Today I welcome former Inspy Romance blogger Heidi Mccahan to share about her setting for Sweet Melody: A Seabrook Romance! Tell us about Seabrook! I’m always up for a great coastal setting!
Hello, Inspy Romance fans. It’s been awhile. Thank you for inviting me back.
Let’s talk about settings, shall we? As authors, we try to strike a balance between settings we’ve invented in our imaginations and real settings that appeal to romance readers. Based on my own unofficial market research, small towns continue to be quite popular among inspirational romance fans. There’s something relatable about a small-town setting, the sense of belonging the reader feels when the story is established in a tight-knit community, as well as the eclectic cast of characters who often help heroes and heroines conquer their obstacles and claim that happily ever after.
While I’m a fan of urban and small-town settings, a coastal setting gets my attention every time. Real or fictitious, if an author’s work features the coast, I’m already hooked.
In 2009, my family’s first trip to Seabrook on the coast of Washington State filled me with an indescribable sense of wonder and awe. Our friends kept talking about this new place to vacation at the beach, with adorable cottages to rent and bikes to ride and S’mores at the community fire pit every night. My sister had four kids and I had two at the time, plus our parents and husbands, so we rented a cottage and planned an adventure.
If you’re from the Pacific Northwest or you’ve visited, then you probably already know there’s a fair amount of annual rainfall. Seabrook is not far from the Hoh Rain Forest, which is part of Olympic National Park. Seabrook is situated on a huge bluff overlooking the Pacific, with a stunning view of the rugged windswept coastline that I personally can’t get enough of. This isn’t the kind of vacation where you lie still and work on your tan. In fact, you’ll more than likely want a sweatshirt to wear with your shorts and T-shirt. When there are six children involved, nobody sticks with one activity for long, anyway. My youngest is 9 and my sister’s oldest is almost 22, so the activities and interests have changed, but our love for Seabrook hasn’t. We’re going back very soon, and I can’t wait to celebrate the release of Sweet Melody in the place that inspired the story.
For me, Seabrook evokes a sense of belonging in a picturesque community, being immersed in nature, standing on the edge of the world and acknowledging just how awesome and incredible our Sovereign God truly is. He made the massive cliffs and designed the oceans and the tides, and He knows the ages of all the trees in the forest. And yet He cares about us and loves us too.
Sweet Melody is a fun, romantic summer read with a deeper message about God’s love for us. It took me a long time to learn that when God looks at us, He doesn’t see failure … no matter how many mistakes we’ve made. He loves us as we are, and yet He wants us to grow and mature in our relationship with Him and He also wants us to love others so people will want to know more about Him. While I could’ve written this book in a completely fictitious setting, creating the story felt more meaningful for me and the final result is richer because I poured my love and appreciation for this community onto the pages of this story.
About Heidi:
Heidi secretly dreamed of writing a book for most of her childhood, but a particularly painful rejection letter in middle school convinced her to tuck that dream away. Instead, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Medicine from Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington and a Master’s Degree in Athletic Training from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. After a brief career as a Certified Athletic Trainer, Heidi married her husband Steve, then she dusted off her big dream of becoming a published author and launched her first contemporary romance into the world in 2014. A huge fan of coffee, dark chocolate, and happily ever after, Heidi currently lives in North Carolina with Steve, three active boys and one amazing Goldendoodle.
GET YOUR COPY! AMAZON
Your turn: do you like to read books with fictitious settings, or do you prefer to experience real settings through the pages of a novel? Share your thoughts in the comments by 8-4-19 and one person will be randomly selected to receive an eBook copy of Sweet Melody. (Void where prohibited.)
Janet W. Ferguson is a Christy Award finalist and the FHL Readers Choice Award winning author of realistic inspirational fiction. An avid reader, she loved books so much she found a job as a librarian so she could be around them all day. Then she turned that love of story into writing faith-filled novels with characters who feel like best friends. You’ll laugh and cry as the quirky heroes and heroines chase their happily ever after. Janet and her husband live in Mississippi where they say y’all a lot, and she forces him to visit the beach as often as possible. They have two grown children, one really smart dog, and a cat that allows them to share the space. Connect with her at http://www.janetfergusonauthor.com/
Welcome Heidi. I love both fictitious and real places. Janet Tronstand’s Dry Creek comes to mind of a Fictitious place which could be real. I like real places especially in Historical fiction because I love learning about other places. I remember reading a series set at national parks and it made me want to visit. I did get to the Lincoln Memorial.
I also remember reading a book set in Maui not long after visiting and I was able to go I went there and Yes that’s just what it was like.
I have been to Washington State and Went to Near where you mentioned. Its a lovely part of America. I don’t mind seaside towns. I am 1 country hour away from several small coastal towns and we use to go on a beach picnic every year with the church in Summer. We alternated between two towns. I also had a Week’s holiday in summer at one of these towns. They were good memories.
Hi Janet and Heidi:) Heidi, I’m excited to read Sweet Melody- yay:)
I enjoy real settings- learning about a new place is always fun. It is interesting to read stories set in places I have been- to see how the author describes/interprets/presents a place, what is emphasised and so on. I don’t mind fictitious settings either and will happily read a story set somewhere made up, but there is something special about real settings.
