Hey Everybody,
Just wondering if anybody is setting their novel in Detroit/Michigan. I'm writing a gothic ghost story; the haunted house in the story is a mansion in Grosse Pointe. But my characters are going to visit various places around metro Detroit. They're going to meet a mysterious person under the Russell overpass. They'll visit the DFT. I'm hoping to work in the Michigan Central building some way, but haven't figured out how yet. And I've got planned a very cool scene set in a crypt in Elmwood cemetery.
So, anybody else have a Michigan-based story?
Tim
----------
"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."
-Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
1,650 / 50,000
Okt 30, 2009 - 06 04
I'm thinking about using a place up north for my setting, Harrisville. I love the detroit idea too. You should try to work in the old train station that place is fantastic!
Good luck to you!
20,580 / 50,000
Okt 30, 2009 - 06 15
Good luck to you!
Up North...very cool. What genre is your novel?
The old station is awesome. It was a literal gateway into the city, so I'm playing with the idea of making it a supernatural gateway as well. I'm walking the line between Urban Fantasy and Horror/Supernatural. A supernatural gateway may be too much. I really want the supernatural elements to be subtle (think Lovecraft). We'll see. Things usually come to be once I start writing.
Tim
"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."
-Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
----------"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."
-Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
0 / 50,000
Okt 30, 2009 - 08 27
Write what you know.
I set most of my writings either in "AnyTown" USA, or I pick an area of the Detroit suburbs where I grew up to use to build. My NaNo last year was set in hotels in Atlanta (that i knew well) that I picked up and dropped back in Detroit, so I could use other Michigan landmarks in the writing.
Mr. O
1,500 / 50,000
Okt 30, 2009 - 15 12
Being a native of northern Michigan, and now living the high life in suburban Detroit, I'm feeling the need to set my novel up north, probably in or near Alpena/Rogers City, where I grew up, and where I still have family. That is one of the things I admire and enjoy about Jim Harrison's work; the fact that all of his novels either take place in northern Michigan, or in some way reflect that atmosphere. Good luck to all!
1,686 / 50,000
Okt 30, 2009 - 16 20
My novel is about the apocalypse, so it takes place all over the world but, after reading this I decided to put one of my horsemen as a elderly homeless Detroiter.
6,162 / 50,000
Okt 30, 2009 - 16 52
Hi There!
I set all my stories in Michigan, just because I can! My current work is set in the UP - in a small community nestled between the Indian Reservation and State Land in Baruga County.
It is a m/m romance with a touch of paranormal.
----------26,683 / 50,000
Okt 30, 2009 - 19 07
Mine will probably be up north, too, but in a tiny and obscure town that I make up. My main character has been relocated in Witness Protection, so I can't exactly take a place of the map, however much I love Petoskey. XD
0 / 50,000
Okt 31, 2009 - 20 27
I was born in and raised in Michigan, so everything I write is placed in one way or another in Michigan. This year I am placing my Nano Novel in The village of Maybee. I know, weird name, but it doesnt exsist! Its about 20 minutes east of Monroe, in between Dundee and Ida. Its a nice, small town with the perfect creppy "burbs"/"boonies" vibe I am looking for!
31,667 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 06 10
My novel is very centered around Detroit. It's basically about three friends working at the DIA for the summer. So, I'm expecting there are a going to be a lot of references to parts of the city and the suburbs.
----------2008: Blind Sight
2009: The Art of Summer
5,700 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 06 18
Mine won't be set in Detroit, but it will feature the west side of the state if I can manage it and my Muse agrees with me. All bets are off if she changes her mind though. :)
11,978 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 07 45
My story is set in Metro Detroit. I have a character making a border-run for some Canadian goodies from Shopper's Drug Mart. It's good to be on the border!
-----------michchick, way feckless and improving her mind through extensive reading (and writing!) since 1971.
40,105 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 08 45
By-George, do you mean Baraga? If you're looking for Indian and State lands, that's where it would be. There's no town named Baruga around there. I grew up North of there, so if you need any realistic landmarks or anything, I can definitely help.
My novel is probably not set in Michigan, but I'm not really going to name the town, so who knows?
----------"I opened the fire door to four lips, none of which were mine, kissing; tightened my belt around my hips, where your hands were missing." -Ani DiFranco, 'Fire Door'
49,053 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 14 18
I was born and raised in Oakland County. I grew up in Oak Park and currently live in Auburn Hills, work in Shelby Township (which is Macomb County).
My story is a fantasy and takes place in northern LP, Petoskey/Emmet County. I've only been there twice (three times at most) but my fiance's from there.
----------Slow and steady. Must save my energy for the panicked frenzy that comes later.
18,057 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 16 37
I have several novels that take place in Michigan, though not the one I'm writing now. I was born and raised in Detroit and, even though I've moved away, Michigan is the most common place for me to set my stories (I still love it there)!
42,128 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 18 30
My novel is set in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs (Roseville, Eastpointe, Grosse Pointe) and then I'm planning on a chapter up north in either East Jordon/Boyne or Houghton Lake. I haven't decided yet.
My main character works in the city, but has moved to the suburbs with her parents when they had to sell their Indian Village home.
