boneshaker

What makes Seattle particularly well suited to writing speculative fiction set in it?
Kat – Marvelously creepy weather, and distinct neighborhoods that preserve their history. What are ghosts but history that won’t go away?
Julie – The weather for sure, as well as the visual landscape it provides. The distinct neighborhoods with life. Any fiction set in a distinct city is better.
John – The diversity of culture and people as well as the landscape
K.C. – The geography and the weather, which can go from fog to crystal clear one day to the next.

What landmarks of Seattle lend themselves to spec-fic writing?
Kat – Pioneer Square. The first year I was here, an unusual fog struck and all I could see were the disembodied feet of pedestrians moving in it, which inspired all sorts of possibilities writing-wise. Seattle has lots of layers, which are great writing points, the places where the skeleton is partially exposed.
Julie – Seattle has lots of distinctive features. The Greenlake district is really distinctive, but there are lots of different settings that are suited to different moods.
John – The greenness of winter as well as the wilderness and the places to get lost that it provides
K.C. – The whimsical details of the city, such as the five foot concrete dragon in the park near me in West Seattle. I wrote my story, I Must to the Barber’s Chair, because of a sign I’d seen: “Psychic” in one window and “Barber” in the adjoining one. After the story was published, the barber who owned that shop wrote to me. He said the psychic had gone out of business (which you think they would have seen coming) and he’d been moved to buy the “Psychic” sign and add it to his own window.