Scouting for Locations

One of my favorite parts of writing a novel is scouting locations for a scene. Sometimes I visit a place and the location itself draws me into a story. That happened the first time I stepped into Bob and Kathy Hessong’s log cabin. Being there compelled me to write their story. The result was The Traveling Cabin (published 2022) a novel that different generations can read together.  

Other times, I have an idea for what is happening in a scene, but the location is fuzzy in my mind. That was the case with a new book I’m working on. This is a fantasy novel titled Jedidiah’s Sword. I knew the scene took place on a small, secluded beach, but couldn’t visualize the details. Then I learned about a tiny beach in northern California. Decades ago, the town’s people got rid of their trash by tossing it over a cliff. Gradually, the tide took most of the garbage under. 

The biodegradables disappeared. California cleaned up metal left over from old vehicles and appliances. What remained were broken pieces of painted pottery, empty Coke bottles, and glass medicine containers. The sea swallowed them up, rubbed off the harsh edges, then threw rounded chunks of blue, brown, green, yellow, and red glass back up onto the shore.  

I knew this fit with the idea I want to convey in Jedidiah’s Sword, so Marwan and I spent last week in Fort Bragg, California. As always, I was surprised by what I found. The pieces of glass are tiny now—a result of tourists pocketing souvenirs. Not much sand on the beach—instead gravel-like rocks. The beach looks out at the endless ocean, but the view is broken up by giant rocks covered in black seaweed. They give the beach a secluded vibe you can’t pick up from online photos.  

We walked the coastal trail, read how the town replaced acres and acres of asphalt with wildflowers, and snapped photos as the tide rolled in and out. The beach still holds a bit of magic among the pebbles, and I soaked it up.