WARNING: This blog contains spoilers for Atlantic Split

I have never been to the USA. That’s a problem because there are a lot of scenes in The Luke Bright Series that occur there. Even the scenes in the UK, I can’t always go to each location my book is set in. But, I still want my books to be true to life and that means I need a way to know the locations I write about.

That way is by google maps which is an absolute godsend.

Street view where you can go through the journey that your characters go on. You can see what they would see by rotating the map. You can work out walking distances. It is perfect.

And you don’t have to move away from your computer.

In Atlantic Split there’s a car chase through London. Even though I know roughly where the landmarks and bridges of London are, I used google maps street view and followed the trail of the car all the way through. Even though it’s set in an alternate reality, some things wouldn’t change so drastically such as the landscape.

It’s also a great way to describe a setting to make it look really realistic in someone’s head. You’re not putting false setting ideas in someone’s mind, you have a base to start with. For example, in Atlantic Split, the trio end up in a small park on the Isle of Dogs. I can exactly pinpoint that location on a map – the trees I describe and the benches are really there, the road behind is real, the river that Luke looks out upon and sees Greenwich across the water, all real. It just makes a place more 3D, and if readers should want to go through the scenes on google maps or even to the real location whilst or after reading? It’s even more realistic.

The internet is such a great tool for writers in this day and age. Something as simple as a map can make such a difference to your writing process. I’m just glad that it’s a tool that is available for me to make my life easier.

Atlantic Split is the first book in The Luke Bright Series and is available to purchase NOW! Please follow me on my blog and my social media links below and use the links on my website to purchase a copy if you have not done so. Don’t forget to leave a review! Thank you once again for taking the time to read this blog post.

N.A.K.