15.02.2023
There Are Map People Among Us
As in the real world, even a simple construction for a fictional purpose needs a good bit of thought.
When characters move throughout their non-existent town they may need to be separated by time and distance, or to have others handily situated for a convenient coincidence. There are the seasons, the slant of the sun conducting shade, the light of the moon, the land’s natural features and the places discovered in childhood that call a character back - all seemingly positioned at random.
In the first instance, the plan for a map in The Last Promise was for a simple map; a reference at the back to give the reader a look at roads, buildings, and features, their position and relationship to each other. Until my friend, artist Julie Manthey, suggested I was making a HUGE mistake: “There are map people.” she said.
Up to that time—only weeks from the print deadline—a ‘simple map’ is all it had been; a source for the writing. The sheet of A4 had lain on the desk until the town’s layout had been internalised. Observed from all angles over time were the town’s goings-on, adjustments made to action in order to suit the story’s movement, where necessary. In time, that sheet of paper became a notepad of sorts, serving as a phone scribble-pad, even becoming lost, temporarily. Shown here is a major portion of the working document. Some scribbled notes have been digitally expunged for individuals’ right to privacy.
I now know there are map people among us. Julie’s charming illustration of the town of Clement—the last of six iterations—resides where map-people readers insist a map ought to be - at the front of the book.
Amapllgetchathere!
TA