Making it Real

From a real estate magazine, the house my MC lives in

Setting plays such an important part of every story. Books that transport you into their world, real or imaginary, make the story come alive in your mind. When I can see the place as I read, hear the water echoing off the concrete as it drips, feel the cold seep beneath my jacket, smell the musty decay -- then you've hooked me. I want to read more.

But how do you make your words create a visual image for your reader?

I'm a very visual person. So for me, photos are a must. Even when I'm making something up, I like to have a visual resource to reference. I'll scour the internet for images that evoke a sense of place. I've drawn neighborhood maps, house layouts and figured out routes on Map Quest.

But sometimes there's no substitute for actually visiting a place. A pivotal scene in one of my novels takes place at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena. While the lab isn't exactly shrouded in mystery (they hold an open house every year), there aren't a lot of photos on the web. And try looking it up on Google Earth. You can't get past the gate. I did so many carefully worded searches on Google that I started to worry that government representatives might show up at my door to ask what the hell I was doing!

My solution? Go to the annual open house. And since I didn't have time to see everything I wanted to see, I scheduled a group tour a month later. Yes, it was time consuming. But oh, how valuable. Those scenes would not be as visually real without that hands-on experience.

This weekend I'm taking a road trip, tracing the path my characters go on in part of the story. As a bonus, I'm tying it in with the book release party for my agent-mate, Caroline Starr Rose. Woo-hoo!

How far are you willing to go to make a scene real?

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Three wonderful bloggers who I count as friends had books released into the world yesterday. Caroline Starr Rose's debut MG verse novel, MAY B
Robin Mellom's debut YA romantic comedy, DITCHED
Beth Revis' second YA sci-fi novel, A MILLION SUNS

Congrats to all of them!!

And just so you know, all three of them are holding contests to celebrate their book releases, so you might want to pay them a visit to see what they're giving away. And don't forget to tell them happy book birthday!!

Voices in my Head

“Whose voice do you hear in your head when you read?”

My husband looked up from the book he was reading to ask me the question.

“It depends on what I’m reading,” I replied. "If it's the newspaper, I hear my voice. Or sometimes I guess I hear Charlie Gibson or Robin Roberts. If I'm reading a book, I usually hear a different voice for each character."

"Oh...so you hear multiple voices in your head." He laughed. "Why am I not surprised?"


Well...doesn't everyone? Not only do I have the voices, I've got the full visual of where they are, the weather, the home, the terrain...even when the author doesn't give me all those details. My brain fills it in and creates these vibrant scenes.

I distinctly remember reading Savvy and giving Mibs the voice of Cherry Jones. I've only heard her before on the audio book version of Because of Winn Dixie. But her lovely drawl seemed perfect for Mibs.

It's not often that a character in a book brings to mind a well known person or place. Usually I create my own voices, my own visuals. I guess that's why most movies based on books are sorely lacking for me. Hollywood can't match my settings or my special effects. Or my voices.

And it's not just when I read. I've got multiple voices going when I write, as well. I mean, if they were all my voice, wouldn't that be kind of boring? (Not to mention WEIRD since I write middle grade!)

What about you? Do you hear characters voices when you read and/or write? Or should I be telling this to my therapist?