Inspy Romance

Inspy Romance—Fall in Love With a Good Book

Silly Settings!

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Sandwich-cover_rbgI remember the exact moment I dreamt up the VERY big picture idea for the novel that would become my first published book.

I was sitting at my in-laws kitchen table, and we were talking about me starting to dabble in writing. I’d finished my first novel, but it was–rough. Let’s just leave it at that. But I wanted to see if I was more than just a “I wrote a book” writer–if I could write *gasp* TWO books.

I joked around that I should write a series about sandwiches. They all looked at me funny, but then I explained that I was born in the small town of SANDWICH, Illinois, and how hilarious would a book be set in the town of Sandwich?

We all laughed and made funny jokes about the crazy idea, but it wouldn’t get out of my head.

I wrote romance with a splash of humor.

How could I NOT write a story in my hometown of Sandwich?!?

At the time, there was a series being published by Summerside Press called “Love Finds You” —

I could TOTALLY see a “Love Finds You in Sandwich, Illinois.”

Well, by the time I finished it, Summerside wasn’t publishing Love Finds You books anymore, and another publisher was interested in my sandwich romance novel. And thus, Sandwich, with a Side of Romance was birthed! (Which is comical considering there is also a Conception, MO, but I’m not gonna be the author to touch that one!)

So I thought we’d chat about fun named settings that you have seen a romance novel set in (or would like to see a book set in!)

One of my “to-be-published” books has a section of the book set in Embarrass, Minnesota, a tinier than tiny town in North Minnesota. And yeah, the girl who lives there is VERY embarrassed about something (and of course it is ALL the hero’s fault!)

So it’s your turn! Give me your BEST town name setting!

Krista Phillips (49 Posts)

Krista Phillips writes inspirational romance with a dash of smiles. She believes a sprinkle of laughter (and a wee bit of chocolate) makes everything a little better! She blogs regularly about life as a wife, mother, follower of Jesus, and mother of a child with a rare congenital heart defect at www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by Sarah Freese of WordServe Literary.


Comments

  1. I read Sandwich With a Side of Romance when it was released and I really enjoyed it, Krista. I love the setting of Embarrass, Minnesota. I’ll need more coffee to come up with something as clever. :)

  2. So, living relatively near Amish country in Lancaster, PA, there are some town names that make us giggle when we drive through (I know, I know, it’s immature. But I dare you to see a huge sign that says “Welcome to Intercourse” and not snicker like a 12 year old.) But that’s kinda like Conception — not gonna be the author to touch that one. In tamer names, there’s Bird-in-Hand, PA which I’ve always thought was fun…and might make an interesting story about a girl who didn’t want to settle.

  4. Creating a story around town names seems fun. Unfortunately I can’t recall any fun names from where I live in Upstate NY. All towns around here have Greek names.

  5. I enjoy learning about little towns with funny names. I always laughed over Intercourse, Pennsylvania too, as it is in an Amish/Mennonite area. I always wondered how it got its name.

  6. Fun idea to write stories. Wished I had thought of the idea for when I was teaching high school creative writing.

    Funny town names in Michigan are Hell (in the lower peninsula) and Paradise (in the upper peninsula). Lots of jokes to go with the names, not sure if these villages are used as settings in books.

    Several years ago on our way to Mt. Rushmore, there is a town called Black Cloud, South Dakota. As Midwesterners we did not see the connection until our return trip when all of the sudden the road turned black – almost like an eclipse – a black cloud over the expressway. It seemed toward dusk the name was appropriate.

    Thanks for sharing.

  8. I loved that Love Finds You line, too! I can’t remember now what some of the place names were that I was tossing around. My agent and I did submit one proposal for the line after they released the historical set in Prince Edward Island. My agent offered them three place names in Western Canada: Banff, Whistler, and Victoria, and they asked to see a proposal set in Victoria. By the time I handed it in, they’d switched from monthly releases to quarterly, and about a year (?) later they shut down the line completely.

    I did write that novel and someday will release it as Petals and Pedals with a new series set on Vancouver Island. Not in 2016-17 though!

    Also, I loved Sandwich!

  9. I can’t think of a funny one, but I did set a series in Leavenworth, WA. Most people think prison not romance when they see that town name. But the town us quaint and beautiful. Nothing at all like the prison. That is so famous.

  10. I lived in Blueberry Creek, on the hill, so people sang to me, “I found my thrill, on Blueberry Hill…”

  13. In The Cat Who books, there are numerous humorous names for towns, including Brrr. Love Sandwich!

  14. What a fun post! How about Surprise, Arizona? That’s an interesting one.

  19. I know wikipedia is NOT a source of accurate information per say, but it has some interesting tidbits on the name (and also that they have a problem with thieves stealing their sign because of its suggestive name… and they also get a lot of tourism from it, LOL)

  20. Unrelated, but in a town I used to live in, there was a family with the last name of Hell. On their mailbox they had in large letters written, “HELL.” I’m trying not to giggle at the thought of the Hell’s moving to Hell and being the Hells from Hell. Sorry, that is bad. I couldn’t help myself!

  22. Ah yes, about the time I was done editing the book is when the line started to fizzle. I also had decided even before that that I wasn’t sure my writing would fit the line anyway, and God knew there were other things in store for Sandwich!

  26. Texas is obviously THE place for cool named towns!!!

    Idaho is the place for cool named streets. My aunt and uncle used to live there, I believe on “Chicken dinner road” and there was also a “frozen dog road”… very odd indeed!

  29. The town gets a lot of jokes and ribbing, but it’s a nice little town and the people are protective of their little town.

  30. Shanna Hatfield has a book set in Holiday, but I don’t know if it’s actually a town or not. It may be a fictional town. The book is the start of a series called Holiday Brides. Thought that was fun.

  31. How about Strawberry Fields! Sounds sweet and earthy and romantic, all at the same time!!!

  32. How fun! I have never been to to the US, so it was fun to read about some interesting place names, have to wonder who/how they were named. Here we have towns named Grong Grong, Dum Dum, Woop Woop, Dumbleyung and Poowong to name a few. Most had a connection to the indigenous language, but we have a giggle.

  33. We have several real city names here in Oregon, some are so small that if you blink you’ll miss them! And don’t even get me started on HOW to pronounce some city names with Indian origins…haha!

    Boring, OR
    Drain, OR
    Remote, OR
    Umpqua, OR (famous ice-cream too!)
    Clakamas, OR
    Brothers, OR / Sisters, OR
    ZigZag, OR

    Just to name a few! I went on to a website called “really weird place names” for Oregon and there are many, many more listed. If it’s ok to include this link, you can see some other ones!
    http://reallyweirdplacenames.blogspot.com/2013/09/oregon.html

  34. Leavenworth WA is a Austrian themed town at the foot of the Cascade Mountains. And you’re right Kimberly, people automatically assume you are talking about the prison. So whenever I mention that my husband and I went there for two of our anniversary trips, I always say the town NOT the prison….we get a good laugh out of it!
    It is quaint, all the shop workers dress up in the traditional Austrian (German) costumes. I think the two shops I very much enjoyed was the one that sold cuckoo clocks and the one that sold sausage/meats…all authentic, of course. Those clocks were to intricate, I wanted to take one home but they were pretty pricey! They also hold traditional dances and festivals during the year. If you ever get a chance to go, it’s such a neat place. You can’t beat the mountains looming in the background either :-)

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