Getting to know Hero’s Tribute

Leading up to the release of “Hero’s Tribute” I’ll comment on some of the characters/scenes/themes. Think of it as an inside look into the making of the book. First up – the town of Talking Creek.

It was essential that the story took place in a small town. Much of the plot centered on Wes, the reporter, not quite feeling a part of the community but needing to delve into the relationships the town hero had formed over the years.

But which town? I wanted it to be set in North Georgia, have a local college or university and be the headquarters of a daily newspaper that circulated to the surrounding communities. Rome was a possibility, but was a little bigger than I’d like. Waleska was home to a small liberal arts college, but on the small side. In the end, I used a little creative license and moved the town of Montevallo, Alabama, a few hundred miles, renaming it Talking Creek.

I spent a good chunk of my childhood in Montevallo and have tons of good memories to draw from. Capture the flag at the Boy Scout lodge. Riding my bike into town to get a soda and candy bar from Smitherman’s pharmacy. Playing baseball at the little league field and eating a juicy hamburger after the game across the street. The town is home to the Montevallo Bulldogs, whom I spent watching as a kid for almost a decade before my family moved to Seattle. Our house was close enough to hear the high school band warm up before marching to the stadium, and every home game it seemed like the entire population relocated to the bleachers. Touch football, running around the track playing tag, raising the American flag as a Boy Scout – all of those images came flooding back when I began writing about Talking Creek. The town also boasts a university – with brick roads and spooky ghost stories from the 1800-era buildings. It was almost like a homecoming of sorts putting the characters into a familiar setting.

Part of the enjoyment of writing “Hero’s Tribute” was adding bits and pieces of my own story in the background. In the end I wanted Talking Creek to be a place that families would want to raise their children, and a place that those on the outside looking in would recognize as a close-knit community. For me, that will always be Montevallo.