Why do alien invasions always occur in New York? I imagine if we counted how many times that happened over the years in books and media, it would be quite significant! However, when considering settings for books, tv and movies, these familiar locations do crop up quite a lot, making it seem like quite a small world when these places keep getting reused. And I too am guilty of that but there’s a reason, which is what I’m discussing this week.

In The Luke Bright Series and other works I’ve written, I do generally use very familiar settings – London, New York, San-Francisco, Paris and more will crop up along the way. And you’ve probably read books and seen several films that use big cities in their plots – especially action and disaster movies. The reason why may seem obvious – they are well known places people can relate to and visualise easily – but in fact a better explanation came to light just a month ago.

The huge fire at Notre Dame sent Paris and the world into devastation and we all collectively mourned. Rich folk pledged so much money to rebuild it, but that caused controversy. Why would they pledge money to save a building like that when they won’t donate their money to say, saving the amazon or third world countries. Unfortunately, it’s because these iconic buildings in big cities are the things we learn to admire from a young age and seeing them fall makes a huge impact on us which feels almost personal. We feel the loss of them much more than the larger scale things that have always been there such as the rainforests or the Great Barrier Reef and we take those for granted. I for one have always been fascinated by landmarks because they are things of beauty that someone has created. That’s why so many big monuments get destroyed and targeted in disaster movies – because of the way the cityscape would completely change without them there. Sadly, the world hasn’t developed that same love for the natural wonders of the world that we need to preserve too.

However, going back to the point of familiarity – I think writing is easier in a place you’re familiar with, and if you don’t want to use your home town (although I did pay homage to it in At Liberty To Live) you do get drawn to the places you feel you know well. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I’ve never been to the USA, but yet the huge cities over there have always felt like a fantastic setting because after seeing and reading about them, you almost feel as though you know them already. The huge skyscrapers in busy New York, the calm serenity of San-Francisco, the beautiful city of Paris and my favourite of them all – the fascinating capital city that is London. Using these familiar places and creating your world around them is fun, it’s relatable and people can visualise it so much better than if it was something you had to create from scratch (again, if you’re a fantasy writer you’ll make your own rules).

So yes, the world may seem small in terms of how the media display and reuses it, but there’s good reason for that. It may not be the right reason, but it’s one that influences a lot of writing. And, as the world keeps growing in size and connectivity, I do believe the world the media portrays will too. Once the big cities have exhausted themselves, the littles places we don’t know about are going to get their moments. And we’ll be able to explore them without even leaving our homes. Now that’s exciting!

Atlantic Split and At Liberty To Live, the first and second books in The Luke Bright Series are available to purchase NOW! An Undercover Dream – the third book in the series will be released in SUMMER 2019!

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N.A.K.