Finding the Right Setting for Eventide

I’ve lived in Michigan all my life, and there’s no shortage of natural beauty here – rolling hills, endless forests, ridiculous numbers of inland lakes, and we’re surrounded by the Great Lakes which are huge and unpredictable with their rip currents and freak weather patterns. They’re basically freshwater seas and at times, just as dangerous as the oceans – especially Lake Superior.

It can go from a serene glass-like surface to twenty-three foot waves in virtually no time at all. Once, while driving around the lake, I found myself caught in the midst of an autumn storm on my way to see my boyfriend. The waves were so insane; they were washing over the road and had already pulled someone’s car into the lake. I had to time it just right to pass through that stretch of road without getting sucked into the water. Shortly after I made it through, the road was shut down and declared impassible. Definitely not my smartest move to keep driving, but I did. Because boyfriend.

I set Eventide on the shores of my favorite lake, in the nearly-fictional town of Iron Falls, Michigan. I use the term “nearly-fictional” because it’s based on one of my favorite small towns – Munising, Michigan. I don’t live there, but I’ve visited there nearly every year since I was a kid. If you’ve ever been there, you might recognize the high school on the shores of the lake, or the glass-bottom boat shipwreck tour, or the sudden fogs and brutal storms.

I did make some changes. For instance, Iron Falls has a lighthouse where Munising doesn’t. Iron Falls also has a host of soul-sucking homicidal faeries that haunt the surrounding woods looking for hapless humans, and, as far as I’m aware, Munising does not.

One of the reasons I decided to set Iron Falls on Superior is because the lake is almost a character on its own. It can go from calm to deadly in a matter of minutes and no two days on the shore are ever the same. Even different parts of the lake on the same day are wildly different.  Its erratic nature makes it the perfect backdrop for Devon as her life spirals out of control.

I’d like to share a few photos of the lake to show you what I mean about it having it a different personality depending on the day. Unfortunately, I can’t find my stormy lake pictures, but, amazing nature photographer, Steve Brimm, agreed to share one of his photos for this blog tour.  I think you’ll see what I mean about the lake being completely different on any given day.

And I’d like to think you’ll get a feel for the lake within the pages of Eventide.