NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECTS

A group blog featuring an international array of killer mystery, suspense, and romantic suspense writers. With premises and story lines different from your run-of-the-mill whodunits, we tend to write outside the box. We blog several times a week on all topics relating to romantic suspense and mystery, our writing, and our readers. We welcome all comments and often have guest bloggers. All our authors can be contacted separately, too, using their own social media links.

We find our genre delightfully, dangerously, and deliciously exciting - join us here, if you do too!

NOTE: the blog is currently dormant but please enjoy the posts we're keeping online.


Julie Moffet . Cathy Perkins . Jean Harrington . Daryl Anderson . Nico Rosso . Maureen A Miller . Sandy Parks . Lisa Q Mathews . Sharon Calvin . Lynne Connolly . Janis Patterson . Vanessa Keir . Tonya Kappes . Julie Rowe . Joni M Fisher . Leslie Langtry

Monday, October 5, 2015

Location, Location: The Iconic Hudson River Valley


 
Did you all enjoy last week’s celebration of NYUS’s blog?  Weren’t the excerpts fantastic? I hope you found new authors to buy their books as well as savored the works of those authors whom you already follow. Congratulations to all the raffle winners!
 




I love travel and the opportunity to see new places. The experiences always fuel the creativity well, especially in terms of settings. This past summer I explored the Hudson River Valley, rich with history and dramatic river and mountain scenery.
With hotels nestled against the river, you can have a romantic setting for a wedding...
 
Or a clandestine meeting at an isolated castle on an island.


For settings or character background, consider Hyde Park world leaders where were either raised or came together to discuss critical issues…


 
Or the rich played…
 
West Point is steeped in military pride and tradition, not to mention the amazing vistas, all that can fuel a character’s development or furnish settings.

 
 
 

 


 

 
 
 
 

 The only off note on the trip was our attempt to explore Sleepy Hollow. The road construction and ensuing traffic jams were such that not even the Headless Horseman could have gotten through. I only had enough time to snap a quick shot of Irving’s grave.  However, that leaves my friends and I a good reason to go back. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
So if you're looking for a majestic backdrop for a setting or to flesh out a character, consider the Hudson River Valley. It certainly served well writers such as James Fenimore Cooper and Washington Iriving.
What are some of your favorite places along the Hudson River?
J Carol Stephenson
 

5 comments:

CathyP said...

I've never been to the Hudson River Valley. Your pictures are lovely - I'm surprised we never made a trip to visit it.

Anne Marie Becker said...

Beautiful pictures! Thank you for sharing your experiences. I hope you get back to Sleepy Hollow sometime, too. I didn't know it was a real place! Very cool.

Clare London said...

What fabulous photos! And definitely very inspiring, thanks so much for sharing.

Marcelle Dubé said...

Thanks for the tour, Carol! I've actually never explored that area of the world, so it's kinda cool to get a virtual visit in.

jean harrington said...

A lovely post, Carol. And though I don't have a favorite place along the Hudson, I do have a collection of Hudson River paintings that belonged to my mother and aunts. As my husband loves to say, they all look alike. But that's not true. Well, they are all dark, a river runs through them, all the skies have clouds (though some are fluffy), there's an occasional cow and a flock of sheep on one. Anyway, I love them. Thanks for the reminder of a beautiful place.

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