The Power of Place by Jeanette Grant-Thomson

 

Some of you may have noticed I love creating a sense of place. The setting of a novel can produce a definite atmosphere and can almost be like one of the characters. It can drive the plot, although not the underlying story. If you’ve read all my books, you’ve particularly visited Launceston, outback Queensland with Yandina and Nambour, Brisbane during the 1974 floods, New Ireland (PNG), and King Island or its counterpart in Moreton Bay.

I love immersing myself in the setting, then seeing it through the characters’ eyes. I’m not alone in this interest. Have any of you read Poison Bay (Belinda Pollard)? Or James Cooper’s interesting Something about Alaska? And so many others. In Belinda’s novel, I felt the setting (the wilds of southern New Zealand in the Milford Sound area) was almost the main character. The awareness of that dangerous place dominated all the characters and, by its nature, steered important parts of the plot as well.

Then there was The Light between Oceans, Stedman’s moving story about a couple keeping a lighthouse on Janus Rock. Where would that novel be without the highly unusual setting?  (Obviously it wouldn’t be, as the story depends on the place.)

In The Lost Man, author Jane Harper brilliantly brings to life Australia’s bare, scorching, unforgiving outback as a necessary backdrop and plot-driver of her story.

 In Lantern Light, I’ve created a strong sense of place describing the brooding jungle with its sights, sounds and smells. The dangerous water areas, too, add a sinister feel to the atmosphere. This is then ‘fleshed out’ (well, typed out) in the ensuing events. The timely flood of the Brisbane River reinforces the underlying dark, ominous mood. Both these settings and the incidents resulting from them were times and places I’d lived through myself so I was well equipped to write about them.

Admittedly, I checked some of the exact details of the flood on microfilm in the State Library. The machine kept sticking and delaying me, or whizzing past the dates I hoped to look at. Frustrating! The library assistant was very helpful though. 

I realise we all know this, but it’s so important: to create a place with atmosphere, the writer needs to appeal to more senses than sight. How often has a whiff of salt air taken your thoughts to the beach? Or the song of a magpie reminded you of a happy spring day? All the senses – sight, sound, smell, touch and taste – are intrinsic parts of a particular place.

 Walking along a jungle track, I was aware of the strange sweetish smell of rotting leaves underfoot as well as the colourful collage they made. The chittering of small animals and the sudden shriek of large birds. The mounting heat and heaviness in the air as the day grew hotter. I intended all this as a backdrop to the plot and a motivating force in Lantern Light.

In some of the books I’ve mentioned, the setting provides obstacles so the theme is partly man against a hostile environment. (Poison Bay, The Lost Man). In others, the environment affects the characters’ moods and decisions (as in Lantern Light).

The plot of Lantern Light ‘lives out’ the feel of dread, the sense of ‘Before and After’ that even the characters acknowledge. This feeling of something sinister is echoed by the jungle with its dim, seductive paths and ever-encroaching growth.

   Apparently AI can now do your descriptions if that is not your forte. But that would lack the author’s own voice and types of observations. Those nuances of atmosphere.  I love slipping in bits of description that nudge the characters in the right direction. As far as I know, at this stage AI can’t interweave those reactions to environment that I love writing. Please let me know if I’m wrong there.

Above all, when one chooses an unusual place to set a novel, the question arises: What might happen in a place like this?

Does anyone else enjoy creating settings? Or reading novels where the sense of place is an important feature?

Jeanette Grant-Thomson is a North Brisbane based author who has been writing and having work published since her childhood. Currently she is writing a novel set at beautiful Kenilworth where she lived part-time for about ten years.

You can find her books on www.facebook.com/jeanette.grantthomson

Behind the Scenes: Amelia's Island by Jeanette Grant-Thomson

Today we go 'behind the scenes' as Jeanette (Jenny) O'Hagan interviews the wonderful Jeanette Grant-Thomson  about her upcoming release of her latest novel, Amelia's Island.

Jenny: Congratulations on your latest release. What inspired you to write Amelia’s Island?

Jeanette: Thanks Jenny. I was fascinated by the idea of a place that would be one’s own world, a small island at high tide – but also some unsuspecting person might walk out there and be cut off by the tide. The ideas around that are endless. If it were not for boats and helicopters … And I could have written it so Amelia’s baby was ready to come on the island at high tide and no helicopters available. (Bushfire season.)

