Come Blow the Conch Shell

by Cathy Anderson Moffat

An island far away across the continent, across the ocean--Kauai. Oldest of the Hawaiian islands, with lush vegetation and beautiful green Na Pali cliffs rising out of the ocean.

Kauai, the garden isle.

I've traveled there four or five times, and each time, my heart sings. I feel at home there, feel more alive, and I fit in there.

I've felt that way about other places, especially Sedona, Arizona. Sedona, with its majestic red rocks and energy vortexes, took my breath away. My entire body felt energized, and my jaw, chest, and hands tingled at various vortexes. It felt like home.

But these are places not to live, but to return to periodically for recharging of the batteries, at least for me.

Setting can be so important in our work as writers. Setting can change the tone of the story or add an exotic element to it. When I wrote the novel Crystal Clear, my heroine escaped to Kauaia to temporarily flee the Terrible Trouble in her life, soaked in the beauty of the island, picked up a few more pieces of her personal puzzle, and snagged a Hawaiian love interest.

I wrote about that setting passionately and took the reader along for a vacation (minus the long trip and jet lag).

It's also the setting for our wedding February 8, 2007 (just a few days!) This is my last blog as Cathy Anderson Moffat. In future entries, you'll notice Cathy Anderson Corn writes a lot like me.

At 10:30 a.m. (4:30 p.m. Pittsburgh time), we'll dance to the beach in our wedding regalia, listen to the Bee Gees serenade us, and exchange vows in a Hawaiian ceremony. The minister will blow the conch shell, and a Hawaiian hula maiden will dance. We'll exchange flower leis and who knows what else.

So, my friends, what places stir you and set your heart to beating faster? Have you used these as setting in your fiction writing? What places do you yearn to visit, but haven't gone to yet?

Aloha.