Writing Out of My Comfort Zone

HI, all! Jennifer here.

This month on the HSG blog, we’re talking travel and settings.

Settings in my romance books usually revolve around two places I love and know well: the Jersey shore and the Boston area.

I can’t help it. There is a certain amount of comfort level there.  But maybe I’m too comfortable. Maybe I’m even in a bit of a –gasp—rut.

Well, my recent trip has totally inspired me to take my next book into a completely different location: MONTANA.

I just love that area. It’s so lovely and totally different from the fast-paced lifestyle of the east coast.

Here are a few tidbits I experienced there:

1) I traveled through two towns (about 20 miles apart) and still couldn’t find an ice cream parlor.  (what the?)

2) It’s common to travel from town to town and have ZERO cell phone service. (scary)

3) There’s no sushi in or around Helena, the capital of Montana (hint, hint)

4) It was kind of hard to eat vegetarian. All I really wanted was a nice big salad. No. But plenty of hamburgers and steak and fried chicken (sigh)

5) There were a lot of biker bars (fun)

6) No chance of frizzy humidity hair head (booh-yah!)

Needless to say, I can really play these experiences up and have some fun with my heroine. It’s about time I take travel experiences and apply them to my writing.

What about you? If you’re a writer, have you been stuck in a setting rut? What setting are you dying to put your characters in?

Have you ever been to Montana?

**DON’T FORGET** The blog swag this month is a FREE digital copy of the winner’s choice from the new Decadent Tease Imprint courtesy of Clarissa Yip! Comment on any post in August to be entered to win.