Locations in stories are another character. I think they play important roles in stories because they can set the tone and the culture of the background.
I chose a fictions town named Becker for my setting because I wanted it to be any town in Canada. Becker is the last name of my piano teacher, someone important in my life.
But I chose a real place for the other setting. Vancouver Island, specifically the city of Victoria.
My grandmother took me there for a week when I was a teenager. We stayed with her brother during our visit and visited people she knew from her younger days. They retired to the island for the weather.
It was a riot, that trip, her and I in a rented little car wheeling around the city, and up and down the highways. Lots of joy and adventure.
I returned to Victoria a number of times since then, because I love the island and the city. It is a very different city than Becker and that contrast is important to the story, as important as the difference between Irene and Alice.
