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.

Writer's Retreat - The Wrap Up

It seems like forever since I've blogged, but I guess it's only been a couple weeks. Two weeks ago today, I was exploring Copper Harbor, Michigan, eating muffins as big as my head made by a sect of Orthodox monks who live on the shore of Lake Superior, hanging with some of my best friends and writing my fingers off on a couple new stories.

There is something amazing about hanging for a whole week with other writers. We have the best conversations, we spur each other on with word count, we help each other through plotting problems and we laugh so hard our faces and stomachs hurt. It's pretty much heaven.

Getting back to reality is tough, but I know exactly where I'll be next year and it's going to be equally amazing. These are some shots of some of the personalities of Lake Superior and the Lake Superior shoreline - my constant writing companions that week and a huge source of my inspiration.

Please join us and share your inspiration on the Thursday's Children blog hop!

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Thursday's Children - Writers Retreat

In a day and a half, I'll be leaving for my favorite place with some of my favorite people. Some dear friends and fellow writers and I will be heading about 400 miles north to Lake Superior. We're renting a house right on the eastern side of the Keweenaw Peninsula and we'll be writing our little hearts out, laughing our butts off and drinking wine.

Once we reach our daily word count, we're free to explore the area, swim or heck, even nap. It's going to be glorious. We did it last year, and I'm sure we'll be doing it again next year. Before I run around like a mad woman desperately trying to finish everything I need to finish before Saturday morning, I'd like to share some pictures of our getaway.

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What I did on my summer vacation...

During the summer, I usually spend a week in Michigan's Upper Peninsula with my family. It's one of the most gorgeous places known to man - forests that go on forever, waterfalls, the Great Lakes - well, three of them, at least. It has a kind of wild beauty that I never get tired of. And as a bonus, I've met some of the nicest people on my trips, too.

This summer, I managed two weeks in the UP. And better yet, one of them was a writers' retreat. There were six of us staying on the nearly deserted shoreline of Lake Superior writing our little hearts out. It was beyond amazing. There's something so energizing about staying with a bunch of friends who have the same interest in creating stories that you do. It was like a little commune with a common goal of making as much progress as possible on our books. In addition to writing, we laughed almost constantly. My face and my stomach ached for a week after we got home just from all the laughter. It was an amazing time.

The location was especially great for me since my series is set in a small town on the shores of Lake Superior. It was like being immersed in my story world - well, you know, minus the vengeful supernatural beings.

These are a few images from the trip.