WIP Wednesday – Building A World….

It’s WIP Wednesday! I’m sharing with you about my love of creating worlds, towns, places, communities. Also about something new I am working on. :)

For as far back as I can remember I’ve always been fascinated with worlds, towns, places, communities and what makes a family. I enjoy watching the interactions of those around me. I’m curious about all that makes worlds, towns, places or communities come together. Work, play or just become. So to those who know me or read my books it comes as no surprise that I love to create worlds, towns, places and communities. People who are families – some not by blood but by choice or circumstances. Communities that are tightly woven and you know your neighbors. Towns that you feel comfortable with and love being there. World’s for characters to inhabit and live their lives.

I’ve created many worlds, towns, places and communities. In Club Immortality series I’ve created a club where paranormal being, humans and all those in between can come and have their deepest fantasies and desires fulfilled. With Phoenix Intelligence Agency series I’ve built a world/community of beings that provide protection and some are closer than blood- literally. Nefer Investigations series is a world where agents work to protect humanity from all those things that go bump in the night, everything in between or can end the world. Blackstone Haven series is a town and community of beings and there is a family who is related by blood and others by choice. Singleton series is a town I created and has many families both by blood and choice.  who In Seductive Pursuits series is a town that I along with other authors have built on a free reads site called Satin Notes. On Satin Notes we have two towns Trescott Cove is our contemporary town and Savoy Valley is our paranormal town. They are neighboring towns and their worlds sometimes overlap. In Seductive Pursuits - my series that have some stories set in those towns there is a sense of community. A sense of people knowing who you are and those wonderful quirky things that don’t happen any place else. Zander Oaks series has idiosyncrasies, an atmosphere that makes up the town and makes you want to live there. This is the same as my various places I have created for my series.

All the worlds, towns, places and communities I’ve created or helped to create have one thing in common. People would want to live there to become a part of the fabric of the place and there are little idiosyncrasies that enhance them. Building worlds, towns, places and communities to me is fun. I love coming up with the concept of the place I want my characters to inhabit. In my opinion the worlds, towns, places or communities each has is its own character. It adds a level to the story. Gives it a texture that brings it to be more.

In my latest book I’m working on I knew I wanted to build another new world, town, place and community. A town where there are various communities. I call it my town of variety. This is a quaint seemingly idyllic town. The town is medium sized so not everyone knows each person in the town. In those communities where people know each other they help each other when needed. Neighbors get together for fun, everything in between and when there is need. In these communities there is the bookstore owner, baker, butcher or a variety of stores that people in that community frequent. There are faces in the crowd at the stores they will recognize. They are their neighbors, family or friends. They know these faces. Or so they think. In creating this town I wanted to bring to life the old adage “everything is not always as it seems”. This seemingly idyllic town and community have a lot of secrets. People on the surface may seem one way but in reality they are different.

In many discussions I’ve had with friends and family we’ve talked about the layers of people. The face if you will that people present in certain circumstances. Although many people may not realize it but there are different “faces” you use when dealing with various people. In very general terms here are a few “faces” I’ve thought of. The “professional face” is the one you present to the public to people you do business with but aren’t anything more than that. “Family/Friendly but not to close face” is one which is for those people who you are not well acquainted with but have a passing one. “Friends face” the one where you share some of your secrets, confidences and things with. “Close family/friends who are like family face” is the one where you share almost all your secrets/confidences, cry with, celebrate and so many other things. “Deepest face” is the one where all your secrets/confidences are shared, fears are exposed and all else is done. There are so many “faces” we use in our interactions.

The variety of “faces” is the general premise of what I wanted to create when I built this town. I wanted to get below the surface of who a person presents in a variety of circumstances. I’ll share more about this town as I explore it. I’m loving building a new town that people would imagine living in.