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I would never advise someone sending a young woman off into a dark and abandoned building, by herself, without ever letting anybody know that she’s there … simply because they’re trying to make it big, bad and scary. Because, readers read that and they roll their eyes and go, “Seriously?” — Taylor
In this week’s episode, we discuss the process Taylor uses for selecting the right setting for her books and some of the memorable scenes in those books. Of course, Taylor’s books are different than yours, so she provides plenty of advice for books that aren’t tied to exotic locations the way her Munroe series is.
First, we get into the geographic settings for a story, discussing why Taylor chose Japan as the setting for THE MASK and how her research trip to Japan helped to develop the storyline for the book.
Then we get into some of the specifics of selecting scene settings, including her desire to use a Hostess Club as the setting for some crucial scenes in THE MASK.
We discuss some of Steve’s favorite scene settings in the Munroe series and consider the value of using recurring scenes in series fiction. We use the Alexandra Cooper series from Linda Fairstein as an example of great use of recurring scene settings.
How do you listen to podcasts?
About half of you listen using the podcast app on the iPhone, but what about those of us using Android? Taylor and Steve discuss Steve’s favorite Podcast App for Android, which is Podcast Addict. (Available free at the Google Play store.)
Steve has been using the app for the past year, but Taylor, who is holding her phone in the picture to the left, is a recent convert. She installed Podcast Addict as her first ever podcast app soon after we recorded this episode.
How do you listen to show? Let us know in the comments below.
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Creative Commons Image via werner22brigitte
Hey! I listen to the show while programming at work. I used to use iTunes as the aggregator and player, synced to my iPod for listening in the car, but I found that I had too many podcasts! So I split a bunch of them off (all the writing & entertainment ones) so I could use a different app capable of playing them at greater speed. So I use gPodder (aggregator) and VLC (player) on my MacBook to download and listen at 1.77x so I can get through more podcasts quicker. 🙂
Love the show. A friend of mine pointed me at it about 25 episodes in and after I got caught up, I’ve been listening “live,” as it were.
Hey, Gary! Thanks for letting us know how you listen. I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone who used VLC to listen to podcasts before 😉 Thanks for the pro-tip on listening to podcasts at higher speeds!
The only problem is, if I ever meet either of you, I’ll think you’re talking extremely slow. 🙂
Thanks so much for stopping by, Gary! So excited to get your comment, wheeee! And I dunno, I might actually be able to keep up with that high-speed in real life. I talk waaaay too fast >.<
Shirley Jackson does a pretty good job setting the scene: “No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.” Bwa-ha-ha!
A seriously good job of setting a scene in a single paragraph! Thanks, Bruce.
That scene is so enviously, beautifully done. Thank you for sharing it.
Great show! Lively and animated.
Question for Taylor: how did you meet Vanessa/Michael? How did she introduce herself to you? (Creative – not literal)
Thank you so much, Bev, and thank you also for taking the time to comment! So happy to hear from you 🙂 As far as how I first met Vanessa, really it was a slow introduction in which she evolved over time through many drafts as I learned to write and as the story took shape. In some ways, even though she’s lived in my head for so long now, each new book allows me to learn her anew in much the same way.
Really enjoyed the podcast today. It was my first one. Looking forward to catching up on the rest of the programs and meeting Taylor in October at the Nebraska Writers Guild Fall Conference!
So excited you found the show, Mari! Thank you for stopping by to leave a comment! And woot, how cool that you’ll be at the Fall Conference. I’m so looking forward to it, and looking forward to meeting you, too 🙂