Happy Sunday!!! Today I am very excited to welcome Rae Rivers to join me to talk about the setting of her addictive Keeper books. Look out for my reviews shortly…
My inspiration behind Rapid Falls
I knew when I started plotting my Keepers series that the setting would be as important as my characters. I envisioned a small town with a small group of people set within a beautiful valley.
My character, Jenna, from The Keepers: Ethan summed it up perfectly:
“A peaceful, close-knit town where everyone is up in everyone’s business and things like home-baked pie, honesty, and solid friendships still exist.”
Throughout the books, I used multiple settings in an attempt to keep it interesting and fresh. New York, New Orleans and in the final book in the trilogy, a fictional world called Ameera.
But despite these exciting settings, my characters always returned home – to Rapid Falls. A fictional small town set in a valley surrounded by mountains, vineyards, forests and natural beauty. It’s familiar – to my characters as well as my readers – and its home. My Keepers own a wine estate, complete with the rows of vineyards and the beautiful old homestead. They specialise in the production of Ice Wine and come from a solid generation steeped in history and meaning, so this setting seemed perfect for them.
Also, it provided a lot of opportunity for creepy scenes and characters – bridges, forests, tunnels etc. and of course, the isolation that comes within these settings. I live in the mountains, surrounded by forests and dams and magnificent sunsets on surrounding wine farms so this setting felt very natural to write too.
I don’t live in an isolated village like Rapid Falls, my town is much bigger but I drew a lot of inspiration from a small town in Cape Town that I adore for its charm and beauty – Franschhoek.
Set within a valley, the town consists of about 15 000 people and was established in the late 1600’s. It’s known for its annual festivals like the Bastille Festival, Champagne Festival and the SA Literary Festival.
Surrounding the town are many wine estates with rolling hills of vineyards that not only add to the splendour of the town but also produce magnificent wines and sparkling wines. A few of the farms still have their original buildings or farm houses on them, many of which are the old traditional Cape Dutch houses.
The town itself has a charming main road consisting of quaint gift stores, a variety of restaurants, art galleries, book stores, and coffee shops.
So although Rapid Falls is fictional, I frequently envisioned this small town as the basis for my setting. I developed this concept into an imaginary home rich in magic and folk lore. Then I added three hot brothers, three lovely heroines, a few villains, danger, secrets, three beautiful love stories and an epic adventure!
Thank you for reading!
Rae Rivers
The Keepers: Ethan by Rae Rivers Also by this author: The Keepers: Sienna, The Keepers: Archer, The Keepers: Declan, The Keepers: Ethan
Series: The Keepers #3
Also in this series: The Keepers: Sienna, The Keepers: Archer, The Keepers: Declan, The Keepers: Ethan
on 7th April 2016
Goodreads
Amazon Kindle, Audible
“Going to Ameera to find Hazel. Stealing the spell … You think you can pull it off?” he asked.
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
Just as she thought he’d kiss her, he reached for her jacket and said, “Then let’s go.”
A portal to another world has opened, unleashing dangerous creatures on earth. A dark witch is out for revenge. The stakes are high, a war inevitable.
One person can stop the madness. Jenna. She’s a Keeper to a powerful hybrid witch but she harbours a secret and if Jenna steps through the portal – seduced by the whispers of her hidden past – she may never return.
Fortunately, she has company … infamous Bennett brother and fiercely protective Keeper, Ethan. Their whip-cracking banter makes them perfect sparring partners in training, but how will they manage when their lives and everything they were born to defend are on the line?
When the battle lines are drawn, will Jenna and Ethan stand side by side – as friends, protectors, lovers … or as traitors?
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