Setting for the Intertwined Series
I first traveled to Wilmington, North Carolina back in 2006 and had no idea at the time that it would soon become the setting for my Intertwined Series, a series I’d been more or less working on since I was fourteen years old. Known by locals as Hollywood of the East and Wilmywood, I’d initially gone there with my mom after watching Dawson’s Creek and One Tree Hill, intent on exploring its beautiful filming locations, only to fall in love with the people and the culture and the history. God, the history!
It truly is an undiscovered gem. Well, to everyone but filmmakers, apparently. If you ever find yourself in the Carolinas, do not pass up the opportunity to explore this gorgeous city. I traveled here a few times, once in 2006, again in 2008 and again with my husband on our honeymoon in 2015. That’s right! After seeing pictures of my previous travels here, he wanted to make it our honeymoon destination! At first, I was like, “Say what? You want to go here? Not Europe? The Bahamas? Here?” to which he said, “I want to see where my baby came up with her novels.” Uh, yeah, how can I argue with that? Not only was it the sweetest thing ever, but we ended up having a blast! And, to top it off, I came back with even more inspiration for the final draft of Intertwined and the initial drafts of Tethered. Needless to say, I plan to one day make it my summer home.
Below, you’ll find pics of the most prominent settings throughout the series, from downtown historic Wilmington where you’ll see views of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and the Riverwalk, to the beaches of Southport where we boarded a ferry to Bald Head Island and explored the infamous Bald Head lighthouse (one of my favorite scenes from Tethered), then venture to Wrightsville Beach where you’ll see Johnny Mercer Pier (can you guess what scene that was?), and lastly the Fort Anderson Ruins, which, in the book, sits adjacent to the Jefferson Plantation, but in actuality, sits adjacent to the Orton Plantation, a gorgeous estate that I once toured and took pictures of, but, sadly, lost when my computer crashed. The Jefferson Plantation is largely inspired by the Orton setting, right down to the big white renaissance style mansion, the little chapel by the cemetery and the gardens and marshes. The only thing that isn’t there is the slave cabins. For a time, I actually thought they were there, they’re that vivid in my mind. Take a look and if you can guess which scenes occurred in each picture, leave it in the comments!
Jenn Marie 