I’ve said little of my stand alone fantasy Stealing Death (Egmont USA, 2009) in these interviews. Because of this and because the setting surprised me, I’ll delve into that one here. It’s a favorite of mine because the setting really stretched me. I grew up in a redwood forest near the sea. I knew trees and mist and water, so many of my novels take place in or around the wild woods.
Stealing Death had to be set in a drought-ridden country, in sand and dust and thirst and heat. First a short description of the novel:
Would you steal death to protect the one you love? After Kipp loses his family in a fire, Kipp swears he will never let anyone he loves die again. When the Death Catcher comes after the girl he loves, he steals the soul sack, and rides away.
Kipp is alone in the desert on the run from the Death Catcher through most of this story. I had to get to know the stark realities of desert survival to write an authentic tale. To learn how to find water when there’s none to be seen on the surface, to describe the landscape strewn with boulders that looked like hunched giants after dark, or show the dusty road drenched in light, to learn the habits of scorpions instead of woodland larks.
What is a setting from a published fiction story by another author you would compare this setting to and why are they similar?
I love Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa. I listened to it on tape and and read it many times to taste the dryness of the landscape on my lips, and see the beauty in a wilderness that was ‘other’ than forestland. Dinesen loved her time in Africa and you can scent her love in her words. Beryl Markham, the author of West with the Night, also taught me how to see desert and dry savannah with a new light.
How would you describe the way you introduced this setting to readers of your story?
The book opens with Kipp’s dream: “In his sleep, Kipp heard hounds baying in the foothills. He dreamed of sweeping human bones into a sack. His mouth was dry when he awoke. The thorn bush scratching the window whispered the same kush-kush sound the broom made in his dream. But there was no howling now and no scattered bones to be swept off the floor.”
The dream is brought about by the sense of impending death due to the long drought and the hazards of fire. Kipp’s father had hoped to start a new life in Zolya, but the drought has withered his father’s dreams along with their orchards.
How would you describe the integration of characters and setting in this story?
Setting is a character in this story. It is the first antagonist, the bringer of death. Kipp’s journey forces him to live close to the land. He’s riding and camping out in the wilderness alone. He’s caught between the world of the towns and the world of the nomads. Because he’s different and alone, he’s not trusted in either place.
How would you describe the interaction of story and setting in this story?
Since Stealing Death is a fantasy, I want to mention the relationship between fantasy and reality in setting. Magical elements can be used to increase danger. Using magic to ‘rescue the character’ is problematic. I wrote this story knowing Kipp could just as easily die of thirst in the Zolyan desert as he could in a realistic novel. If that weren’t true, the book wouldn’t have any weight.
How much research did you do for the setting of this story, and what did that involve?
I have stacks of desert books. Along with studying landscape, plant, and animal life, I looked at tribal life in places like rural Africa and studied the nomadic way of life. My researched showed me the desperate need for clean water in drought-ridden landscapes like Africa. I usually donate to charity as a part of each book launch and raise awareness on school visits and put a link on my website to allow readers to learn more. For Stealing Death I chose Water for People (http://www.waterforpeople.org) to raise reader awareness for the need for clean drinking water. You can see more on that on the “giving back” page on my website.
To what extent would you describe the setting of this story typical or atypical of the settings in your fiction stories?
Atypical. It was really a challenge for me! I loved the challenge.
How do you usually decide on or develop a setting for your fiction stories?
Setting development comes naturally as the characters interact in time and space. Every detail heightens the reality. It’s especially essential in fantasy to ground the story. This is done through narrative using the five senses and through the character’s physical experiences. Masterful setting is real enough for the reader to feel it. An author friend of mine who grew up in India used to read Alistair MacLean’s book set in the Arctic Ice Station Zebra each year to “cool off”. Sitting outside in 110 degree weather, she would actually feel cold! That’s the ultimate setting challenge for any author.
To what extent do the settings of novels you read have an impact on why you read them, and why?
I’m a sucker for a good setting! One of the reasons I‘ve read Tolkien again and again to return to Middle-earth. And the same is true for other books like Out of Africa and West with the Night. Ursula K. Le Guin’s settings also stir me not only in her Earthsea books but in her science fiction and fantasy novels. I also relish well-crafted settings in historical fiction novels like Amy Tan’s descriptions of China in The Bone Setter’s Daughter, and Indu Sundaresan’s The Twentieth Wife and the rest her Taj Mahal trilogy set in the time of the Mughal Empire in India.
Yes there must be story and yes there must be character but I also want to GO somewhere. Don’t we all?
Author website: www.janetleecarey.com
No one can create setting and transform it into a character of its own like Janet can - I love her books!
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