What’s In a Setting?

I find that the setting of a story is extremely important to set the mood. In the case of Of Scales and Fire the setting goes even further. As I wrote the series I felt as if each place where the plot was progressing was more like a character than just a setting.

This book was originally titled Monking Around (a title I still love because it makes me laugh and I’m all for chuckles) because of one of the settings in the story, a real place in Sintra, Portugal called Convento dos Capuchos (Capuchin Convent). It is a very different “convent” from all the others in the country and possibly the world. A mysterious, peaceful place that is thought of as a convent when it was built and inhabited by a male religious order (the Capuchins) not nuns.

Ancient rocks and stone building. Convent of the Capuchos, Sintra, Lisbon Region, Portugal

This is a place that was built within a mountain blessed with a micro-climate that provides for an idyllic atmosphere. It was a place of meditation and simplicity and every building blends in with nature around it.

Stone stairs covered moss in Medieval cloister of the Convento dos Capuchos or Capuchin monastery in Sintra, Portugal

It was the perfect setting for many scenes in my book. In it by itself it lent mystery to the story while providing some sexy moments and even some laughs. It also provided my main character, Aiden with the optimum chance to find out something about his own nature.

Stone table at the Medieval cloister of the Convento dos Capuchos or Capuchin monastery in Sintra, Portugal

Of course, setting a story in an old, almost mystical convent also provided this author with a unique chance to add magical monks to the cast of characters. Who could ask for anything more?

**images purchased by the author from Deposit Photos**