’ll have to get lost in my sequel and all the details of setting …
Louisa Bacio
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Want Romance Trading Cards? Leave a message about your favorite setting – or vacation spot – and send me your address via Facebook, and I’ll send you out the threesome! (If you come to the OCC/RWA meetings, I’ll bring some in May.)
The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf is available now via Ravenous Romance and Amazon Kindle.
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