Blessings:)
I also love small.town settings! I keep saying e would love to live in Bridgeview, the setting of Valerie Comer’s Urban Farm Fresh Romance series…
Hi Janet and Heidi! This reader is drawn to real settings, or small fictitious towns near a real city. Enjoy being an arm chair traveler! Best wishes!
Both settings are nice but I like reading about real places that you can go visit. Looking forward to reading this book!
That’s great that you are so close to coast!!
Hi Wemble,
I think I use real settings because I like to go research and making up my own might be harder, LOL!
Nice! Small town life is appealing. It seems like there would be less traffic!
I love to learn about a place through reading!
I’m always up for a road trip!
I’m not really a stickler for setting. I do prefer small town or rural, but I don’t mind even the big city as long as the characters are real and relatable. I think I personally prefer imaginary setting, unless it’s a tourist attraction I’ve been longing to visit like Rome or Paris.
Hello!! I like both, fictitious and real settings! As long as the characters seem real, with real life problems and solutions, then I’m a happy camper!! I don’t have to have a real setting to go to, as I probably wouldn’t get to go, anyway!! If we went in real life, it may spoil things for us if it didn’t meet our expectations. It could be loosely based on a real place, but doesn’t have to be, for me.
Yes, I have to have realistic characters, too!
Oh Rome! Such a wonderful city!!
Thanks for the visit, Heidi! I love the wild Pacific coast, especially Vancouver Island, just north of Washington state. Great setting for a novel :)
Wow! You’ve visited some amazing places. I’d like to see more National Parks. There a several on my bucket list. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Hi, Wemble. I like to “see” new places from the pages of a book too. Thanks for stopping by Inspy Romance today.
I love seeing your travel pic, Valerie!
I enjoy both real & fictitious settings. I thank I am find of small town settings because both my parents came from small towns (the Ozarks & northwestern Kansas) & I spent many happy vacations there.
I enjoy books set in a real place, especially if I’m familiar with it. Then I don’t have to spend time trying to figure out the geography or imagining the setting, but can focus on the action and the characters.
Good morning! I love both real and fictional settings equally. They both make me happy! Fictional, because as I read, I love to create in my mind what the setting looks like based on its description in the book. Real, because I also enjoy picturing the location, especially if it is somewhere I have been! Then I can think…oh I can picture the real life ice cream shop next door to this fictional yarn store . Or maybe the real setting is somewhere I haven’t been to, and the book inspires me to go. :)
Hi Paula Marie! I do love a small-town setting. It’s great when readers want to live inside the worlds we describe and/or invent. Such a compliment to the author!
Hi Renate! Arm chair traveler. I like that! I’m definitely one of those too.
Thanks, Joy!
Paris and Rome are definitely on my must-see list. I’m always excited when international settings are featured in a book, because then I get to “see” new places I haven’t visited yet.
Hi Trudy. Realistic, flawed characters that we can relate to are so important. I appreciate your perspective on why real settings can have some drawbacks. Thanks for commenting.
Hey, Valerie. It’s nice to be here. Thank you! Yes, “your” coastline is wild and gorgeous indeed. I hope to see Vancouver Island one day.
Hi Carol. I’m from a small town too. I think that’s why I find small-town romance novels so enjoyable to read. I’d like to see the Ozarks someday. That’s one part of America I haven’t had a chance to visit yet.
Oh, that’s very true. Thank you for visiting with us today, Margaret.
Hi, Heather! I was so happy when some of Debbie Macomber’s books were made into movies. I LOVED seeing her characters living and breathing in Cedar Cove. And I also love when a book has a map of the fictional world inside the cover, like the Mitford series, for example. Thanks for stopping by today.
That makes sense!
Good reason!
Sounds wonderful!
Welcome, Heidi. I’ve never thought that reading was an escape. I know lots of people do. I enjoy reading to experience other places and learn new things. Maybe that is escape for some.
I like both types of settings. I enjoy being swept away to an idealistic fictional small town from time to time, but it’s also neat to read about a real place and to possibly visit that place and be excited about it because of having read a book set there.
Welcome Heidi,
Actually, I like both – if it’s real and I like the setting, it goes on my bucket list to visit :)
If it’s fictional, I really enjoy to imagine along with the author ;)
Blessings!
Hi Ellie. I love when a good book sweeps me away! Thanks for commenting.
I like both too. Blessings to you, as well. Thanks for stopping by, Natalya.
I enjoy both. Thank you.
You’re welcome!
Both are good!
I do love to read and visit places!
I learn a lot when reading too!
Real settings are especially endearing when ut is someplace you know. The story is then coming alive wth your memories. Fictional places are fun, when it seems real, the author did a fantastic job!!!!
Real settings for me. It makes it want to visit these places I would never have known if it wasn’t for books.
So true!
Me, too!
Hi Heidi & Janet, I enjoy both real and fictional settings. If it’s a real setting I know, I will get frustrated if the details haven’t been researched. Google Maps, for example, is a great online resource for checking distances and travel times between real places. Congratulations, Heidi, on your new release! I love the coastal Pacific NW settings and I’m looking forward to reading Sweet Melody. :)