English: The Old Land Port (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The other week, along with several of my writing friends from The Nomad Novelist Writers Group, I joined a walking tour of Dickens’ Portsmouth. It was a fabulous tour, fill of great little insights into the life and world of Dickens. But the thing I got most from the tour was the opportunity to have a good look around Portsmouth’s nooks and crannies.
A fellow writer had set his recently completed dark thriller in the city. I was a beta reader of his first draft, and as we walked he gleefully pointed out all the locations that had featured in the novel.
As we neared the end of the tour we came across the Landport Gate. At this point I turned and said, ‘Wow, wouldn’t this make a great place for a murder.’ He agreed. And as we were discussing how it might happen, we noticed the other people on the tour (non writers) quickly moving away from us.
Perhaps we should have explained we were plotting for a book!
What places have inspired your writing?
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Steph Broadribb 
Hey, thanks for the shoutout to my post! This happens a lot with writers. I’m sure I’m on a CIA watch list for the strange Google searches I have on my computer. I think it’s more fun not to explain I’m a writer and watch their reactions for ‘character study’. Totally freaks people out. Mwuahahahahaaa!
Great post. 😉
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lol I’ll have to try that next time 🙂
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Up in Cumbria – close to Barrow in Furness – are two islands which I found super-spooky and suggested dark doings. Roa Island and Walney Island. On Walney is a tiny village so closed in, with such narrow streets, that it seems to be a throwback to darker times. I didn’t go into the pub – didn’t dare face the sudden silence and the suspicious faces turned to see who’d invaded their world. [Anyone who lives there – forgive me if it’s a warm and welcoming place – if so I’ll happily come back and buy you a pint.]
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Sounds like a great setting for a crime thriller 🙂
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I think so – nip up when you get the chance and have a look. You’re welcome (as far as I’m concerned) to use them – my crime fiction is based in London, in 1982…
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