Generic-town, USA

...I remember reading this book--lol, for the life of me, I read so much, I can't remember which one it was. Where the person said that it's better to set your story in a place you've been, because you can pull up memories.

I did that in Hot Contract, because I grew up on the Big Island of Hawaii and was fascinated by the volcanoes (still am...maybe I'll go back one day.) Although in Keegan's case, the whole thing is filtered through a couple of decades and action-adventure movies. Guess I was thinking about it because I've noticed this trend in books. Books set in Seattle and New Orleans, DC and generic-town. I wonder if there's a higher percentage of writers living in Seattle compared to the rest of the country, or if publishing rolls like the RWA conference, choosing authors for that year according to geographic locator's.

Or maybe people just got tired of New Orleans and decided Seattle was good.

It's like that year in the life of Harlequin where EVERY SINGLE book was set in Australia or somewhere (emphasis on somewhere--it's like the Aussie equivalent of "generic-town") in the South Pacific.

I'd like to see an RS set somewhere other than generic-town USA, involving something other than a covert spy organization working for some secret branch of the government with the sanction of the President, featuring kick-ass babes and guys with thews like hams.

(...this has been edited to say--lol, I DON'T mean you, Unhingey. I mean Steele Street. Although looking back on it, I suspect Janzen took her name from the Steele Foundation. An actual risk management group that specializes in bodyguards.)

And what's up with the name-branding? I grew up with the word tissue (lol, can you TELL I read Harlequins?)why are there so many people using Kleenex and Ray-Bans?

...must be the book I read last night. By the tenth time one of my favorite authors mentioned the ice-cold hero's corded muscles and Ray-Bans I wanted to scream. Do I have to go find new favorites???? Brockman's Troubleshooter Christmas sounds so lame I'm going to wait until it goes down to a penny on Amazon before I buy it, and Janzen's latest plot is a rehash of her last two.

My wall is getting dents, but I suspect Central America is the new Seattle.