Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

Setting Inspiration

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Today, I thought I’d take you on a tour of the real-life places that inspired the settings of my books!

I love to travel and I’ve been fortunate to visit the settings of all of my novels. However, those of you who’ve read my books may have realized that the towns I’ve created are fictional. I chose this approach for two reasons…. 1) So that I can make my town every bit as cute as my imagination desires. 2) So that no one who lives in the town can email me to tell me I got a detail wrong.

In all of my books, my characters interact with real places. I use an actual region as my backdrop. And I pinpoint my town in the location of an established town. That way, I can reference a real place if I need to check the sunset time in the middle of November, or the daily high temperature at the end of May, or the driving distance from my fictional town to a real town, etc.

The Misty River Romance Series

The Misty River series is set in the part of the Blue Ridge range situated in northern Georgia.
The town I used as Misty River’s location: Clayton, GA
Just for fun, you can take this quiz to find out which of my characters’ Blue Ridge mountain homes would suit you best!

The cabin where we stayed!
Though I positioned Misty River in Clayton because I wanted it nestled deep in the mountains, Dahlonega served as inspiration for the appearance of my fictional town.

The Bradford Sisters Romance Series

The Bradford Sisters series is set in Washington state, on the banks of the Hood Canal.
The town I used as Merryweather’s location: Union, WA

Photo Credit: All h2o Flickr via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: ra_hahn Flickr via Compfight cc
An “American castle” called Thornewood served as my inspiration for Bradfordwood, the house in which the three sisters were raised.

The Porter Family Series

The Porter Family series is set near where I live, in north central Texas.
The town I used as Holley’s location: Parker, TX

Real-life Southfork Ranch was my inspiration for Whispering Creek horse ranch, the home of Undeniably Yours‘ heroine and the workplace of its hero.

My Stubborn Heart

My Stubborn Heart is set in Pennsylvania, on the Delaware River.
The town I used as Redbud’s location: New Hope, PA

Photo Credit: PhotosToArtByMike Flickr via Compfight cc
I used New Hope as Redbud’s location, but the town of my imagination resembled the town right across the river from New Hope — Lambertville, NJ.
The house called Chapel Bluff in the novel was inspired by real-life Chimney Hill Inn, where my sisters and I once stayed.

Do the above photos resemble your vision of the settings of my novels? If you took the quiz, which house did you get as your result?

My publisher is currently offering a “summer reads” giveaway! One reader will receive the ten novels pictured. If you’d like to enter to win (which is very quick and easy), click here or on the image below.

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Becky Wade

Author
Becky makes her home in Dallas, Texas with her husband and three children. She absolutely loves writing funny, heartwarming, and inspirational contemporary Christian romance.
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Comments

  3. What gorgeous real life settings, Becky! I can easily see why they inspired you. I haven’t been blessed to visit all of my settings, but I have traveled to many of them. Nothing beats being in the place and absorbing the details and atmosphere. If only I had a time machine to get the full effect. 🙂

    • True! There’s nothing like visiting the place yourself. It’s wonderful to soak in the views, eat at the restaurants, hit the most famous sites, etc. I think novels benefit when their author had the opportunity to experience the setting first-hand.

  4. What a fun post! It’s so interesting to know how you “create” your settings in the real settings. The pictures are beautiful! I live on the Virginia coast, but have vacationed in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina.

    I took the quiz twice – the first time with lots of thought and got Genevieve’s cottage. The second time, using first reaction, and got Caroline and Judson’s (is that right?) beautiful home. Each would be lovely, but I think at this stage of my life Genevieve’s cottage would suit me better.

    This post has encouraged me to look into some of your past books!

  6. I never would’ve guessed Parker County or Southfork for the Porter Family series. Now Southfork is more than a July 4th concert venue or Ewing Ranch! I’ll think of the Porters when I drive by.

    I got Judson and Caroline’s beautiful house. Love it! For once, a quiz is accurate! Fun post!

    • I’m glad that you enjoyed the quiz, Teresa!

      With the Porter Family series, I definitely imagined Meg’s dad as a modern-day JR Ewing type. And I placed Whispering Creek and Holley in the area of real-life Parker. However, the house at Whispering Creek looks quite a bit different (in my imagination) than the house at Southfork. 😉

  7. Becky, how fun is this! Thanks for the up-and-close info of the places in your novels. I used to live in Texas and the South Fork picture (aka Dallas TV show setting) is a gorgeous picture with the blue bonnets. 👏❤️

  8. I live about an hours drive from Clayton, Ga. Definitely checking out some of your books. You are already on my list of authors to check books.

  10. Hi Becky, I loved seeing the locations where you set your novels! I live very near the setting for My Stubborn Heart, and I’ve also stayed at Chimney Hill Inn. I remember eating golden raspberries at breakfast!

  11. So fun to see all the real places. I got Sam’s historic farmhouse– really close since we live on a sesquicentennial farm. Sadly here the farmhouse with lovely porches burned down years ago, but can’t beat the spot for enjoying life and bringing up kids.Thanks for sharing the pictures!

  12. Beautiful places! I got Sebastian’s cabin- absolutely amazingly wonderful! I have to look into staying at Chimney Hill Inn soon!

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