Angela Carlie: Setting The Stage

DarkSide Publishing Week!

 

 

There are many things I love about the Pacific Northwest. The trees, rain, waterfalls, rain, wildlife, rain, ocean beaches, rain, rivers, rain, lakes, rain, mountains, rain, desert… See a theme? Ha! Yes, there is a lot of water here, but water is the essence of life, so it’s a good thing.

Most all of my novels are set in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve lived here for thirty-something years and feel that I’m qualified enough to bring this beautiful place to life through words. After all, setting is just as important as the characters, in my opinion, and the author should know it just as well. Plus, there’s mystery in forests and dark, overcast skies. Opportunities lurk behind every tree trunk and every cloud, waiting to surprise the reader. 
In the past, books would build a world with pages of descriptions. Dickens and George Eliot are famous for this. Now, readers are in a hurry. They get bored with paragraph after paragraph of setting. It’s the author’s job to build the scene within the narration of the story. Move the story forward, yet still bring in elements of the surroundings.
Setting provides atmosphere and sets the mood. It can also be part of the conflict, the antagonist. Can you imagine Twilight by Stephanie Meyer taking place in the desert? Or Holes by Louis Sachar in a forest? The stories just wouldn’t work.
When building the setting, use all the senses. Have the characters hear the birds in the trees, the clock ticking on the wall, the water lapping on a shore. Have them smell the salt in the air, the blackberries in the sun, the smoke from a fire. And what do they see? And feel? Trickle these experiences on top of the dialogue or the actions in the perfect locations to build tension or whatever the goal may be, and a lush world will unfold without the reader even knowing.
Thank you, Tymothy, for the opportunity to post on your blog. And thanks to your readers for reading. Have a great week!

Angela, you are very welcome, and thank you for dropping by!

From DarkSide Publishing blog!

Angela writes young adult and middle grade novels. When she’s not writing, she’s playing house with her husband and son, working hard for her money as a licensed massage therapist in a chiropractic office, or escaping the ordinary through reading, hiking, kayaking and traveling. She’s somewhat of a loner who occasionally subjects herself to group settings such as her favorite writers’ groups, critique groups and outdoor concerts. Angela’s also a passionate vegetarian learning to enjoy regular exercise because she heard somewhere that exercise keeps people young.

Angela’s blog: With some very important info.

Twitter: AngelCarlie

Angela’s Work!

Dream Smashers – YA  Contemporary

Sixteen-year-old Autumn has spent her entire life worrying about others. Her ailing grandma, meth-addicted mother, and a best friend who is always in trouble. She’s spent the last few years attempting to worry less, to be carefree, without success.
Enter Evan, whose radiant attitude is an Autumn magnet. With Evan at her side, Autumn’s able to let some of her worries go as they trudge through life’s difficulties and fall for each other in the process.
A girl who no longer wants to care and a boy who cares enough for the both of them, Dream Smashers is a love story, but most of all, it’s about letting go. 
Ebook: $2.99 Amazon Amazon UK Amazon DE Barnes & Noble SmashwordsPaperback: $11.00 Amazon Paperback

Land of Corn Chips – Middle Grade Fantasy
Eleven-year-old Nate Hansen never believed in dragons before an eccentric man with a purple-feather hat kidnaps him. Spirited to the Land of Corn Chips on the back of a mechanical yellow dragon, Nate must find a way to avoid being ground into compost. His only hope of escape is to earn the friendship of the local wrestling gang and zombie kids, and to believe in a parent he no longer trusts. Land of Corn Chips is an action packed middle grade novel of approximately 100 pages.
Ebook: 99 cents  Amazon Amazon UK Amazon DE Barnes & Noble Smashwords

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