Jo Lambert on Creating a Sense of Place

I love to celebrate authors who have connected with me over the years. Jo Lambert lives east of Bath, and she has written an impressive seven books. Books are a destination for readers, and Jo creates a powerful sense of place in her romantic suspense novels.  I invited Jo to tell me about the inspiration for the sense of place in her writing.

A SENSE OF PLACE – Pure imagination, reality or a little of both – what’s best for you?

As an author it’s not only about developing the plot and creating the characters, it’s also getting the setting right.  Whether you are writing a psychological thriller or contemporary romance set in the city or the suburbs – or maybe like me, using a rural/small town community – creating the perfect backdrop can occasionally throw up some problems. That is why personally I’ve always found it easier to base my fictional locations on actual places.

My first novel When Tomorrow Comes was set in rural West Somerset.  For this I used my own experiences of village life.  Of course it’s not just using familiar places, it can also include buildings such as houses, pubs and hotels. They can all be used to help the writing process.   In Summer Moved On and Watercolours in the Rain, set in South Devon village of Lynbrook, The Bull Inn is actually based on a local village pub I still visit.  Similarly Lynbrook Hall is a real place about five miles away from the pub. It was for sale while I was writing and the on line estate agent’s photographs were a bonus in helping create my fictitious manor house.

My current novels are set in Cornwall. For A Cornish Affair, I used a hotel I’d seen while staying in Richmond. It was totally right for the one central to the book which sat on a cliff overlooking a small coastal fishing village.  And for my latest novel, Shadows on the Water, I’ve taken parts of Fowey and Dartmouth and blended them into the estuary town of Kingswater.

Another useful aid is Google Map. In one of my novels my character was in Verona, a place I had visited several years before.  During her stay she had gone on walkabout in the city. Apart from The Arena and Juliet’s Balcony I had a very hazy memory of our day trip there.  Luckily Google Map came to the rescue.   It enabled me to ‘walk’ in her footsteps and describe the things she was seeing, giving the whole scene a far more authentic feel.

In the end, of course, it depends very much on individual preference. Some writers are happy to use their imagination while others set their stories in real places.  And then there are those like me who ‘borrow’, taking reality and remoulding it to suit the story they are writing.  It’s all about what works best for you really.

I also enjoy the freedom to create a new village based on places I have encountered in my travels. The place wraps itself around my characters and listens to their hopes, dreams and sadness. Jo Lambert has recently released Shadows on the Water. Set in Cornwall Shadows on the Water is a story of family ties, lost love and tangled loyalties. I look forward to visiting Jo’s destination.

More about Shadows on the Water

After the tragic death of her fiancé, Ava Warren is slowly rebuilding her life.  She has a supportive family, great friends and a job she loves, managing holiday letting company Estuary Escapes in her home town of Kingswater. Another relationship is the last thing she wants or needs. Until one evening she meets Alex Penhaligon.

Alex’s father Sam owns Heron’s Gate Vineyard and Alex has recently returned from California, where he has been working for the past five years.  A case of mistaken identity gets them off to a bad start. But discovering his error, Alex is anxious to make amends and soon persuades Ava that he’s not quite as arrogant as she thinks he is. As their friendship begins to turn into something much deeper, Ava wonders whether she can at last put the past behind her and make a new future with Alex.

But someone is watching.  A man who not only thinks Ava should be his but also holds a long term grudge against Alex.  And he’s determined to get his own way irrespective of the lengths he has to go to or who gets hurt in the process.

Social Media Links –
Website: http://jolambertbooks.com
Blog: http://jolambertwriter.blog
Twitter: @jolambertwriter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jolambert185
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jo-lambert-6 4644530
Instagram: jolambertwriter185

Please see all my guests’ posts at Mail from the Creative Community and also my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

A copy of my novel is available here.