tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post2965927921471849983..comments2023-10-31T10:59:03.023-04:00Comments on INKSPOT Crime Fiction Blog | A Place for Mystery, Mayhem, Writing and Life: Mysterious SettingsLinda O. Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01512430135042480450noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-3014829614719122062012-05-24T00:54:28.326-04:002012-05-24T00:54:28.326-04:00Patg - thank you! Two new ones I don't know. ...Patg - thank you! Two new ones I don't know. On my list now!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07535695542961577318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-85527873898711627102012-05-23T11:21:05.056-04:002012-05-23T11:21:05.056-04:00The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill takes p...The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill takes place in 1970s Laos. Dr Siri is a major hoot and has a touch of paranormal, but not much. The sense of humor is not to be believed. Love the whole series and all the secondary characters.<br />How about the moon? A series that is rather old, but I enjoyed, is from Larry Niven. The Long Arm of Gil Gerard. A detective on the moon after is is settled, and he lost his arm, but like a ghost, the arm is still there.<br />PatgPatghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01046665022709722606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-62163641985952828872012-05-22T19:02:30.431-04:002012-05-22T19:02:30.431-04:00Love that Indiana has a pickle fest ... Thanks for...Love that Indiana has a pickle fest ... Thanks for the glimpse into a state I don't know much about.Deborah Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01575491644343480392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-84931468778240454032012-05-22T18:38:42.610-04:002012-05-22T18:38:42.610-04:00Reader John Chobot sent me this recommendation pri...Reader John Chobot sent me this recommendation privately, and said I could post it: "You should try Arnaldur Indridason's series set in Iceland. The stories (novels, not shorts) grab you and won't let go, and the characters are real, no heroes or villains. First rate writing. And Iceland is very much one of the characters." Thanks, John!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07535695542961577318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-13172961387285202062012-05-22T18:37:58.642-04:002012-05-22T18:37:58.642-04:00Thanks, Terry - I agree!Thanks, Terry - I agree!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07535695542961577318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-76249751813454659192012-05-22T15:57:00.587-04:002012-05-22T15:57:00.587-04:00Both of Lisa Brachman's novels could serve as ...Both of Lisa Brachman's novels could serve as tutorials on setting. ROCK PAPER TIGER is set in Beijing. I felt as if I had lived there after I read the book. GETAWAY does the same thing for Puerta Vallarta. I've been there, and she nailed it.Terry Shameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07202071611825887999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-70362853652060910352012-05-22T15:28:10.952-04:002012-05-22T15:28:10.952-04:00I lived in Fort Wayne, IN, for a few years so it&#...I lived in Fort Wayne, IN, for a few years so it's not "unusual" to me. My mystery novel is set in Southern Indiana (Evansville). Personally I loved to see books set anywhere besides New York City. Nothing wrong with NYC but it's so overused. I hope you work the Amish into your series, as they're a common sight in Northern Indiana.<br />Sally CarpenterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-42548991859288920872012-05-22T15:25:14.721-04:002012-05-22T15:25:14.721-04:00Leighton, thanks for posting the links. Obviously ...Leighton, thanks for posting the links. Obviously I barely touched the possibilities! Links are good, book/author mentions are good....Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07535695542961577318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-83590120000482275972012-05-22T14:07:35.013-04:002012-05-22T14:07:35.013-04:00Great post on settings, Sheila! I, too, am a fan o...Great post on settings, Sheila! I, too, am a fan of Alexander McCall Smith's series. Many readers tell me that they view the whitewater river setting of my RM Outdoor Adventures series for Midnight Ink as another character of the series, and Salida, Colorado, locals tell me that I "got it right."Beth Groundwaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13999372882748655834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-56536588038310983522012-05-22T13:32:39.896-04:002012-05-22T13:32:39.896-04:00Hi Sheila,
You might like to check on these two b...Hi Sheila,<br /><br />You might like to check on these two blogs, both maintained by "international" authors whom you haven't mentioned:<br /><br />http://www.internationalcrimeauthors.com/<br /><br />and (my own)<br /><br />http://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/<br /><br />We don't write about our books, or the craft of writing, but rather post about subjects of historical, cultural and human interest in the (often exotic) places in which we set our stories.<br /><br />Happy Reading!Leighton Gagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09788807904434180290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-89046921904997701622012-05-22T10:29:45.435-04:002012-05-22T10:29:45.435-04:00Lois - yes, you have the same sort of stereotypes ...Lois - yes, you have the same sort of stereotypes of place to fight as I do.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07535695542961577318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-82829906696214141092012-05-22T10:26:10.086-04:002012-05-22T10:26:10.086-04:00Jim, that's certainly one approach! I suspect,...Jim, that's certainly one approach! I suspect, though, that real places inform the creation of made-up places, just real people inform the attributes we give to made-up characters. As I read your comment (which makes me want to fly off to one of those fantastical places!) I think of Dune. Made up? Sure. But based in considerable detail on the deserts and desert cultures of North Africa and the Arab Middle East. <br /><br />A thought on getting places right and wrong: I think that if we're careful to present a place as the characters experience it, we're pretty safe. Let's face it - no two people experience any place in quite the same way. <br /><br />Interesting subject for sure! Thanks for commenting.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07535695542961577318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-44440495613271240732012-05-22T10:01:21.747-04:002012-05-22T10:01:21.747-04:00I set my current series in an actual town in NJ be...I set my current series in an actual town in NJ because it's so much easier to remember locations that way. Like you, I also did so in part to dispel the misconceptions so many people in other parts of the country have about the state. I'd love to send Anastasia somewhere exotic. That way I could travel to the place to do research, and it would be a tax deduction. :-) Unfortunately, the only way Anastasia is going to get to Paris or Tahiti is if she wins the lottery, and if that happens, the series would have to end. So for now, Anastasia is staying put.Lois Winstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01866423986250423199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-23041964112807668422012-05-22T09:51:14.065-04:002012-05-22T09:51:14.065-04:00An awful lot of the books I read have settings tha...An awful lot of the books I read have settings that simply do not exist. Oz, Middle Earth, Hogwarts ... And when it comes to writing, pretty much the same thing happens. A spaceship loaded with witches lands on a planet of the star Eta Cassiopeia, and damned if they don't name the planet "Oz"! Even the stories set on Earth are usually in some totally made-up city or town ... once in a great while I'll use a real setting, but I'm writing about the people and their actions, I'm <b>not</b> writing a travelogue of NYC or Orlando or wherever ... unless it has a great bearing on the plot of the story. To get a real setting right, unless it's someplace I am intimately familiar with, is a lot of work, and if I get it wrong I'm going to get slammed, so best to just avoid the problem.Jim Hartleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08033770381343017153noreply@blogger.com