Places that Inspire – Isle of Skye

Today, I’m holding my latest anthology, Secrets Volume 29 Indulge Your Fantasies (which contains my novella Beast in a Kilt,) in my hands for the first time. Definitely a thrill! So I wanted to talk about the place that inspired one of the settings.

One of the most important parts of writing most fiction is bringing your setting to life for the reader. Even if you’ve never been to a place and you’re writing about it, you must find a way to bring in specific detail to transport the reader. You can do this through research, reading detailed travelogues of people who have visited the place and looking at photos. But the best way remains to visit the place.

In my historical paranormal erotic romance novella, Beast in a Kilt, the heroine lives on the west coast of the Scottish mainland, one of the most breathtaking places in Scotland (there are many, of course, but this is one of my favorites.)

My visit to Isle of Skye, especially the northwestern portion of the Trotternish Peninsula, is actually the inspiration for the heroine’s home. To show what it's like, I want to share photos and an excerpt from my novella. In this scene, the heroine is searching for her shape-shifting selkie older brother. (A selkie is a seal shape-shifter.)

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She threw on her fur-trimmed, black woolen cloak, slipped down the back servants’ stair and headed toward the rocky shore of the North Atlantic. She glanced back at the five-story tower house perched on a cliff above the sea, hoping no one saw her. The harsh sea wind yanked at her cloak and ankle-length, belted plaid arisaid. She tucked them tighter about her as she descended. Shivering, she inhaled the familiar scent of brine and fish. A touch of rain hissed through the air, wetting her face.

Gazing first north, then south along the jagged shoreline, she saw naught but gray boulders and seawater reflecting gray sky. Mist wreathed the mountains and islands in the distance. Nothing moved but the white-capping waves, thundering against the crags, and the screeching birds, darting this way and that. No seals to be found lounging on rocks.

“Brodie!” She picked her way among the large stones and called out again. Nothing. “Blast!” He was no doubt having a grand old time. And she was being bartered off to a barbaric beast. She stumbled along the narrow trail to the cave her brother sometimes used and stepped inside.

“Brodie?” Her voice echoed, but no response. Empty, dark and dank. Less appealing than the unfriendly weather. She returned outside. “Brodie, get your arse back here, damn you! And take responsibility for the clan. I need your help!” Wind tore at her clothing and chilled her to the bone. The rain fell harder, stinging her eyes. It was turning into a gale.
Nicole North - Beast in a Kilt, Secrets Volume 29 Indulge Your Fantasies

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What I tried to do here is put the reader into the setting (the landscape and weather) via the heroine. As the heroine experiences the setting, so does the reader. One of my favorite things about this setting is the islands in the distance, the Outer Hebrides, including Isle of Lewis, and the way the mist lurks about them. It is very enchanting and mystical.

What is one of your favorite settings that you've written about and how did you research it?

Beast in a Kilt: Scottish lady Catriona MacCain has loved Torr Blackburn, a fierce Highland warrior, since she was a young lass, but Torr only sees Catriona as his best friend’s little sister. When Catriona’s family promises her in marriage to a detestable chieftain, she desperately needs Torr to save her from a fate worse than death. But Torr is under the spell of a witch of the dark arts and is cursed to spend his nights as a kelpie water demon. He doesn’t believe himself worthy of the virginal Lady Catriona. However, she is determined to seduce Torr and claim him… body, heart and soul, if only they can banish the curse and defeat the enemies who have vowed to possess and enslave them both. (Release date July 25, 2010)

Nicole

http://www.nicolenorth.com/

How to Write Setting Description

By Nicole North

All writers of fiction must create descriptions of their story’s settings, obviously, or the characters will seem to float in a void. But there are good ways and bad ways to bring setting description into your story.

Remember to write description using active verbs and vivid imagery. Choose the details which are important at that moment in your story. How do you choose which details are important? Use the ones that move your story forward, the ones that give the most accurate picture in the briefest way. Don’t try too hard or go over-the-top. Sometimes subtle is powerful. Less is more. A few really strong details are far better than several weak details.

You want your writing to be rich enough in specific detail for the reader to experience it as if they were there. But not so overburdened with detail that it’s weighted down and slow-paced. Choose your details very carefully. And keep your pacing going along at a nice clip.

Have you heard the saying “God is in the details?” Or the alternate “the devil is in the details.” And still another one, “the truth, if it exists, is in the details.” This could mean a couple of different things when it comes to writing. Details give life to a story and make it real. Detail can be the spirit and life-force. Detail can be difficult because it requires more research, especially when it comes to historical settings. Specific detail makes a story richer and more believable. This is why if you (or one of your characters) are trying to tell a convincing lie, you give specifics.

This is an excerpt from one of my lessons in my upcoming workshop, Take Your Writing to the Next Level, starting Monday. Please visit my website and click on workshops to learn more.

Thanks!

Happy New Year!

www.nicolenorth.com