Drumroll please… The first installment in the Music Box Mystery series, A Sour Note, is set in a Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. When writing the first draft, I struggled with whether to use a real or fictional setting. But as a lifelong New Englander and more than thirty years of vacationing in Hampton Beach, I couldn’t resist the urge to write a series set in a place filled with memories for me and my family. To include all of the wonderful sites and activities in Hampton and the surrounding area would prove an impossible feat. Portsmouth, NH or Kittery, Maine, anyone? With nightly summer concerts, weekly fireworks, and an infinite list of dining options, a series set in this location provides endless ideas for story lines and backdrops. I’m already itching to finish Book 2.
I’d love to hear from other authors on whether they prefer real or fictional settings. Better yet, do writers prefer writing about a place they know well or a place they dream of visiting?
Jill Piscitello 
I do both. I create a fictional name for a real place I know well, like the town I grew up in, and real names for places that are iconic like Paris or San Francisco. I rarely write about places I’ve never been.
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This is the first time I’ve used a real location. But I changed the name of restaurants, etc. I love the idea of taking a trip to Paris for a bit of writing inspiration!
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