Is Landow Creek real?

After writing my debut novel, The Inheritance, I discovered people have questions about a few details in the story. I attempted to answer some in the Author’s Note at the end of the novel, but many more have been asked.

Just so we are all on the same page, (see what I did there) I thought I would answer a few in blog posts. If you don’t see your question answered, drop me a line and I’ll add it to the list for a future post.

Is Landow Creek, MO a real place?

The village of Landow Creek is not on a map, although Dunklin County, MO is a real county in Southeastern Missouri, also known as the “Bootheel”.

I wanted a fictional location where I could place buildings, houses, streets, and people in a way that suits the story. It is however, loosely modeled after the village where I grew up—Brownstown, IL, although with imaginary changes.

This is one of the best parts of writing fiction. Taking parts of real things, moving them around and adapting to the story I want to tell.

The next question I’ll address is whether the house, which features prominently in The Inheritance and makes a surprising comeback in The Sacred Woods is also real.