Locations can play such an important role in not only providing an interesting backdrop for your story, but also in setting the mood. That’s one of the reasons I set some of the scenes in the first book in the SINS series, SINS OF THE FLESH, in the Pine Barrens. You can read more about the Pine Barrens by clicking here.
The Pine Barrens provided a rather uncivilized and dangerous place close to civilization which was perfect for those scenes.
Look around you and I’m sure you’ll find lots of others, like Plum Island. Growing up on Long Island, my always ambitious writer’s mind pictured what kinds of experiments would be happening on this island off the coast which houses an Animal Disease Center. The purpose of the center is to research pathogens which could affect animals, farms and ranches thereby impacting on the national food supply. To my writer’s mind, it always screamed biological weapons research. In fact, because of the sensitive nature of the Animal Disease Center, access to the island is severely restricted.
Because of that secrecy, the island remains fairly untouched which now presents an issue since the government has decided to close the Animal Disease Center and move it elsewhere. Recently, environmentalists were allowed a glimpse of the island which also houses an 1869 lighthouse in addition to the research facility. The hope is that the island will be maintained in its pristine and protected state.
Which allows writers like me, or Nelson DeMille who titled and set a novel on Plum Island, to continue weaving stories about its mysterious history! (You may also recall that in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, Hannibal Lechter is promised a move to that location in exchange for assisting the FBI.)