Any story, whether contemporary or fantasy needs worldbuilding. Most of my previous stories have been based in Nelson, and I’ve created businesses to fit into that the actual world, but I’ve named streets that don’t actually exist. It’s all for the sake of privacy.
For my Men in Kilts series, I wanted to have a seaside town, that was fictional, and I didn’t want it to relate to any existing town, so I created Tuivale. It’s a popular tourist spot, being on the gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park. With a population of around 2,500 people, the numbers swell during the summer season when visitors arrive to start the Abel Tasman Track and visit the golden sand beaches to sunbathe.
Tuivale has a town centre, complete with a supermarket, two cafe’s, two restaurants and a pub called the Highlanders Arms. The restaurant based at the pub is called the Kilt and Kirtle. There’s a garage for all the mechanical needs, along with a car parts shop, a handyman complex that sells outdoor living and plants. There is also a beautician and women’s wear shop. There’s even an engineering workshop, where the first of my protagonist’s work.
There’s a school that caters for years 1 – 8, but they will have to head to Motueka High School to complete Year 9 – 13. There is a small facility in Tuivale, however, that caters for the small number of people who are in apprenticeship training, called the New Zealand Training Institute. It looks after those doing apprenticeships, including the studying part of their training.
There is a sports complex next to a sports field, which provides for soccer, netball, rugby, rugby league and hockey. The inside facilities cater to pickleball, basketball, squash, badminton, and has a rock-climbing wall. One of the inside arena’s also plays host to the occasional Roller Derby tournament.
There is a First Responders Station where the fire brigade is based with easy access to the main road, along with an ambulance and a one officer police station. There is a small emergency department and maternity suite at the First Responders Station.
Tuivale is a popular place for young professionals – but not a yuppie haven. There are a few retired people who live there, but they are in the minority. The average age is about 45. Most of my heroes and heroines are in their late twenties to mid-fifties – with a variety of tropes to cater for every story, like age gap, fake dating, one bed, boy next door, best friend’s sister,
Over the next few weeks you’ll get to meet some of the people who populate the town, and some of them will have books of their own to tell their love story.
Next week we’ll meet some of the people who populate Tuivale.
