Journals of Journeys Journals of Spiritual, Emotional and Life-Altering Journeys

Scrapped Research

A few months ago the Pie Dudes and I packed up and headed out to the coast for the day. It was a very long drive but well worth it as I got a lot of research done in preparation for writing a novel that I actually started during NaNoWriMo one year. While it's not necessary, I feel it's important to actually visit the places that are close to or "underneath" the fictional towns I create for the story I'm telling. In this particular instance, "Hope, California" is purely fictional, however, it's between Fort Bragg and Mendocino, along the northern California coast.

Alas, the story has taken on yet another change and the heroine, Dani, has been unceremoniously evicted from her job. The town still remains, but portions of the research are being scrapped. Curious to see how in-depth I go? Take a gander:

"Hope, CA" waterfront near where Dani Sommers worked in the first (twenty) draft(s) of the novel, Accidental Detective.

The red building was where I pictured the location of the cafe. In the following shot, you can see between the two buildings shown left. I wanted her to have a view of the Noyo River inlet where the fishing boats come in and felt I needed to avoid the current businesses, restaurants, etc. that are actually located on the Fort Bragg side of the river.

The building just past the "END" sign is across Noyo River and has a bit of a run-down restaurant that overlooks the water the kids and I like to go to when we're in the area. It was how I got the idea of where to put the cafe even if the cafe itself isn't anything like the restaurant that inspired the idea. Keep in mind, much of the actual layout was pre-planned and mapped out before we headed out for taking pictures and testing out some of the more intricate details of the book. Interestingly, not much had to be changed. One thing that went in the book, and would in real life, too, if it were up to me. It is so unattractive. Look at the ridge at the top of the picture above. See those ugly townhomes? Absolutely horrific!

Just to the right of the red building and the parking lot where I stood to take the pictures, there is a Coast Guard station. I took plenty of pictures because I thought it would be fun to incorporate that into the book. Alas, I went back to the original plan, using a helicopter for the big chase/apprehend scene so this didn't make it in, either. But it sure wets the whistle for future writing projects! I got a kick out of the car parked right out front. Seems a bit out of place. I fully expected to see ginormous trucks all tricked out. So much for stereotyping, eh?

And seeing that Dani was spending a fair amount of time around the cafe during the first chapter or so, I figured that meant I should incorporate some of the sights and sounds typical in such an area, hence the snaps of a few residences nearby the "cafe."

The red and yellow lines are the fictitious streets (red) and bus routes (yellow) of Hope, CA which is directly overlying the actual Google map of Fort Bragg (which is mostly up above the river towards the top of the page). If the Pie Dudes don't have a hard enough time trying to keep up with Momzilla, a very proficient map reader, imagine how much "fun" they had trying to read this map!

And here, in the open field, is the future site of Hope High School. Yep, it's plenty big enough and we figured that since the field doesn't look like it's being used much, it would make the perfect location. Ironically, this was already designated as the site before we got out to see it's physical layout. Just one of those rare times when everything comes together nicely.

Looks like they've even started setting up the portables! Yes, I know, I'm being silly.  I did a SketchUp of the school and even tried doing the photo layover but ... well, let's just say that's a talent that still need to be worked on and leave it at that.

Below is a picture of the actual map location of the high school (blue flag) and, as you might be able to see, the red and yellow is lain over the actual streets. The green line is an actual street, in this case a main highway - the Pacific Coast Highway or PCH.

And I'll leave you with a photo of the Pacific Ocean, one of the many splendors in Dani's little town.