A Few Thoughts on Setting

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After four years, I’m still a relative newcomer here. Some of the foods seem strange to me. Some of the words and phrases sound like a foreign language. But while I’m still finding my footing in my new state, I realize there’s an awful lot to love.

So when it came to creating a setting for my new novel, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that it would be set in Southern Ohio.

Just a disclaimer — the novel is not set in the city I live in. It’s not set in any specific small Ohio city. And yet, it is set in all of them.

When Frankie Bonetti relocates to Port Arthur, Ohio, she discovers many things that delight her; down-home family diners and cute shops to poke around in. She finds beautiful churches, and places to get amazing cups of coffee. Her new Main Street is charming, complete with a renovated 1930s theater.

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As she settles into her fixer upper, she finds that people are neighborly in Port Arthur. They are the kind of people who bring each other hot meals and sometimes kittens. They are loyal beyond belief to their sports teams. And while they have their differences, there is a prevailing sense that they are all in it together.

While the same can be said for small cities all across the nation, there’s something about Ohio that just seems so All-American. Far from the perfect town, Port Arthur represents every town, and the struggles of its people are the struggles of people everywhere. Frankie’s old house is my old house, and it’s your old house, too.

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As strange as it may seem, fictional people and their towns have to be more real than those in real life. So in striving to create a real story with real people, I needed a real setting.

And life doesn’t get much more real than here.