Another one of the characters is a person that has moved here from out of state. He has a strong love/background in architecture so a good portion of it focuses on historic locations and buildings in Detroit. Detroit was once known as the Paris of the West.
I've lived in Detroit my whole 23 years and I love my city, there was no way I'd be able to write a novel and NOT include the place that has molded me. (That might be a tad dramatic, but hey, I'm now a novelist, I can be dramatic)
<3
-Leona
13,783 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 12 06
I set mine in the general area around Detroit. I don't travel much, so it's really the only place in the world I can describe very well.
----------November's Fuel:
Bowls of ramen eaten: 3
Cans of energy drink drunk: 3
Cups of Coffee: 1 (Thanks, Stephanie. XD)
28,756 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 14 42
Mine is partly in Detroit, partly under Detroit, partly in Las Vegas, and partly in an alternate universe.
I'm not sure how much of the actual city is going to be in the story, though, because everything that takes place in Detroit is going to also be taking place during the zombie apocalypse.
.....does anyone know the condition of the Detroit sewer system, by the way? What the sewers look like inside?
6,413 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 15 14
Mine is set partially in Detroit during the time of Pontiac's Rebellion. It's partially set in the suburbs of modern day Pittsburgh.
Hearing about all of the other Metro and MI locations has me really geeked. Nothern MI, West Coast, Southeast...our state really's got it all.
Write on everybody!
------------------------
The creations of a great writer are little more than the moods and passions of his own heart, given surnames and Christian names, and sent to walk the earth. - William Butler Yeats
1,164 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 20 11
Pretty much everything I write is based in Detroit, but this time, I needed a more rural setting, so off to Oscoda, we go! :)
6,162 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 05 06
Hi Linnybelle - yeah - I did a typo on the county! I did the research but haven't had the time to drive up there. I was going to make up a small community there (as I noted no town) -- but I gotta ask: Does that county have 911? And if there is an emergency, from which city would help be likely to come from?
Oh - I'll bug you a few times if you don't mind! Thanks for the offer!
----------32,232 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 14 02
Last year my novel was Detroit/West Bloomfield/Livonia area. This year I have no idea where it's going, to be honest, I haven't planned or anything. I just started writing.
14,803 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 22 21
Two years ago (my first year) I set my story in Northern California, as that I where I was born and raised. However, last year and this year my stories were and are set in Michigan. This year's story is REALLY in Michigan - all over Oakland County, as a matter of fact - as it is stories from my years as a nanny for hire. This year my motto is totally Write What You Know. and, sice more often than not truth is stranger than fiction, I have a feeling that this will be a pretty good story.
-Kendra
27,640 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 04 24
Last year I set my first novel, a mystery/thriller, in Mackinaw City and on Mackinac Island. I needed someplace where it would be plausible that cell phone reception might be spotty. It also helped that there aren't supposed to be any cars on the Island. Both made it easier to slow things down. This year I don't have a setting yet so but it may very well end up being Michigan...they say write what you know :)
10,020 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 17 10
Well, where my novel was set had sort of been put on the back burner while I was figuring out a few other things. Then last night my MC informed everyone that the freezing cold that is November in Michigan made the bonfire on the patio perfectly reasonable. So apparently Michigan it is. =)
2,514 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 17 25
I belong to the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers...setting our stories in Michigan is what we do! So, keeping that in mind, I decided to set mine here in Bloomfield Hills. I have my leading lady visiting the Detroit Zoo, Royal Oak, Novi, Manistee...I'm sure she'll be in other places, I just haven't gotten that far yet!
24,889 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 06 26
I had the same issue on the first day of writing. I prepared for characters, plots, and outlines, but had not realized that I needed a setting until I found my ladies on a beach in June. Perfect! I thought of Lexington, Michigan. I'm so thrilled to include Lexington's summer tourism and rich history in this novel.
20,580 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 07 27
I'm writing a horror/urban fantasy, so the Great Lakes Assoc of Horror Writers sounds very cool. Could you tell me more? (I suppose this should be done via private email... neopaladin1@yahoo.com
Thanks in advance!
Tim
----------"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."
-Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
5,449 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 07 02
My novel is set in a fictional college town that is essentially Albion with name changed to allow me to make adjustments. Comments about the towns proximity to Jackson, Battle Creek and other details will make the inspiration obvious to anyone familiar with the town/school. My characters are mostly from Michigan, and a lot of references to actual history and landmarks. I thought it would be better to use things I know for a first novel rather than try to keep all of the details of research straight.
31,983 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 13 32
I set last years in Grosse Pointe Park and the Royal Oak suburbs. This year is a continuation but my MC has moved to California, but still has ties in Grosse Pointe and Detroit. I'm planning a trilogy and next year will find them all back here in the big D.
----------I lived the sixties and survived!
10,507 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 08 40
This year my novel takes place in Michigan. In Detroit for a while, some in Grosse Pointe too.
A lot of my story takes place in the woods though so I figured what better place then stoney creek? :D
----------I love mountain bike riding there but I manage to crash everytime I go riding there. curse those ruts the snowmobilers leave behind!
The World isn't something old, its something new every day.
-Unknown
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”
-Jack London