Setting matters a lot to me and, I think, readers. A powerful sense of place is especially important in a story. If the reader feels like a part of the world on the page, it’s easier to get swept along with the characters and the plot.

I tend to utilize physical touchstones, actual locations that mirror the places where my books are set. Most of them are near my home in Indiana, but I have utilized other places to which my family and I have traveled. For example…

My wife’s sister lives in Santa Rosa; therefore, my novel THE SORROWS (and its sequel CASTLE OF SORROWS) takes place partially in Santa Rosa (and mainly on an island off the coast of California).

We frequently travel to Chicago, so my novella EXORCIST ROAD and my May 2016 novel EXORCIST FALLS are both set in that fascinating city.

Over the past two summers, we’ve vacationed in Virginia for the amazing Scares That Care conventions, so after I finish up with my current works-in-progress (EXORCIST FALLS and THE DARK GAME), I’ll be writing a ghost story that takes place near the lovely and eerie Rappahannock River titled THE SIREN AND THE SPECTER.

Anywho…

The novel SAVAGE SPECIES (and part of its already-finished and soon-to-be-officially-announced prequel CHILDREN OF THE DARK) is set in a fictional state park called Peaceful Valley. Though I obviously take many liberties with it in my novels, there is a real inspiration for Peaceful Valley. It’s called Prophetstown State Park, and you can find it about fifteen minutes from my front door.

Soon I’ll be sharing some pictures of Prophetstown so you can see for yourself the playground that helped spawned the brutal action/horror sequence that takes place early in SAVAGE SPECIES, as well as a host of other locations that made their way into the novel.

That’s all for now. Gotta go edit EXORCIST FALLS…