There’s Gold In Our
Own Backyards
By Inglath Cooper

I was asked to write this article on how I research the setting for my books. To date, each of my published books has been set in fictional Virginia towns and my research for that aspect of the story, minimal. The small town setting is an organic part of me, something that is as natural as breathing. It took me a few years of writing to figure out what a treasure chest that is.
 
I started my first manuscript during my junior year at Virginia Tech. I had a couple of characters in mind, a flimsy skeleton of a plot, and one pressing question: Where to set the book?
 
At that point in my life, I hadn’t traveled too far past the Virginia state line. To me, the rest of the world sounded alluring in a way a place like Franklin County couldn’t possibly compare.
 
So I considered my options. My story could take place on an island. There was an appealing setting! Palm trees, sinking pink sunsets, water as blue as a robin’s egg, and—of course—glistening white sand.
 
Or, what about Italy? A place I had always dreamed of going. Olive groves, the chiming of beautiful old church bells, faded stucco buildings. I set my first few manuscripts in exactly that kind of locale. The only trouble was, I had never been to any of those places. And once I got past the generic descriptions, I found myself facing what felt like an empty reservoir from which to draw my story.
 
I had read the advice in practically every creative writing handbook: Write what you know. They weren’t just talking about plot and characters but also about the place where the story unfolds. What I knew was rural southwest Virginia. But what could the rest of the world possibly find interesting about it?
 
Despite my skepticism, I finally started a manuscript set in a small Virginia town much like Rocky Mount, the one I grew up in. Ironically enough, this was the first of my books to sell. No coincidence, I’m sure. How did I finally come to see what was around me? By looking at where I’ve lived and what it has meant to me.
 
The physical beauty of southwest Virginia is indisputable. Spring arrives with its paintbrush of green. Summer fills the orchards with apples and peaches, thickens fields with grass for hay. Fall dips maples and oaks in red and gold. Winter lays ice across our lakes and hides our roads under snow. Those are the broad brush strokes of my story, but I believe the details that bring a setting to life come from the individual places that populate a small community.
 
I grew up in Callaway, and every Saturday we drove into Rocky Mount for groceries and errands. First, downtown to Ben Franklin and the Melody Shop. Then uptown to Kittinger’s Drug Store, Brammer’s Five and Ten, Morris’ Department Store. And a final stop at Simpson’s for Groceries.
 
Ben Franklin’s was a favorite. After digging out coins for the parking meter on Franklin Street, we headed downstairs to the toy department. The snack bar was also on the bottom floor, and I can remember the delicious smell of steamed hot dog buns and french fries wafting up in greeting.
 
The Melody Shop was the place to buy 45 rpm records - yes, I know, I’m dating myself! Kittinger’s for a cherry Coke. At Brammer’s Five and Ten, my sister and I stocked up on five cent candy which we resold to our cousins in the store we set up in my Grandma Johnson’s basement.
 
Country stores show up in my stories on a regular basis, and I’m sure their origin is the store owned by my great aunt and uncle, Vernie and Herman Law. My sister and I spent many Saturday nights there with our grandparents. All the adults sat on stools in the middle of the store and talked, while we drank Sun-drop and ate Wise potato chips from bright blue bags.
 
Much of my love for Franklin County comes from my Grandpa Grady Holland. He loved just getting out and looking at it. Bright and early on Sunday mornings, my sister and I would climb in his old blue and white Chevrolet truck and drive over to the Glade Hill Quickette for the morning paper. We always took a detour of some sort, to check on cows, look at hay, see a pony he was thinking about buying for us. These were adventures, and we learned the county roads like our own backyard.
 
Pieces of these places have shown up in each of my books. I loved them and I think that rings true with readers. I’ve traveled a bit since those first manuscripts and I feel sure I’ll venture out in future books to other settings…but with a healthy respect for the gold in my own backyard.


Inglath Cooper is the author of three published novels. Her April 2004 release is John Riley’s Girl. A fifth book, Unfinished Business, will be available in July, 2004. For more information on her work, visit her website at www.inglathcooper.com Cooper’s novels, including her recent book A Woman Like Annie, are available while supplies last at The Blue Lady Bookshop in Rocky Mount, VA (540-483-3692) or etgreer@charter.net .