I’ve known Jamie Denton for over a decade. We first met on CompuServe as members of one of the first online chapters of RWA. She was an inspiration to me then and even more so now. Check out this golden nugget I swiped from her webpage:

“Not only have her books appeared on bestseller lists, but she is also the recipient of several notable reader and reviewer’s choice awards, including nominations for Best Harlequin Temptation and Best Harlequin Blaze from Romantic Times, back-to-back RITA nominations and a National Readers’ Choice Award nomination for Best Erotic Romance.”

Needless to say, girlfriend’s been busy. :woot:

And now, here’s Jamie!

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Location! Location! Location!

There’s a joke about that line, but I’ll be darned if I can remember what it is. I do know location is important when you’re talkin’ real estate. And I suppose location is important, too, for movie makers. In the case of the latter, the location can be as important to the film as a main character.

For me, location hasn’t always been all that important when it comes to crafting stories. I’ve set many of my stories in the Los Angeles area because I lived there for the first 35 years of my life and knew Southern California like the back of my hand. I knew the freeways, the back alley ways, which beaches had what. I’m quite proud of the fact that there wasn’t a shopping mall in three counties I hadn’t shopped.

But then we moved. We relocated to the middle of nowhere and I was told that no one wants to read a book set in the middle of nowhere (although I did manage to set at least one book in North Dakota). For the most part, I relied on memory, and if I wanted to set a story in a place I’d never been, I called on friends who lived there, travel books, and the AAA’s free publications. Finally the Internet exploded and it became much easier to soak up the characteristics of certain locations without even having to leave the comfort of my office. These days I do get out of my office more, thank heavens, but that’s another blog post for another day

When I was preparing to write DEAD STOP, I wanted a college town with a small town feel. I wanted the residents to know each other, I wanted them bonded by their shared histories. Serenity Heights, a town where nothing bad ever happens, was going to be a fictional town, but I really wanted a “model” that I could play with and mold to suit my own needs. One of my plotting partners suggested Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. Even better, I could actually visit the town since it was within driving distance.

I was thoroughly enchanted by Oberlin, by its rich history and the friendliness of the few residents I came in contact with. I knew from the moment I stepped out of my car and walked down Main Street that Oberlin would make the perfect Serenity Heights, that safe little fictional town where nothing bad ever happens — that safe little fictional town that I was planning to terrorize.

Currently I’m trying to nail the setting of my next romantic suspense. I’ve yet to set the actual location of the book, but I do know this one requires a big city. Any suggestions?