Today Margot Justes, author of Hotel in Bath, stops by to share a guest post about international settings.
Guest Post: International Settings by Margot Justes
I do my research by visiting the places I write about, it’s more personal and to me it’s far more significant to give an impression of the city as well as documented facts. Something I would not be able to do if I hadn’t paid a visit. Even though I write contemporary romance stories, I love history and art, and that is what I write about.
The age old adage, write what you know and love is true, but it should also be a learning experience for both writer and reader. It should be an adventure. My heroine is a painter, and through her eyes, I introduce my readers to artists I like. In A Hotel in Paris, I singled out Rodin. I happen to love his work, and wanted to share it with anyone who would listen, or in this case read. When I lived in Paris, I spent many days in the Rodin Museum, and have always gone back. It is indeed a wondrous place.
I love to travel and have been fortunate to be able to visit the places I write about, and even luckier to be able to put it on paper. My first love is Paris, I lived there for a year, and have gone back many times. It stood to reason that my first romance should be set there. I’m familiar with the city, and over the years in my perspective little has changed.
The Louvre now has Pei’s Pyramid at the entrance, but it’s still monstrous in size, and one has to be selective in what one sees in a day; it is an exhausting place. Not so the Rodin Museum, it was his home, it is intimate and hauntingly beautiful. However, no matter where you go in Paris, the charm, the romance is still very much there.
Sit in a cafe, watch people play chess, discuss current events and soccer scores, as they sip their espresso, or cafe au lait. The sense of history is everywhere, some of those cafes are over a hundred years old. The gardens, the cobbled streets that meander seemingly endlessly, the historical buildings are all as they were. It’s easy to make the city come alive, it was my first love as a semi adult, and continues to this day.
A Hotel in Bath required two visits. The second time, I spent a few days getting to know the city. The historical significance is amazing, if you visit the Roman Baths Museum, you can walk over Roman lead pipes laid over two thousand years ago.
It’s difficult to select only the key points of a city relevant to the story, and I don’t do it. I like my readers to be there with me, learn with me, get to know the city; if well done the reader will absorb every word written about a place they may never be able to visit.
What does it feel like to walk the streets Jane Austen most probably walked. Stroll over those ancient lead pipes, and imagine who else followed in those same footsteps. Who else prayed in the ancient Abbey. Who ate the Sally Lunn cakes, after all the restaurant dates back to the 1620’s. You hope the ancient gnarly, creaking stairs will actually get you down to the cellar, so you may taste the famous buns; savory or sweet, they are as dry as dust until covered in cream or a sauce.
That is where the imagination of the writer takes over. The sense of familiarity adds a richness to the story that might otherwise be missing. It goes back to the beginning, write what you know and love.
I started a tradition of sorts-I write travel articles about the city my characters live in; first published by Crime Spree Magazine, both Paris and Bath articles are now posted in the travel section of my web site. Hope you’ll read them and enjoy the journey to both cities.
Hotel in Bath (2013)
Minola’s notoriety as a result of her recent Paris adventures, and her keen sense of observation made her a threat to the intrigues in the art world of Bath.
Peter must decide what to do, share everything with the love of his life or withhold pertinent information to keep her safe?
When Minola is almost run-over, the threat becomes very real and Peter’s terror for her safety decides for him. He asks her to remain in London.
Contemplating Peter’s strange behavior forces Minola to re-evaluate their relationship, and she decides to go to Bath alone.
Why was Madeleine Sutton murdered? Why did she travel to the South Pacific? And why was an art shipment bound for the Sutton gallery stolen and the driver left for dead?
Minola, now in the thick of the investigation attempts to regain a footing in her relationship with Peter, while he’s struggling to keep his distance.
Can she forgive him his wrenching denial? Can the danger they face be overcome by their abiding love? Or will it tear them apart?
Amazon USAmazon UKGoodreads About Margot Justes
A Hotel in Bath was released in February 2013, and Margot is currently working on her third book in the hotel series, set in Venice, Italy.
She finished her first paranormal novel Blood Art, to be released in November 2013, and is hard at work on another one.
Margot Justes is a Member of Romance Writers of America, and is a past president of the Chicago North RWA Chapter and the Chicago Chapter of Sisters in Crime.
She loves to hear from readers.
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