In her book, "How to Write Romances," Phyllis Taylor Pianka encourages writers to use "exotic locations" to further the romantic element in their books. By exotic, she means "a bigger-than-life setting such as a castle on the Rhine, or any place that has a touch of the extraordinary."
So, following her professional advice, I set my newly-finished, romantic suspense novel in Craigdarroch Castle on beautiful Vancouver Island. It's where my husband and I went for our nineth wedding anniversary, and I thought it was "romantic."
However, while castles, to me, epitomize "romance," I believe there are many exotically romantic places writers can use as settings. For instance, my next novel will take my protagonist to a secluded estate in the Austrian Alps, but some of my favorite, romantic, LDS novels take place right here in Utah.
What places do you consider romantic? Please leave your answers as a comment. We ALL want to know!
5 comments:
I know I'm strange, but to me, the setting can be anywhere. It's what happens there that makes it romantic or not. I can have a really good argument with my husband in a nice restaurant, but when we're united and the feelings of love are flowing, we can be in a grocery store and suddenly it's the most romantic place in the world.
I love the outdoors and so I think it's romantic to be in a little cabin in the woods or in a cabana on the beach, or walking through a meadow. Really, anywhere that you can get away from the loudness of life is romantic.
The most romantic spot? Anywhere that doesn't remind me of housework and weeds. For some reason dirty dishes, weeds, and unwashed laundry yell at me. They chastize me for ignoring them, and I can't hear the soft strains of romance over their vile intrusions.
Specific places? 1) Snowbird--lovely condos, great outdoor activities, beautiful hikes, and more! 2) Anywhere within sight of a beach.
[Question: Why in the world do weeds yell at me to be pulled? Don't they know they'll end up at the landfill or, worse, burn plant? You'd think they'd rather go on growing in silence, spewing forth their abundant seeds and propigating all over my garden, squeezing out my zuchini and tomato plants. . . . Oh, and before you get too worried about me, rest assured that the doctos say my sanity has a 50-50 chance of returning sometime within the next 40 years.]
I was born and raised in Victoria!
And the first time I went to Craigdarogh (sp?) castle was last year.
And I love castles. It just took me over 40 years to see it.
Mind you, when I was living there it was a Music Academy.
I agree with Tristi. Even doing the dishes together counts.
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