Hartmouth Horrors

This Monday morning, my mind is on the fictional town of Hartmouth (heart in mouth), venue of my Hartmouth Horrors series. And I just want to expand a little on how it came about. When I started writing Eyes Wide Open —which I had no idea was going to be part of a series—I wanted a setting that felt familiar to me. Somewhere I didn’t have to spend too much time and energy rendering and researching. So it made sense to stick to my roots and base it on the places I know from growing up in South West England. I have a feel for the lay of the land, the pace of life, the way the people act and speak. So I basically cherrypicked the things that would serve the story, a seafront, a harbourside, a train station, some older properties, a small town centre, a graveyard, a hospital, a university, and so on. Then, when I started writing The Devil in Mia and decided to use the same setting, I simply added to what I already had. Cliffs and coast to the south west, houses over by the rail embankment...