I’ve been writing about how I choose settings for my novels, and I’ve also been sharing about how I come up with my characters’ hometowns for their back stories. For this post, I’m writing about my character Dylan Conner’s background in Boone, North Carolina.
Dylan is the hero of my novel Going Up South. (You can see more about that novel here.) He’s a famous actor who has changed his last name at some point, like many actors. But his reasons go deeper than just acting. Though he only visits his hometown briefly in the story, I had to know him and where he came from to understand his life and motivation. When imagining these fictional lives, I use real places that I have visited. In this case, I picked a beautiful town in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I chose this sight because my family had taken a vacation there with friends many years before. It was one of our few mountain vacations, and I have wonderful memories of our time there!
As you can see, we were much younger then! I miss those times. My kids are grown now. Our trip included a lot of hiking, picnicking, playing in cool mountain streams, and simply sitting on the deck taking in the natural beauty.
We also enjoyed the general store and a little amusement park in the area near a town called Blowing Rock. My character, the actor Dylan, grew up poor in these mountains, because his father caused a scandal that soured him on love or trust.
One of my favorite parts of writing is reliving places I’ve been. I’m sure Boone has changed in the two decades since we’ve visited, but I pull out the photo albums or social media posts and smile at the memories.
Do you have a favorite place in the mountains?
Beautiful photos! My favorite mountain place is the Catskills in NY…. sigh
I love being the NW GA and NE AL mountains, as that’s where my extended family is. However, I really like the Ridgecrest area of NC, too!!
I have family members who live in western NC and I enjoy taking in the scenery when I visit them.
Oh, that sounds beautiful!
Hi Trudy! We visited Mentone in North Alabama last year! It was amazing!
It is beautiful!
Just visited Boone and Blowing Rock. We drove the Blue Ridge Parkway. We live in PA and we like to visit Wellsboro, PA. The have the Grand Canyon of PA there.
That’s awesome! I’d love to go back! I need to find a time to go up to PA! Sounds amazing!
When I was in Canada I stayed with a friend in Pemberton BC not far from Whistler. It was so beautiful. it was in a valley surrounded by mountains (on all sides). It was lovely looking at the mountains each day. Then up at Whistler right at the top it was so breathtaking that photos don’t do it justice and words really are not enough to say how awe-inspiring it is.
As a kid we use to go on holiday in Victoria where mum grew up and would go to the Grampians for day trips on most trips and that was always fun. (even getting lost due to people turning signs around on New Years Eve).
Boone is beautiful. My parents live nearby in Tennessee.
Oh, I just looked that up! It is beautiful!
All of that area is so lovely!
I prefer the coast to the mountains.
Lovely pictures though.
In the West, Lake Yellowstone in Yellowstone Park, Wyoming, and in the East, Cades Cove in Tennessee, but I’ve not explored the east side of the country as much. So many beautiful places.
I grew up in an area of rolling hills in upstate New York. The scenery and vistas are beautiful. Within a couple of hours drive from there are the Adirondack mountains. Though I have only been in that area a few times, I found it to be stunning. It has mountain lakes and evergreens as far as the eye can see.
I have visited western NC once but not to visit the local towns. Everything I have read and heard about the area has seemed very appealing, though.
Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures.
I live in the hills, not the mountains, but I do love our hills of Pennsylvania.
What fabulous memories. My cousin lives off of Skyline Drive in Harrisonburg, Virginia. My Mom was born and raised in the Thomas/Davis/Canaan Valley area in West Virginia. As a child, we would spend at least the last two weeks of August at the family homeplace along with a lot of my relatives. Such wonderful memories.
I have cousins who live off of Skyline Drive in Harrisonburg, Virginia. My Mom was born and raised in the Thomas/Davis/Canaan Valley area of West Virginia. We would spend at least the last two weeks there every year when I was a child. We would have a wonderful time with other relatives. It always ended up being a family reunion. What wonderful memories you shared. Thank you. God bless you.
I live on the Oregon coast and Mt. Hood area is beautiful….though I’ve not actually been on the mountain. My husband and I also traveled to the Olympic National park in WA state where we drove up the mountain years ago on one of our early anniversaries. I have a picture of me standing on the snow with the mountain range behind me. Absolutely breathtaking!
The other place was when we visited Leavenworth WA at the foot of the Cascade mountain range. I could never get tired of seeing them out my front door, that’s for sure!
Hi, yes, I love going to Cloudcroft , New Mexico and staying a cabin in the mountains, it is very beautiful there. Thank you for sharing your photos and your beautiful memories. Have a Great 4th of July and stay safe. God Bless you and your family.
I’ve not been there! It sounds perfect! Happy 4th! God bless you too!
I’ve always wanted to go there!! Those areas are on my wish list! I’d love to see the pic!
What great memories you have too! That sounds so special! God bless you too!
I saw those a long, long time ago. I remember the rolling green hills though!
Wow! I don’t normally think of New York for mountains. That area sounds great!
Your welcome! Thanks for the info!
I just went to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone! It’s amazing there! Gut I don’t think this Mississippi girl could handle the winter! Tennessee is very pretty. We’ve been to that area fairly often. :) Yes, so much to see in this world!
I do love the beach so much, Mary!!
I live in the mountains of British Columbia, which is definitely my favorite mountain place!
I’d love to come visit you!!
So many great places in California, hard to choose one :)
There is so much to see there! I love the view in Malibu!