I started writing Here Comes Your Man on a plane. I was flying to Seattle to visit a friend, and I starting to imagine this guy named Garrett who travels constantly for work, keeps telling himself that he’s okay with it, but who is really just barely holding it together. I started with one line, which is still in the book: “Landing is always a near-death experience.”
I carried this new character around in my head the whole time I was in Seattle. It was my second visit to the city in just a few months, and setting the story there seemed like a fun and challenging way to put some distance between me, a lifelong Massachusetts resident, and this guy Garrett, a fellow New Englander who had relocated to Seattle for college and never left.
So, with lots of help from my friend in the area, I started doing research—figuring out where Garrett would live, work, and spend his free time. Once I’d developed ideas about all of this, I went back and visited all of the places I’d imagined using, just hanging out and taking notes, sometimes getting new ideas or changing my mind completely.
The action of Here Comes Your Man is set in a number of real places that you can still visit—like Macrina Bakery and Mama’s Mexican Kitchen—and a few other places that existed during the story’s 1999-2000 timeframe, but are no longer around, like The Sit & Spin.
In the end, my hope is that Seattleites will enjoy my depiction of their beautiful city, and that I've given others a feeling for the place. I for one can't wait to go back!
I carried this new character around in my head the whole time I was in Seattle. It was my second visit to the city in just a few months, and setting the story there seemed like a fun and challenging way to put some distance between me, a lifelong Massachusetts resident, and this guy Garrett, a fellow New Englander who had relocated to Seattle for college and never left.
So, with lots of help from my friend in the area, I started doing research—figuring out where Garrett would live, work, and spend his free time. Once I’d developed ideas about all of this, I went back and visited all of the places I’d imagined using, just hanging out and taking notes, sometimes getting new ideas or changing my mind completely.
The action of Here Comes Your Man is set in a number of real places that you can still visit—like Macrina Bakery and Mama’s Mexican Kitchen—and a few other places that existed during the story’s 1999-2000 timeframe, but are no longer around, like The Sit & Spin.
In the end, my hope is that Seattleites will enjoy my depiction of their beautiful city, and that I've given others a feeling for the place. I for one can't wait to go back!