Today's mountain is...Skunk Mountain. Because I warned you I'd talk about my own books some.
The Ninja Librarian and Return to Skunk Corners (and an as-yet untitled 3rd book still being drafted) are set in the town of Skunk Corners, which sits on the side of an entirely fictional mountain called...you guessed it! Skunk Mountain.
These books are tall tales in the spirit of (in my most egotistical dreams!) Mark Twain or Richard Peck or Sid Fleishmann. The setting is deliberately vague, but clearly something Western, and in my mind probably best matches the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, though the Colorado Rockies work quite well too.
Skunk Mountain is no dramatic volcano. It's just another hill, really, which Big Al, the narrator, can climb in a single afternoon (though not necessarily descend the same day, but that's another story!). It is bald on top, and may be of volcanic origin, as their is a field of jumbled basalt rocks near the town (that would seem to let out Colorado, but never mind).
And, as the name implies, the mountain is home to many critters, but especially to skunks, who sometimes play a significant role in events in the town.
In addition to the books, you can find tales from the town and mountain on my short fiction page, as well as in the BookElves Anthology. Many of these tales are in the voices of other people from around town, not just that of Big Al. Even the ever-mysterious Ninja Librarian has consented to share a few stories!
So what does Skunk Mountain look like? It varies a bit, even in my head. Sometimes it looks like this, but probably with more pines than oaks, and a bit thicker vegetation:
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| I think this is actually in West Texas--Big Bend or Guadalupe Mtn. |
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| Leavitt Meadows, near Sonora Pass, CA |
I can see stuff like this on the slopes of Skunk Mountain.
And the view from the top might be something like this, only probably with less cool granite.
Mostly, Skunk Mountain is whatever your imagination says it is, while you are reading the books!
©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2015
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| Boulder county, CO open space |
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| Near Carson Pass, CA |
©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2015
Good imagination, but would be different with someone else reading the story
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah! I had some thoughts of doing a whole book from the Librarian, but that's a very hard voice to maintain and keep readable. But a flash-fiction from him works.
DeleteI love when people write about what they know, and that's what you do. My son is absolutely in-love with your A is for Alpine book.
ReplyDeleteAw!
DeleteSince skunks are so unpleasant, I'd imagine a foreboding mountain with not much to recommend it.
ReplyDelete~Visiting from AtoZ
The skunks in Skunk Corners really reflect that mixture of wicked aromas with beauty (yes, I think skunks are beautiful--just not the way they smell, though even that beats a lot of human smells).
DeleteInteresting read. I see that the mountain is home to many skunks, I am guessing the reason for the name. Hi, I just stopped by from the challenge to say hello.
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa, thanks for coming by. Yup, lots of skunks around Skunk Corners and Skunk Mountain. Human and others.
DeleteThose are all lovely mountains for a story to be set near! I used to want a pet skunk (deodorized), but I don't think it'd be that fun anymore. Skunks are like raccoons, best left as accidental pets.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't want to domesticate any wild animal. Part of their beauty is that they are wild.
DeleteSometime I'm going to do an expedition to the foothills just to search for places that really feel like Skunk Corners to me. I didn't originally write with any place in mind, and like having it be a bit more open, but it's also fun to find places that fit the image in my mind.
Well, you do pretty well, since that is pretty much how I imagine Skunk Corners and Skunk mountain when reading the books! Maybe a bit redder landscape, and dustier towards the railroad... probably a bit like Hole In The Wall country, but lower :)
ReplyDeleteI think you got it, Jemima!
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