Comments on: What’s Wrong With Huntly?

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:40:00 +0000

Natalie, they both sound fanastic! The vibe huh? Did you ever see The Castle? ‘It’s all in the vibe of the thing..’ 🙂 I reckon you’re right anyway.

By: Natalie Anderson

Natalie Anderson — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:38:00 +0000

You know, I have a novella out in November in the Uk set in… Scotland! Ok, so its Edinburgh and both H and h are Johnny Foreigners but really, I think you can get away with just about anywhere – its all in the vibe.
The one out in June is in Verona for the first bit – gotta live Italy!!!!

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:10:00 +0000

You could get away with Cannes, I reckon. I mean, they want the sophisticated, glamourous feel and that’s Cannes isn’t it?

By: Lorraine

Lorraine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:55:00 +0000

Re Huntly – Lucy mentioned that your Huntly is actually named after our Huntly.
I think the Scottish one is even smaller than yours though – I stayed nearby when we were house-hunting and it’s basically a large distillery with a small town attached.
Nice countryside but not remotely MH!
Do you think Cannes is glamorous enough for MH? I mean it is glamourous but it’s not a city…

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:16:00 +0000

Poor Scotland. A chapter but not a whole story... In that case there's no hope for Huntly. A one sentence town. :-) Lorraine, I wonder if Huntly in Scotland is the equivalent of Huntly here?

Rach, I reckon Queenstown could be a good place actually. You could make it sound a lot bigger than it is, and a lot of non-NZer's have actually heard of it!

By: Lucy King

Lucy King — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:31:00 +0000

Apparently it’s all about ‘balance’. Dunno if Scotland could carry a whole story – my characters are only going to be there for a chapter or two I think. Otherwise it’s hip, urban London all the way.

I’d love to set a story my town – in a sherry winery maybe!

By: Lorraine

Lorraine — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:33:00 +0000

BTW Jackie, there’s a place called Huntly in Scotland too!

By: Rachael Johns

Rachael Johns — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Yay – am sooooooo glad Scotland made it through! I actually wish MH would widen the scope with settings, but I’m probably dreaming 🙂

I’d like a story set in Queenstown, NZ – not really urban but definitely appealing 🙂

By: Lorraine

Lorraine — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:20:00 +0000

Well done Lucy :-)

I love Venice too. I'm getting a bit tired of London as my set (which probably means I'm tired of life or something!) so have been branching out a bit. I think the fantasy element is key.

By: Jackie Ashenden

Jackie Ashenden — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 08:49:00 +0000

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with small towns – lots of categories are focused on small towns. But not for Modern Heat. At least, the whole city feel is supposed to be part of the story – acccording to the guidelines! 🙂

Jo, you’re right. Huntly is just crying out for a story. In the shadow of the power station, with the mighty Waikato river on one side and State Highway 1 on the other, one man wants to divert the river to bring power to the people. One hitch, the one woman who owns the paddock the river will soon run through…
Hmmmm, potential? Sorry but give me Venice any day!