The Place That Inspired North Cordell

The Place That Inspired My Book
 Not to get ahead of myself, this place didn’t inspire my entire story (the true inspiration is something a bit more curious and strange), but one that inspired the setting. The Region among the 95 in the new world 300 years in the future, that just so happens to have the story set in.

My family is a large one. Myself, I have four siblings (two brother, two sisters), and my dad? 
He had eleven. 
My great grandfather bought what we call “The Homestead” in the mid 1900s, right under “The Rim”. There he built cabins, ponds, and even a helicopter landing pad for his own helicopter!
Sadly, my great grandfather had to sell most of the land to other owners, leaving two of the cabins to his wife (my great grandmother). One of these cabins (called the “Schoolhouse”) was left to my grandfather and his eleven children (one of them being my dad).
It was redone to be more liveable (I mean, it was meant to be be a place for homeschooling, so it’s living conditions weren’t ideal), and that’s where we’re at now.
 I’ll admit, I never enjoyed going up to the cabin.
I wasn’t a huge fan of staying in a cabin with all my cousins and uncles on our “cousin campouts”. But during my little stubborn spouts of not wanting to be there, I brought my Book ™ . I was having a hard time visualizing what a place set in the woods might look like (as I live splat in the middle of a city, in the desert where cactuses are frequent siting). 
So the only thing that came to my mind when I wrote the word “woods” was “The Cabin”.
At the beginning of my series, a very crucial part is a character entering through a road during a rainstorm. The road leading to our cabin is exactly what I imagined.

I actually didn’t take a photo of the exact road that inspired me because when I went on a walk down it with my siblings, I completly forgot my camera :(
(but enjoy the photo of the road leading up to The Cabin, with my little brother).

Going back to the woods was a huge eye-opener just to scenery. There’s so much detail. So much going. Not just a flat dirt floor with some pine needles. A lot of inspiration from the woods is also put into a character who spent a few years living in it. I mean, who doesn’t want to try to survive here? I’m up for a challenge. So many places to hide.
These character really need to hide...

TUQ Reader's are frowning on why I’m including a river.
Yes, there is a river on entering the main woods and mountains, but in the second book of the series, a river plays a crucial role. 
(Enjoy a picture of my friend walking across the river because he wanted to climb a rock)
Really, I never thought of river’s in woods until I began thinking more about our woods. This river is huge and runs all throughout, some parts shallow, others rushing with deep water, where if you fall in you better hope for the best.

So. A HUGE component of the series is the Inn (**cough** more in later books **cough**) Inspired heavily by the cabin itself. (You can see my brother, and my two sisters on the deck).
Again.
Huge. Thing.
A huge setting component was inspired by a little place in the woods (of course I would move the stairs to face to the door to be more accurate, and it’d have to be a little bigger, but here is where it started).

The walkway.
Man, it’s an uphill run to the cabin, and I just get tired walking (I need more excersize). But look at the pretty trees as they shadow the walkway!
(Feat. my little sister’s dolls)

Now. The inside.
The cabin’s actually pretty small to what I imagine the Inn to look  like, but it has the same basic structure. Like this wall. Remove the dresser with stairs to an upper level and a loner hallway with more rooms and you got it. ;)

​Okay  now only because you read this whole thing, you get a picture of me being very intelligent :3


If you didn’t know already, the book series I mentioned throughout this “post” was my upcoming science-fantasy book series, The Unanswered Questions. You can learn more about it on my website!
 Thank you for reading, and I hoped you had a little fun along the way!
 

• ldf