Thursday, October 12, 2006

Shopping and Research

The hardest thing is to take less when you can get more. ~ Kin Hubbard

I had my first foray into grocery shopping at Amazon.com today.

I bought Bacon Bits -- you know: those chunks of artifically flavored textured vegetable protein? Yum.

You see, I don't eat much meat (almost zero - occasional fish, rarely chicken, NO pork or beef -- ever) and am working to bring that to absolute zero, but I love bacon and so had to find a substitute. I have baco, lettuce and tomato sandwiches. I sprinkle them on my salads, in my pasta…. mmm…

Sam's Club used to carry the ginormous sized Tones brand bacon bits, but they don't anymore and the puny little 4 oz bottles you can buy at the store just don't do it for me. But I can buy a case (WOO HOO) of the little buggers at Amazon.com for less money and free shipping (over $25).

And, if I had to buy a few books to bring my order up to $25, well -- I still saved money, didn't I? *G*

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I've been busy plotting out the NaNo book lately, when I realized I didn't have a clue where to set it. I typically try to write what I know (or where I've lived), but I've only lived in a few different states, and I've pretty much covered them with my last several novels.

I need a small-ish town with lots of homey neighborhoods (both affluent and not so much) that also houses a university (and a couple car dealerships… but I didn't figure that would be a problem since those things are everywhere). I was thinking about Pennsylvania, but I've only just driven through there a couple times, maybe stopped to pee, but didn't really take notes (on the state, not my bodily functions).

Anyone out there know anything they could share? Any town out there sound like a good fit? I could use some input.

4 comments:

Ceri Hebert said...

I definitely prefer to write about places I'm familiar with and personally I don't think there's enough stories set in New Hampshire/New England. I have set stories in South Dakota (which I've visited once), Minnesota, where I used to live, though not in the kind of town the story is set in, and Maine. I do have one set in Washington DC but I'm not familiar with it enough to be comfortable.

I know, I know, have to step out of my comfort zone.

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anno said...

I wonder if someplace like Granville, OH might work. It's home to Denison University; the population is mostly affluent, but mixed; it's in eastern Ohio, in a somewhat rural area, off the main highways, but close enough to Columbus, OH (about 40 minutes away) to get you to a big city (and a BIG university) if you needed it.

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

You'll have to keep us posted about the Amazon grocery delivery. I've been thinking about ordering some stuff that way myself.

I have a tendency, except with my fantasy ideas, to set my books in real places. Some I've lived in or been to, others I have to do lots of research on.

Allie Boniface said...

Here are some locations that came to mind - though you didn't say if there was a particular area of the country you were more interested in. As far as I can recall (I've spent time in all of them), most of these are smallish cities, picturesque, most with a university but still a small-town feel.

Roanoke, VA
Princeton, NJ
Augusta, ME
Asheville, NC
State College, PA
San Luis Obispo, CA
Providence, RI

Hope you find something that feels right!