Michele has been writing romance, action-adventure and fantasy stories for over nineteen years. Her first published novel was DARK RAPTURE. France, musketeers, vampires and faeries populate her stories. And if she followed the adage 'write what you know', all her stories would have snow in them. Fortunately, she steps beyond her comfort zone and writes about countries she has never visited and of creatures she has never seen.
Check out what Michele says about setting...
Hey all! My latest,
BEAUTIFUL DANGER, is still in bookstores for a few more days. The hero is a vampire and the heroine a
vampire slayer. It’s set within my
Beautiful Creatures world, and is the first in the mini-series In The Company
of Vampires, that shines a spotlight on the ancient slayer organization called
The Order of the Stake.
I’ve chatted at other blogs about characters and music and
how I get my story ideas, but I never talk much about one of my favorite
settings: Paris. About half my stories
are set in the City of Light. I’ve been
there twice, most recently this past April.
It is my dream city, and I feel as if I have lived there before. It is very natural to me to set a story
there, because some things I just know about it due to research and…dare I say
it?...a deep knowing that might only have come from a past life.
I’ve chatted at other blogs about characters and music and
how I get my story ideas, but I never talk much about one of my favorite
settings: Paris. About half my stories
are set in the City of Light. I’ve been
there twice, most recently this past April.
It is my dream city, and I feel as if I have lived there before. It is very natural to me to set a story
there, because some things I just know about it due to research and…dare I say
it?...a deep knowing that might only have come from a past life.
I won’t get into the past life stuff. I’m not even sure about that, but, again, it
is a knowing that I have lived there before.
For example, I can’t ever get lost in Paris. Maybe it’s because I’ve studied the map of
Paris so often, or that I’m pretty handy navigating the city by
arrondissements. Or even, if you know
where the river is in the city, then you can always find your way home. Or maybe it’s just that knowing? ;-)
I love to place my characters in the city and have them
wander about the ancient streets and past the landmarks, because so many of
those characters have lived there for centuries. Vampires and werewolves, don’t you know? They tend to live a long time.
And with my recent trip, I returned with a renewed sense of
the smells, food, atmosphere, language, noise, reverence, and utter awe the
city imparts on one and all.
So if you have a fascination for Paris, I do hope you’ll
check out my stories!
Thanks for stopping by and, as always, we love to hear from you in the comments. Have you ever been to Paris? What settings do you write about?
I have always wanted to go to Paris. I think I'll be checking out your books now...
ReplyDeleteNo, I've never been, but since my husband speaks French fluently, even though it's Cajun French, and I can follow some, I'd love to go one day. I think we could hang.
ReplyDeleteWill definitely be downloading some books of yours, since I adore reading about all Beautiful Creatures.
Great post...you'll be a difficult act to follow!
Lori
Michele is trying to comment but having no luck so I'm going to test this.
ReplyDeleteAh, Paris. Sounds amazing. I've never been but would love to go. I have never been good at making setting come alive in my stories, but I would love to improve in that area. I will definitely check out your books, especially the vampire ones! :-D
ReplyDeleteI've never been to Paris...or any place overseas for that matter. Someday. When the kids are out of high school and college and we have money again... Sigh.
ReplyDeleteSetting is my weak spot in stories. I'll have to pick up some of your books and see how to do it. :)