Scent of the Roses
Oberon, book 1
by P.G. Forte
For years, Scout Patterson has tried to run from the mistakes in her past. Now Scout is going home to face the ghosts she has never laid to rest, and find the love she thought she d lost forever.
A Sense of Place
Guest Post by P.G. Forte
It seems like I’ve been in love with
California for most of my life. Something about the sun-drenched mystique of it
appealed to me from a very young age. It’s
not perfect, of course. No place is. But that’s one of the nice things about writing
fiction. It gives you the opportunity to improve on reality and create a world
that’s better than real life.
I’d been living in California for about thirteen years when I first got the idea for the Oberon series. Northern California, Southern California, Central Coast—I’d lived in and loved them all; and so I had a very clear idea about what kind of atmosphere I wanted for Oberon.
I’d been living in California for about thirteen years when I first got the idea for the Oberon series. Northern California, Southern California, Central Coast—I’d lived in and loved them all; and so I had a very clear idea about what kind of atmosphere I wanted for Oberon.
I wanted it to have the laid-back, beachy
feel of the South combined with the new age inventiveness of the North tempered
by the slightly-buzzed, wine country charm of the Central Coast. I wanted to
give it cool foggy mornings, warm sunny days and bright starry nights. I wanted
rolling hills and winding roads all leading to a quaint little village perched
atop sheer, coastal cliffs. And above
all else I wanted it to have a hint of magic—or maybe more than a hint.
See, I knew the town itself would play a very important part in the series, and that was never just because of its physical location. There’s a paranormal component to the series that needed to be made manifest in the town of Oberon as well.
See, I knew the town itself would play a very important part in the series, and that was never just because of its physical location. There’s a paranormal component to the series that needed to be made manifest in the town of Oberon as well.
I did have a bit of an advantage going in. After all, the west has always had certain, rather specific, mystic properties in most mythic traditions—going all the way back to the ancient Egyptians who placed the “land of the dead” on the western banks of the Nile. In Celtic mythology, Tírna nÓg, the ‘land of the young’ was said to be located on a series of islands in the western sea. So by simply locating Oberon on the West Coast, I figured I was already ahead of the game, already tapping into the Collective Unconscious.
I didn’t just leave it at that, however. I also added
in elements of Earth Magic and drew from a wide range of spiritual traditions,
both old and new, to create a location that was steeped in mysticism. Not that
everyone in Oberon believes in that kind of nonsense. Yes, I populated the town
with witches and wizards, empaths and channels, psychics, and shamans, even a
ghost or three; but there are also quite a few “normal” folks thrown into the
mix, as well as a healthy group of skeptics. The town needs them. They provide
grounding.
The Oberon I ended up creating is a very
special place. It’s reminiscent of many of the towns I’ve lived in or visited,
but it’s also taken on a life of its own.
Every now and then I’ll pass a place in real life that reminds me so
strongly of some feature that exists in Oberon that I’ll be amazed by the resemblance. Until I remember why it seems so
familiar. That’s usually because it’s a
place I’d borrowed and improved on for my own vision of the perfect,
quintessential California town. Somehow, my make-believe version has become so
real to me that it often seems like life is imitating art, rather than the
other way around. I guess that’s the
real magic of fiction.
Find out more at PGForte.com, on Twitter, and Facebook.
Find out more at PGForte.com, on Twitter, and Facebook.
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