I’ve lived in England my whole life, and though we may get a bad rep across the world, it’s actually a very beautiful country full of hidden gems and different cultures. Everyone who lives here will know about the quaint villages, the small towns where nothing much happens, the bigger cities and tourist hotspots. I’ve travelled around the south of the country a fair amount and I’ve seen the beauty that England has to offer. Never thought you’d hear that in a sentence, would you?

England and our Englishness plays a massive part in The Snowflake Series – I feel like if it was set in America, things would be very different. The way the characters act and react, it almost makes it seem unlikely that something so devastating could start in such a small country. Especially considering all the stereotypes we seem to live up to, it puts a different spin on the genocidal war between generations, because the way we deal with things is bound to be different. The whole thing is heavily influenced by that English-ness that we seem to have, which is why films like Hot Fuzz and The World’s End inspired me so much when I was writing the series.

With the previous book, The Snowflake Trap, it was all mainly set it one place, Leasford – the home of the trio and the place where the war begins. You can read more about it in a blog from last year here. But in this book, we go further afield to other locations as the trio try to stop the remaining five traps happening. These ones, just like Leasford, are all made up. Why? Because then I could make amalgamations of the places I love and create my own fictional England. But all of these have common characteristics of towns and places that I’ve been to in the past. All are (in a fake map of England) located in the south and south west of the country. From the descriptions, it’s pretty clear that everyone who’s travelled a bit around England should know places like these.

Wacherton

The trio’s local city which is only half an hour from Leasford. It’s where they go for a bit of civilisation – work, entertainment, shopping and to get away from their mundane hometown. It’s a second home to them all. Wacherton was based loosely upon Bath, as I was down there when I started writing the series. It’s the place where the previous book ended and the place where this one begins.

Lower Sunnet

We were introduced to this town in The Snowflake Trap as the group found a card stating that this was the next location carrying out a trap. It also happens to be the place where Max’s top follower/stalker lives. There’s a few influences for this place, Sonning in Berkshire being one and also Cambridge which might surprise you, but there’s a particular place in the town that reminds me of it.

Barnthorpe

This is actually a village and quite representative of many similar sized places in England. The influences for this one are Lewes in Sussex and Lymington in Hampshire, both of which have an oldy-worldly, quaint feel to them and it’s a very pristine little place. It’s bound to bring up some nostalgia if you’ve been to some traditional English villages.

Archolme

This is the largest town (other than Wacherton which is a city) that we come across, and this is very much based upon Reading in Berkshire which is a place very close to my heart. Big urbanised areas, skyscrapers and tower blocks, hustle and bustle and a lot of people. When you read the book, you’ll understand why Reading was the basis for it.

Meston-upon-Avon

This one shouldn’t really be a surprise, but I wanted to have a town upon an Avon, which actually means river in celtic. There’s loads of Avons in England funnily enough, but this place is very reminiscent of Stratford upon Avon – Shakespeare’s birthplace. The big river running through and a town built around it. However, there’s also some influences of Canterbury in Kent and Corfe Castle in Dorset in there too.

Gransbrook

Now, this one is pretty much Weymouth in Dorset. You’ll read it and you’ll see why, because this place is a coastal town. You may not know too much about England’s beaches, but the experience of the British seaside is something of a national treasure to people who live here. Weymouth is again another place with many childhood memories that I knew I had to get in here somehow.

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I’ve always said this book series is my love letter to England. To this great, flawed country that I call home which created the unique experience and memories that have shaped my life and the lives of these characters too. It’s one of the reasons I find them so relatable, because the main trio at least have all had similar upbringings to me in a similar kind of place, and we all share these same memories that had fed into our cultures and youths. And now, they get to explore the wider country on a road trip like no other.

I can’t wait for you to see these locations in the book and get to explore them. It may even spark some nostalgia and memories for those of you who’ve been to any of the places that have influenced my locations before.

The Snowflake Army will be released on 18th September 2023! Book 1 of The Snowflake Series, The Snowflake Trap is OUT NOW, and the final instalment will be out next year! My other books The Signs Are Coming and The Luke Bright Series are also available to buy – check out their individual pages on my website for links.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post.

N.A.K.