Why Choosing Your Setting Is Important

Guest post by Kaira Rouda, Author of HERE, HOME, HOPE
Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRcsMDKlccY
Author website: http://www.kairarouda.com/
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Why choosing your setting is important by Kaira Rouda

I love the setting of HERE, HOME, HOPE. You know why? It’s cozy. It’s what I know. I’m a product of the suburbs. Heck, the majority of us are and that shared experience, that common culture, fascinates me. The unspoken rules, the pecking order and what it means to be a member of the community all provide great fodder and a meaningful context for what I write about.

But that is hopefully, where it stays. In the background

The ForeWord Review summed it up: “Though Rouda’s novel is compared to Desperate Housewives and The Middle Place, its focus does not remain on the superficial contrivances of marriage and living in suburbia. . . .Inspirational and engaging, Rouda will touch readers who can relate to the frustration of being sidelined on the field of life, never allowed to play and always needed behind the bleachers, until finally experiencing the joy of participation.”

I hope the rather common setting of an upper-middle class suburb is but a back drop to the action and insight. If you’re like me, you can tell when an author is stretching far beyond their setting comfort zone. Unless they author is exceptionally adept, he or she has spent time in the setting of choice. Perhaps an evening, perhaps 20 years. My setting, Grandville, is part of me, part of my experience, part of my life. It isn’t a real place, but it is foundational to my view of life. It could be in Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas, Illinois or California. Grandville could be anywhere. I hope when you read my novel, if you choose to, that it feels real and alive. Perhaps similar to where you live; and if not, provides some insight.

I don’t write fantasy, or science fiction. I write what I know – and I hope, no I’d be honored, if you find yourself joining me and my characters in Grandville, too!

Thanks Kiara!!  Here, Home, Hope is a wonderful book!  Read my review on May 1st!!