I made a great discovery today as I began the opening chapter of my new novel. Although I'm a believer in visiting sites to get a real flavor of a location in a story, I wasn't ready to make a trip to New York. Since that's only where the story's opening occurs, and my main character may never return there, I didn't want to put out the price of a plane ticket, hotel, meals, etc. etc., for just one chapter and a few sentences to describe my main character's place of business.
And that's where friends kick in, followed by Google Maps and Street View. Perfect.
My friend, who knows NY well, suggested the address, and I simply Googled the street in Google Maps, then took a look around, zooming in for details, and zooming out for a long look at the neighborhood. Unbelievable how far our technology has taken us. Don't you just love it?
I remember in the 1990's when I was writing a novel that had a main character who lived in Newport, Rhode Island. Back then, no Google, and no Street View. So, I traveled there, and had a marvelous vacation, by the way, but also came away with photos of Rhode Island Sound and Newport mansions and street names and everything else I needed to create one or two lines of description in the novel that even Rhode Islanders would believe.
We've come a long way, baby, and I'm so glad we have.
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