(If you can’t see the images, please click on the title to open on your browser. You won’t want to miss these lovely photos of my much-missed hometown.)

Once again, it’s time for the monthly blog hop of the Insecure Writers Support Group, a supportive place where writers of all stripes can commiserate, educate, and celebrate. Tons of resources, plus publishing opportunities. Join us here! https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

The awesome co-hosts for the July 6 posting of the IWSG are J Lenni Dorner, Janet Alcorn, PJ Colando, Jenni Enzor, and Diane Burton!

July 6 question – If you could live in any book world, which one would you choose?

Anyone who knows me is sick of hearing me whine about how homesick I am for Tacoma, Washington, where Hubs and I lived for seven years after leaving Germany. Though I didn’t grow up there (born & raised in the San Francisco Bay Area), the Pacific Northwest is the home of my heart, and Tacoma in particular vibes with my artsy, quirky soul.

Why leave, then? Hubs’s son settled in Las Vegas, where his wife’s wonderful family lives, and where said son’s wonderful wife recently birthed our first grandchild. So–here we are.

What does this have to do with writing and imaginary worlds? Well, I write contemporary romance, and my Bangers Tavern series is set in Tacoma’s 6th Avenue District, a very real world unto itself except for my fictional bar. I loved stroll along The Ave, past & through funky vintage shops, record shops, cafes, bars, restaurants, nightspots, cannabis dispensaries, plus Legendary Doughnuts and Ice Cream Social, to take care of late-night munchies, and Goofy Goose, home of the best burgers & fries I’ve ever had.

I’m trying hard to bloom where I’m planted, really I am. And there’s lots to love about living in Vegas, but you’ve gotta search for it. I do love spending mornings and evenings in our cozy courtyard patio, reading to the sound of our trickle-trickle fountain and watching the palm trees sway. But how I miss the green! The salt air! The funky shops and nightspots and cafes and historic buildings and neighborhood that didn’t look like they were rubber-stamped into being. I even miss the raucous crows who yelled at me whenever I stepped out the front door. I miss our daily walks through neighborhoods like this one.

And views like this one, in Point Defiance Park.

So this homesick PNW writer soothes her homesickness by setting stories in the lush, green, drizzly home she misses so very much. It helps!

How about you? Do you ever revisit beloved places in your fiction? Or are your stories set in places you’d like to visit? Or do you prefer imaginary worlds where everything’s up for reinvention? Drop me a comment about your favorite settings, pretty please!