Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Location, Location, Location! (and a plug for Broken Glamour)
















by Maggie Marr

I am kicking off the new cycle at the Girlfriends Book Club and our topic is location. How do we choose where our books are set? Or does the setting choose us? How does setting impact character? These are brilliant questions developed by Sylvie Fox and Laura Spinella and Saralee Rosenberg.

Take a look at my books. All but one are set in Los Angeles. The sole book set outside Los Angeles in Powder Springs, Colorado, a Rocky Mountain town, is Courting Trouble.

My books are not just set in Los Angeles but they are located in the small, industry town that is Hollywood. While Hollywood is a geographical place in Los Angeles, the geographical place is not to what I refer when I write that my books are set in Hollywood. I am referring to an Industry located within Los Angeles but with outposts throughout the world. I am referring to movie-making, TV making, script-writing, directing, producing, and all the executive functions that go with those endeavors.


Hollywood, that small town within a big city informs my characters, their personalities, their decisions, goals, motivations, and conflicts.





Today, Broken Glamour the second book in my Glamour Series publishes. This is the love story of Amanda Sterling and Ryan Sinclair. Amanda grew up in Hollywood, was raised by one of the premiere families in the Industry, while Ryan broke into the Business due to his talent as an actor. I loved writing this book. I loved how tortured Ryan was because of his addictions and how lost Amanda was because of being ousted from her prime spot as part of Hollywood royalty.


Amanda Legend may loathe the entertainment world, but she understands the rules. She also knows Ryan Sinclair, understands alcoholics (she grew up around a few) and now, after being banished from her posh lifestyle, needs a paycheck to get to New York. Amanda accepts the job as sober companion to Ryan Sinclair for his first film post rehab. But Amanda must learn to ignore her attraction to Ryan, because falling for a guy like him would pull her back into a world she desperately wants to escape. 

Amanda and Ryan's love story shows how two emotionally damaged people can take a chance and allow love to grow. This was a story I was drawn to write because of the characters, but these characters were created by their environment. A place that I love and call home: Hollywood.

Leave a comment and tell me one of your favorite places whether it be on a map or not. Random.org will select a winner and they will receive a digital copy of Broken Glamour.

Maggie Marr is an author, attorney, and producer. She began her Hollywood adventure pushing the mail cart at ICM where she became a motion picture literary agent. Maggie is the author of the beloved Hollywood Girls Club Series which includes Hollywood Girls Club, Secrets of The Hollywood Girls Club, and Hollywood Hit. The Glamour Series is her new adult contemporary romance series. Hard Glamour published January 2014 and Broken Glamour released today! She has written for TV and film and ghost-written for celebrities. Look for her May 2014 release, book 2 in the Eligible Billionaires Series; One Night For Love, book 1 Can't Buy Me Love is available now. You can find Maggie on facebook and twitter.
http://amzn.to/1gOX0wm

13 comments:

  1. Some of the best writers use location as a character. Others use it to shape and reflect a character's feelings. I tried to use post-Katrina Mississippi to reflect the emptiness the main character feels when she has to change her lifestyle. I looked to Greek theater for inspiration. Was wonderful fun.

    Having working in the Industry, I'm always on the hunt for more books that remind me why I left it. I'll look at yours.

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    1. Hi Betsy,
      I think post-Katrina Mississippi would be a great way to reflect loss and emptiness. Wow, what a great idea. Thank you for commenting. xoMaggie

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  2. One of my favorite places is Scotland. Happy Pub Date!

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    1. Thank you, Lauren! I've not been to Scotland but it is on my list of places to go! xoMaggie

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  3. Italy, darling. The Lake District in England. Coast of North Carolina near Cape Fear. This list goes on.

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  4. Congrats on the new book, Maggie! I too like the "location" topic (it's a good one...) My novels are set in the 1950s in small town Virginia and New Jersey (Perfect Birds) (Not released yet); in Lithuania, Berlin, Siberia, Nashville, Florida and Brooklyn (ABOVE US ONLY SKY) coming early 2015, and my first novel, The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors, in NYC, the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, Arkansas, and Galveston, TX. I am going to have to do some serious thinking about this topic before I attempt to write about it. Great job!!

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    1. Michele, that is BRILLIANT! It seems that you are really using location as character and to inform character. So many places! Thank you on the congratulations! xoMaggie

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  5. Hey Maggie! I wish I could take credit for the fab blog post idea, but it was all Sylvie, seconded by Saralee! Many good wishes for success on Broken Glamour! Wonderful post to kick off your book and our new cycle!

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    1. Thank you Laura! When I saw your post I fixed it above. Oops! xoMaggie

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  6. My Bloom family books were set in New York City--mostly Manhattan's Upper West Side, some downtown locations, and a little bit in the "foreign country" of Queens. People who knew the city well adored those books (and yes, said NYC was like another character.) I did hear from a reader in the Midwest who said she didn't understand why the heroine of Blooming All Over thought Queens was alien territory. I guess you have to know NYC to understand.

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  7. Maggie,
    I love how you put your insider information about Hollywood and CA into your stories ;) .
    And one of my favorite places in the world is Italy...particularly Venice. *sigh* It's been years since I've gotten to visit, but I love it there!

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  8. Betsy Ashton was selected by Random.org. Betsy wins a digital copy of Broken Glamour! xoMaggie

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