I Feel Broad Already
Mark Terry is guest-blogging today on my favorite subject: travel. The Fallen, in his Derek Stillwater series, just came out, and he also has his bestselling Joanna Dancing thriller, Dancing in the Dark, available exclusively on Kindle. Check them out! You can read more about his writing life at his blog.
Natasha and her SO packed up their belongings and hit the road. I envy them.
Oh, who am I kidding? You couldn’t pay me enough money to live out of a frickin’ camper! I prefer not to cross the great outdoors for my nighttime wee-wee breaks, thank you very much. As a woman I worked with once said, “If there’s not a mint on the pillow, it’s camping.” (Okay, I’m not quite that bad.)
But they say travel is broadening and although my doctor says 
I’m broad enough already, I do like travel. Most of my travel these days is work related. I edit a technical journal, and the organization involved hosts a technical meeting every year in a different city— this year it’s Phoenix, Arizona; last year it was Jacksonville, Florida. For this meeting alone I’ve spent a week in Cincinnati, Denver, Anaheim, Atlanta, Baltimore, Kansas City, and Houston. Other business trips have taken me to Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Tampa.
Series fiction is often built in a specific city—Robert B. Parker’s Spenser in Boston; Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole, Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch, and Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware all in Los Angeles; Rick Riordan’s Tres Navarre, who may have retired, in San Antonio.
My Derek Stillwater changes cities every book. In The Devil’s Pitchfork it was Baltimore and Washington, DC. In The Serpent’s Kiss it was Detroit (more or less my home town). In The Fallen, my latest novel, it’s a resort outside Colorado Springs. The next book, scheduled for September 2011, takes place predominantly in Los Angeles. And the Derek Stillwater novel I’m working on now takes place in Moscow, Russia.
Lee Child’s novels featuring Jack Reacher also have a different setting for each book. So, for that matter, do most espionage novels, which my novels more closely resemble than Lee Child’s Reacher novels.
But setting is important. Unfortunately, I probably won’t be going to Moscow to research this book. In fact, I almost didn’t start it because of that. I have a story idea that could take Derek to Jacksonville and I spent a very hot week there last year. After Russia, if Derek and I are still dating, I expect Jacksonville to figure in a book, unless something in particular strikes me about Phoenix.
So I’ll be curious to see if Natasha’s travels influence her work.
How about you? Do your travels affect your writing?
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Natasha Fondren is a writer traveling the U.S. in a camper with her four cats. She is currently enjoying the lizards and desert heat in Arizona.
Thanks for the guest blog, Mark! It’s funny, I don’t miss living in a house at all. I feared I would, lol.
I don’t think my travels have affected my writing much, although I’m thinking of writing a short story, possibly a novel, set down here. God, is it beautiful country. I only wish you were coming down to Tucson for your meeting!
I haven’t decided whether to rent a car or not. There’s a Hohokam ruin near Phoenix and everybody I’ve talked to about Phoenix sort of makes a face and says, “Rent a car and drive down to Sonora.” I just haven’t made up my mind yet.
Oh man, Mark! It’d be so cool if you came down her! There’s the desert museum! It is definitely one of the coolest museums ever. Lots of live animals, and most of it is outside with the real desert. Hummingbird aviary. Very cool.
Then right beside, there’s Old Tucson Studios, which is where alot of the John Wayne movies were shot.
Hi, Mark!
Always great to see you in the blogging world. Travel always affects my writing. Many times, though, when I travel to help with setting in one story, I get more inspiration for a new character or a new story. Thanks for the post. Best wishes to you for a great trip. Diana
Mark, congrats on the new release! If I can be half as prolific as you, I’ll die happy.
My travels, limited as they are, influence my work, pretty much because I don’t buy into the “write what you know” concept. Rather, writing about what I know little about gives me the opportunity to learn, both with setting and story lines. Better to broaden my horizons than my waistline.
Hey, if Derek comes to Jacksonville, maybe he’ll run into Nicholas Colt!
Kath,
I’m not a huge advocate of “write what you know” either, although it can be useful for breaking into nonfiction. But I’m much more an advocate of “write what you’re interested in.”
Mark, congrats on your newest release! My latest book is set in Nashville, which I’d never been to. I did a lot of hair pulling, read two great books on it, watched YouTube videos, and looked at Google street views. A beta reader lives in Nashville, so that was a huge help. But my next book will be back in my comfort zone, my home state.
I’ve been to Arizona a few times. I never thought of setting a book there, and I don’t know why. Maybe a future book.
Edie,
It’s definitely easier when you’ve been there. As Natasha knows, I’ve got about 250 pages of a novel set in Beijing and that thing is like shoveling wet cement.
I hate those “wet cement” books. But you know, it’s been my experience that the harder they are to write, the better they are received.
I haven’t had much opportunity to travel which is okay because I hate travel. I would love to visit places, but I don’t want to travel to them. Teleportation would be excellent. Luckily, for writing historicals, to move the setting to another country basically requires reading additional history books. I suppose one could pick up something about the geography by visiting the site of a historical but I don’t know how useful that would be. I’m not even sure that weather or vegetation would be exactly the same if you go back 2,000 years. If you’re headed to Phoenix maybe you could arrange to do something at Poisoned Pen which is out there. (Scottsdale) A little contact with the store owners (and Poisoned Pen Press folks) might even come in useful in terms of future publishing projects.
Traveling provides impetus for my work, and certainly setting details, but I don’t think it has a lot of impact on themes. Those are so embedded in me from my childhood.
Eric,
Admit it, you’d love to go to Byzantium. By the way, folks, Eric’s new novel just got released, Eight For Eternity by Eric Mayer and Mary Reed. Check it out.
I’m almost done! I need to blog about it, pronto!
Charles,
Details, feel, opportunities. Probably not themes, but since I write about terrorism I often will look around a city I’m in and wonder what I might target if I were a terrorist. Now, in Jacksonville, FL there’s not only a huge port, but a whole lot of bridges crossing the St. John River…
Years ago, when my kids were babies, I wrote a mystery that took place in Philadelphia. We were living there at the time. I went to the city hall and courthouse for research. I told absolutely anyone I met that I was a writer doing research for a novel. People innocently trying to find a bathroom, secretaries trying to do their work…
Robin,
Good training for doing book signings, where people will innocently ask you where the bathrooms are or tell you they’ve been writing a novel, screeplay, poetry, ransom notes…
Hey Mark,
I agree with your colleague about the mint on the pillow. My husband and I take motorcycle vacations and while I don’t mind the riding around all day on the bike, come night time, I want fresh linens on the bed and a nice hot shower.
Natasha, I don’t know if I would love the whole camper experience for any length of time – maybe a week or two at best.
Debra, I suppose it helps that my camper is in a campground with a salt-water pool and a jacuzzi.
But I’m a simple person. I just like to write, and if I have a bed to sleep in at night, I’m happy.
I am always looking for a good series to read, so Natasha I thank you for introducing me to Mark’s works!
Mark- the books sound very interesting, and I am eagerly looking foward to getting started on them! I don’t travel, so these books are always a way for me to do that.
Oh Kebbi! I love that you popped by my blog! You know, it’s one of his earliest works, but I’m rather fond of his Meg Malloy mystery, Dirty Deeds.
Kebbi–enjoy.
Jude–now you’ve got me thinking.
What a fantastic post! Natasha, thanks for having Mark. And Mark, thanks for the entertainment!
Janna,
Pleasure to be here.