Guest Blog: PN Johnson - Writing On Location

Author PN Johnson’s new international mystery thriller ‘Murder in the Blue’, was researched and part written on location in the stunning Greek islands. As Phil, who writes as PN Johnson explains, plotting and writing on location is the best way to bring his stories to life.  

If I’m setting a novel in a such fabulous locations as Murder in the Blue, then for me, it’s essential to soak up the warm blue skies and immerse myself in the beautiful blue waters of Greece.

My previous novel, ‘Run to the Blue’, which ‘Murder in the Blue’ follows on from, was set largely in the Ionian islands of Paxos and Corfu. This time my heroes move through the Corinth Canal and sail to the stunning Aegean islands. I know these areas well, having sailed the Greek islands for 20 years.  The locations – and there are many – are all places I have visited numerous times. Eash has its own flavour and feel. Even Lochos, the only made-up island name in the book, actually exists and is Dokos, near Hydra. It really does hide a secretive, unexcavated and protected archaeological site.

 The first time nosed our small sailing boat through the entrance to the Corinth Canal, that amazing piece of human ingenuity which dissects Greece, I knew I had to include it a book. The awe-inspiring passage through towering white walls and technicolour blue water had to be brought into a story, and Murder in the Blue was a perfect opportunity. My main lead character, Tess Anderson is taken aback, as I was, by the amazing way you enter the canal from the west side, and watch the road literally disappear under the water.

It may be a romantic and seductive setting, but for TV reporter Tess Anderson and her rock star lover Jason, this is no holiday, and danger, murder and mysteries await. I wrote quite a few scenes of the book on the boat, sitting in harbours, on quaysides and whilst sailing, sometimes accompanied by dolphins, all of which is reflected in the novel. There’s no way of getting closer to your action than being where it actually happens, and, when I was unsure of how the story would develop, I wrote notes, took photographs, and let Tess just tell me.

Writing on location lets you taste the air, see the light, feel the temperature and hear the sounds that wrap themselves around you and bring the landscape to life. There is simply no substitute. I wrote scenes for the second of my two new novels coming out this year - ‘Killer on the Set’, whilst touring Spain and France with my wife in a campervan. Of course, not every writer can visit every location they want to use, but for me, I write about the ones I can, and ones I have visited myself, so I can take the reader with me and try to bring the locations alive. Maybe it will inspire them to go there themselves one day too, with of course, a perfect summer read!  

Murder in the Blue by PN Johnson, the Sequel to Run to the Blue, is published by Castle Priory Press and available now as an ebook or paperback.  

https://mybook.to/MurderInTheBlue