Passport to Romance
Passport to Romance
In my travels there’s been many unexpected and amazing things and the memories of those are only the beginning of the fictional adventure. From earthquakes in Hawaii to being chased by enraged water carriers in Morocco to a deep-sea fishing trip gone slightly askew in Venezuela, it all happened. While most of my trips haven’t been earth shaking adventures they are still incredible vignettes into another world.
The scenes of foreign lands play vividly through my mind long after I return home. And it is these scenes where my hapless characters land but soon it is not them but me who is hapless as they lead me through adventure after adventure.
Like my travels, a story is a passport to live in another world and in someone else’s life. But what do you love most about a story and what makes it unforgettable?
I’ve always thought that it’s character that makes a story unforgettable. One character that you remember long after you leave the book behind. As a writer you always strive for that unforgettable story and a lucky few find it.
I find that it’s setting that is the catalyst for my stories. Is that the key? What about character? I don’t know but I do know that I love the setting almost as much as my characters. In fact, in a way, it is a character. I can hear the leaves brush on an ocean breeze, feel the sharp grains of sand roll under my feet and taste the raw ocean salt that so easily blisters lips. The ocean whispers to my hero and terrifies my heroine. It’s always there lurking in the background, providing that ambience, making it real for me as I write. And it’s not just foreign lands, setting is everywhere, past, present and future. Like a nickel, five senses – seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling and smelling it all. For me that’s what takes me into a story – that nickel. And for every author that gave me a nickel’s worth of setting and more and made the journey unforgettable, I like to give something back. It might only be a nickel – I can only hope it’s more.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_HHYWMqM3w[/youtube]Ryshia Kennie
Guestauthor – You’re welcome. Good to meet a fellow traveler.
Pam – I agree – a story should be an experience and a good story always takes you somewhere else or looks at the familiar in a different way.
I love love love that an author takes me to places along with a character to love. It can be a place familiar to me or a new environment.
Love & Hugs,
Pam
OMG Ryshia, I can almost hear myself talking through your post. For me too, the setting is almost a character as unforgettable as the protagonists. Through my traveling to more than fifty countries I accumulated a wealth of settings for my stories and take my readers through armchair traveling.
Thanks for a great post.