Our guest blogger today is Em Shotwell, the author of "Blackbird Summer," "The Chans" (short story, part of the Blackbird series) and the "Enchanted" series. Her latest book, "Blackbird Falling" comes out today. She will discuss and sign her books Nov. 9 at Conundrum Books in St. Francisville and speak about the writing process Dec. 12 at the Zachary branch of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library.
Know Your Place: Place and setting another character in our stories and our lives.
When I was a girl, I was a bit of a wildling. My parents’ house was in rural Mississippi, next door to my grandma’s, but I may as well have lived in the woods.
I spent my time outdoors, weaving through the trees, catching turtles and crawdads and frogs with my sisters and cousins. The rocks and leaves crunched under my feet, the tiny creek babbled as it lapped around my ankles, and the trees seemed to inhale as they swayed, so tall and thick that the sunlight filtered through their branches in muted tones. The woods were magic. They were alive—humming with the static of my little girl anticipation, mirroring my belief that anything could (and would) happen.
Places (like the woods of my childhood) have power—they can comfort you better than any spoken word, wrapping you in their cozy warmth, telling you that everything will be okay. They can excite you—feeding into your craving for adventure. Places can feel malicious, pressing against you their depressing aura until you feel you may snap.
I consider the places I create in my books, which have been called things like “atmospheric,” as characters. Brooklyn, Mississippi, with its ghostly live oaks and preening magnolias—with its crumbling antebellum homes, sitting on clean, but overgrown yards, next to cheaply constructed strip malls, reflects the people who live in its city limits. The town itself sets the reader’s expectations of things to come.
Just like the town, the other characters in the story are mixtures of good and bad, ugly and beautiful—and also like the fictional town, sometimes they are more (or less) than they first appear to be. The Caibre family farm—bright and thriving, until tragedy causes flowers to wilt and trees to die—could be considered one of the main characters of Blackbird Summer. It is so tightly woven through the Caibre’s family story, that it isn’t simply where they live—it is a part of their identity. The Caibre’s relationship with their family land is symbiotic, as both the people and the land thrive and grow, or wilt and die, together as one.
In Blackbird Falling, Delia, Tully, and the gang take a trip to rural Tennessee, to the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. They are on a rescue mission, as well as to suss out a problem that they believe another Gifted family is facing. It is evident from the moment they step foot on the other family’s land, that wickedness has taken a strong hold of the area. The grass is dying, and homes and barns are decaying, but it is more than that. There is an evil taste to the air that burns your lungs if you breathe too deeply. Soon the Caibre clan discovers that their suspicions are correct, and let’s just say that there is nothing good left except for the person they came to bring home.
The places we live and grow are characters in the story of our daily lives. The college campus that, to one student, is a daunting obstacle to overcome, is to another student a playground ready to be explored. Homes are peaceful retreats. Homes are haunted nightmares. Small towns are cozy. Small towns are suffocating. Cities are bustling and alive—the place to make your fortune. Cities eat people and spit them out—gorging on the dreams of the gullible. Places shape our lives. They shape who we are and who we become. In your life’s story, is the character of place a hero or antagonist? Do you thrive in your surroundings, or feel the need to flee?
Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.
