My agent suggested it. It was originally set in Toronto but I guess Americ-centric stories will appeal to a 'wider' audience. Well, okay. I wanna get published so whatever no big.
The problem is I want the place to be big city-ish. I also want it to be somewhere around a large body of water where there's a harbour nearby that also doubles as a commercial-ish area --> ie, people walk past this large body of water, there are shops near it, etc. I might keep it around Lake Ontario, but I don't necessarily have to.
I don't want it to be New York City or anything though because I just don't know enough about that city to portray it believably. Then again I don't know much about ANY American city so I guess I'm screwed either way. Unless...I don't know. NYC is just a big beast to tackle if you really don't know much about it. Plus it's rather cliche.
Maybe somewhere in New York State? She goes to a really rich private school on scholarship (NOT a boarding school), so it has to be a place that would believably have such a school and a population of rich kids able to attend it. I chose Toronto specifically because it, like other big cities I suppose, have those divisions of classes (and is also multicultural - the school itself is multicultural so the city should also be...right?)
On top of that, my main character is black (with Nigerian roots, like me) and lower middle class but lives in a somewhat suburban-ish area. I need to set the story in a place where she could believably live (preferably a multicultural area).
I don't know, it was easier to set this in Toronto, but now that I have to set this in America it's just creating whole new problems for me. At the same time I'm trying to get published by American publishers who probably prefer everything to be Americentric unless there's a really good reason not to be (ie - about some other so-called 'exotic' country or time period, if not an entirely different world). It's a bit of a headache but I've at least conceded to that since it's pretty much the way the industry is so....
Anyway, if you can help me out, I'd really really appreciate it.
The problem is I want the place to be big city-ish. I also want it to be somewhere around a large body of water where there's a harbour nearby that also doubles as a commercial-ish area --> ie, people walk past this large body of water, there are shops near it, etc. I might keep it around Lake Ontario, but I don't necessarily have to.
I don't want it to be New York City or anything though because I just don't know enough about that city to portray it believably. Then again I don't know much about ANY American city so I guess I'm screwed either way. Unless...I don't know. NYC is just a big beast to tackle if you really don't know much about it. Plus it's rather cliche.
Maybe somewhere in New York State? She goes to a really rich private school on scholarship (NOT a boarding school), so it has to be a place that would believably have such a school and a population of rich kids able to attend it. I chose Toronto specifically because it, like other big cities I suppose, have those divisions of classes (and is also multicultural - the school itself is multicultural so the city should also be...right?)
On top of that, my main character is black (with Nigerian roots, like me) and lower middle class but lives in a somewhat suburban-ish area. I need to set the story in a place where she could believably live (preferably a multicultural area).
I don't know, it was easier to set this in Toronto, but now that I have to set this in America it's just creating whole new problems for me. At the same time I'm trying to get published by American publishers who probably prefer everything to be Americentric unless there's a really good reason not to be (ie - about some other so-called 'exotic' country or time period, if not an entirely different world). It's a bit of a headache but I've at least conceded to that since it's pretty much the way the industry is so....
Anyway, if you can help me out, I'd really really appreciate it.
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