I marvelled at the true story of the Phillips family who lived there for over a year and Mr Phillips rowed a boat to work each day. Tough pioneers.

Jenny: Amelia’s Island is definitely a unique setting one that plays a big part in the events in the book. What joys and challenges arose from having the action on a tidal island for you and for your characters?

Jeanette: It was a big challenge for me to have them on and off the island at the right times and to plan the scary episode so the tide cut someone off. Amelia enjoyed the tides and the fragments of shells and other debris washed onto the sand bar but Kathryn was often nervous about being on a tiny island by herself. Head-in-the-clouds Todd, Amelia’s muso boyfriend, found it scary and frustrating. The local people were familiar with the tides and walked or drove on the sandbar at low tide or used helicopters.

Jenny: It is fascinating how the location - the island - reveals the personality and attitudes of the different characters. Tell us more about the main character, Amelia. What distinguishes her from your previous heroines? Did you find her easy or hard to write?

Jeanette: Amelia is less like me or any of my friends than I’ve previously written. She’s vain, selfish and spoilt but beneath it all she feels she has nothing of value left after giving her life completely to Todd. So she nurtures her beauty as part of her identity. For the first part of the novel, she’s less likeable than my other heroines but she changes as God, Dr Jack with his blunt talk, and the interactions with Kathryn and Todd begin to shape her for the better. Her real turning point is when she pours out her heart to God.

I found her hard to write at first and had to remind myself she was vain, selfish and hardened with a likeable girl underneath.

Jenny: You’ve been an author for many years. What do you enjoy most about writing?

Jeanette: Nearly everything except the third proof read onwards. I love getting the ideas and translating them to characters and stories. I love using settings I know well (and have to control my enjoyment of description). I love making characters and deciding what they might do that would cause a crisis or conflict.

Jenny: You have a number of published books, both fiction and non-fiction. Do you have a favourite? How did you get started as a writer and where do your ideas come from?

Jeanette: Wow, that’s a lot of questions. My favourite is Lantern Light, set in a school where I actually taught in the PNG jungle. Jodie’s Story, my first published book, has a special place in my heart as I carried that story like a pregnancy for several years until I just had to write it. I wept through the first interview and on and off as I wrote. Fortunately it was published and sold well. (It’s in its third edition now.)

I began when I was six or seven by standing in the doorway one morning and reciting four rhyming lines of poetry I’d made up myself. My parents then encouraged me to write and send poems to the children’s page of the Brisbane Telegraph, which kindly published them and sent me five shillings each time.

I believe God gives me most of the ideas but my brain is adept at seeing a situation and thinking: What if?


Jenny: Lantern Light is my favourite book of yours and I love the rich descriptions though I know that many modern readers prefer less. And how cool to be paid for your poetry as a child. 

How has your publishing journey changed since the publication of your first book? What challenges and joys have you found in the process? Any advice aspiring authors?

Jeanette: I was lucky (or blessed) to get in at the end of the ‘olden days’ when traditional publishers did all the work once I’d written the book. I managed to get five of my books done that way. The new version of Healing Song and Amelia’s Island were, by choice, self-published with the help of Lilly Pilly and InHouse publishers. I HATE marketing.

 

Self-publishing took too long (I’m 76). I’ll try hard for a trad publisher next time.

Advice? If you plan to self-publish, get it professionally edited and then check it again. And again. If you want a trad publisher, read their requirements carefully before submitting and send a well- edited manuscript.

Jenny: Great advise and I know what you mean about marketing. Do you have any plans for other books or projects in mind? If so, will they be related to this title or any other of your titles?

Jeanette: Surprisingly, I was asked to write a sequel to Mirage but I probably won’t. I plan to write some of my memoirs. Just some of the salient points, both wonderful and horrific.

Jenny: I look forward to reading your memoirs. I've enjoyed reading some snippets of your experiences on yur blog. Thank you, Jeanette, for taking the time to share about your books and experiences.

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Jeanette Grant-Thomson is a S.E.Queensland based author. She has been writing and having work published since she was a child and has enjoyed writing in most genres.

Her first novel Jodie’s Story, now in its third edition, is a true story which opened the door for her to write several other works.

Apart from writing, Jeanette enjoys the mountains, the beach, swimming and having coffee with friends. She is a sincere Christian and attends church regularly.

She can be contacted on Facebook, LinkedIn or Goodreads and her books can be seen and ordered on her Author Page - www.facebook.com/jeanette.grantthomson