Buy Remember Me HERE |
By Amaleen Ison
When I wrote my newest release,
Remember Me, I didn’t pay much attention to location other than details that
affected plot: a remote cabin in a forested area, deep snow, and sub-zero
temperatures. My main character has amnesia, so I thought I could be vague on specifics.
It was only when my editor asked where the story was set that I considered the
question for the first time. My initial response was, “Does it matter?”
“Yes,” she said, firmly. “It does.”
I’d created a bizarre hybrid setting,
incorporating a fictitious landscape with Artic weather conditions and British
buildings and transport. My first person narrator spoke in British English, and
perversely, the one thing I knew with certainty was the story was not set in
Britain. When I realized what I’d done, I turned a little pink—actually a lot
pink.
Thank goodness for editors.
I subsequently spent a great deal of
time researching countries that would provide the right terrain, extreme
temperatures, annual snow fall, and remote location.
Finally, I settled on Interior Alaska,
and so began an edit that changed everything British to American. The remote, thatched
stone cottage became a log cabin, oak trees morphed into fir trees, and I
downsized the family Landrover to a Ski-Doo. The list of changes went on and on,
not to mention the addition of indigenous wildlife and natural phenomenon. If I
hadn’t realised the importance of location before, I certainly did after that
round of edits.
So after all the effort my editor and
I put in to make the setting authentic, you can imagine my delight when I
discovered the following review just a few days after Remember Me was
published.
“The biggest thing the author did
right was in describing the state of Alaska. I live here and the author nailed
it. I'm a very hard sell having lived here since I was sixteen, but in her
story you'll feel the bitter sting of winter (and it's a unique achy feeling
you'll get in few other places).” – Goodreads Review
To celebrate the release of my novella,
I’m hosting a Rafflecopter giveaway to win a $20 Amazon gift card and a copy of
Remember Me. Sign up below for your chance to win.
Remember Me:
Sera isn’t living. She’s
existing—barely. Bedbound by illness, she has no memory of life before the
freezing barn she now calls home. A mournful song haunts her dreams and hints
at a past not completely buried—one she’s desperate to uncover. Yet Father’s
whirlwind visits to draw blood and administer medication don’t provide answers.
He only confirms the one thing she already knows; she’s dying.
A lonely death without ever knowing
her past seems inevitable until a sudden, mystifying return to health coincides
with the arrival of a boy in the opposite out-building. The inextricable pull
to the stranger, and the broken memories that storm her mind when he’s near,
warn of a history quite different to any she could have imagined. If she’s to
uncover the truth she craves, she’ll have to decide whether knowledge of the
past is worth forfeiting her second chance at life.
4 comments:
A friend of mine lived in Alaska for a few years and loved it there. I've wanted to go there myself. Maybe one day. Until then I'll just enjoy it through books. Thanks for the giveaway!
suz2(at)cox(dot)net
I'd like to go to Alaska too but it looks like it has to be a cruise and I don't want to cruise. I do love stories set in the snow though!!!
Alaska is one place I'd love to visit, too, especially since writing Remember Me. Thank you for your comments Susan and Barbara.
Where is the rafflecopter link//widget to enter?
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