location Archives - G R JORDAN

I believe some of the best locations for a novel are nearby. In the local area you have places where the smells are familiar, the sights understood and a wealth of knowledge of what lies behind. Place a fantasy castle in the middle of this scene and away you go!

In my novel, Crescendo!, the pairing of Austerley and Kirkgordon arrive on a remote Scottish island, in the fog. Living on the Isle of Lewis this scenario is very real to me and the landing site comes from a location very close to home. When I visit this little harbour, I can see some and their associates clambouring onto land and wondering where everything is. There is a remoteness not found in many places on our mainland and the lapping waves on the harbour causes the senses to be aroused. I’m pleased to say that the rudeness encountered by my characters is not typical of the island people (although some individuals do come to mind) and by placing evil folk in the villages causes the remoteness to be exacerbated.

It was the west coast of Ireland that gave me the location for the book’s grand finale. I remember visiting and seeing sheer circling cliffs and looking sown into the depths wondering at the splashing surf. Thoughts ran through my head of what could be causing such violence in the water. And ideas sprouted which have been fermenting until this novel.

Finding those locations close to home and then mixing them up with horrors of the novel seems to ground the fantastical ideas. Writing fantasy into the real world is hard and I think the writer has to give something the reader can hold onto while their imagination is asked to soar. Local places help round the writer, lest we disappear, heads lost in the clouds.

A Kickstarter for my new novel Crescendo! is underway here.

G R Jordan author, poet, and top Dad apparently!

One of the funnier things I find in my writing is the lengths I will go to to find a suitable location for my books. By that I mean each scene within my books. Every place mentioned usually has within it the building blocks of several real places if indeed it is not a real place itself. Because of this I am always on the lookout for different backdrops, whether it be from books, online searches, travel programs or anything else. My mind is constantly “location hunting”.

In my new book, “Crescendo!”, my intrepid duo Austerley and Kirkgordon, race around the world and I thought it would be interesting to see where the locations in the book come from in reality. The first location is Arkham, and more specifically the asylum there.

Due to the book’s tie-ins with Lovecraft mythology, Arkham was an obvious start point, the central town in the whole area of Lovecraft’s nightmares. I consulted fictional books and maps, checking the rivers and bridges and location of the asylum. But the building itself, or rather the scene, reminded me of a scene in “Porridge”, the classic British sitcom where Fletcher is let loose for a time. The sheer drabness and loneliness of a walk out of captivity with fanfares. The start of the Blues Brothers film has the same feel.

A trip to Russia then ensues and here was a major problem. At the current point in my writing career, ad hoc visits to far off countries are still beyond the budget. So thank goodness for the internet and those wonderful map programs where you can even place yourself in streets. I walked Russia’s alleyways, virtually, trying to see how my characters would perceive this place. Unfortunately the net doesn’t provide the smells and sounds and I had to think these into being (but I am meant to be a writer!). Pictures of a rather famous Russian café helped me in a little restaurant scene that occurs, giving me the feel of a past grandeur and a perfect backdrop to introduce Calandra, my Russian vamp.

It is funny how I have never been to any of these “foreign” places but felt able to find myself in their surroundings simply by a little application. I’m not here today to ponder on the finer pints of place description but rather as an encouragement to not limit yourself to places that you know when writing. With a little research, plenty of pictures, writings and a wee bit of imagination, you can make anywhere come alive. But yes, I would like the bigger budget, the private jet (now I am dreaming) to go and visit these places. But remember, places in the past or future, or those invisible except in the mythos of a person, cannot be reached. Well, except on the train of the mind and is that not our standard mode of transport as a writer anyway?

G R Jordan author, poet, and top Dad apparently!

Tag: location

Location, Location, Location (Part 2 – Places nearby)

Location, Location, Location (Part 1 – Foreign Places)