[Note from Frolic: We are so excited welcome multiple small town romance authors to the site to talk all things small town romance!]
Ooh, I get to talk about writing small town romance with some of my favorite small-town romance authors? How fun!!
I’m Erin Nicholas and small-town romance is my favorite thing to read and to write for sure! I first started writing small towns because it’s what I knew best! I’ve lived in small towns (we’re talking 2,000 people or less) all my life and writing about small towns in my books is like writing about my own backyard. There’s just something special about small town that, for me, adds an extra layer of fun to a story and series.
I think my favorite thing about it really is creating the town itself. I tend to make up fictional towns that are based on real places I love. But the fun of making it fictional is that the places—from the café (like the one I created that serves horrible coffee…on purpose to keep people from staying too long) to the beauty parlor (like the Bang and Blow) to the bar in fictional Appleby, Iowa (called Granny Smith’s that specializes in, of course, hard ciders)—can all be made up too!
I can add a bakery if I need one (let’s be honest, I always need a bakery!) or I can make the owner of the bar a hilarious, gruff, grandmother who makes amazing gumbo and has even more amazing advice to dish up—whether you want it or not!
The names of the places, the people that run them, the way those places set the background and tone for the story and series and even how the characters interact with those places is so much fun! And having those places reappear in the stories as the series goes on is a ton of fun and gives readers—and me—a sense of “home” that weaves through the books. So yes, I love MANY things about writing small town romance, but creating the towns is probably my favorite thing!
It’s probably why one of my favorite TV series of all times is Hart of Dixie (you have to find it on Hulu if you’ve Never seen it). Bluebell, Alabama is absolutely a character all on its own and is as much a part of the show as any of the characters.
Okay, Melanie Harlow, your turn! What is your favorite fictional small town in a TV show, movie, or book? And what’s your favorite part about writing small town romance? And yes, you can only pick one thing! 😉