The Smokies

The Smokey Mountains (or Smokies or Smoky Mountains) are a big influence in my writing.  Fear of Normal takes place among the Smokies, and the sequels – Fear of Home, Fear of Family – will take place in the foothills of the mountains.  It is also a primary setting for my current work – A Feast Before Winter.

I think part of the influence is that there seems to be something mystical and supernatural about those mountains.  Not quite as majestic as the Rockies or the Alps, they hold a certain quality that draws me to them time after time (we vacation in the Smokies almost every year).  I feel a sense of connectivity to a long distant past, the heartbeat of the earth itself one could say.  Without leaning too far into the mystical realm and thinking, there is a unique spirit to them, a quality not fully grasped.  They are a beautiful enigma to me, something inexplicable, and something which inspires me.

Although not all my works are set in the Smokies I have been inspired to write while visiting the mountains.  For that alone I value them, but of course my love of the mountains includes their beauty, and the quiet calm they bring to me.