Frank Sinatra famously sang that Chicago was “His kind of town.” To borrow on that theme from Ol’ Blue
Eyes, Green Bay, Wisconsin is my kind of town. It’s my hometown, born and raised; lived here all my life, save for my years of schooling in Chicago. Therefore, when I was recently asked the question: “Why did you choose Green Bay for the setting of ‘The Chemist,’” some illuminating thoughts came to mind.
Writing’s oldest adage is: “Write what you know.” And I know my hometown. I know the streets, the attitude of the citizenry, the dark nooks and crannies, the frightening woods on the outskirts of the city. I also know the people, what’s in their hearts, their likes, their dislikes, their tolerances.
As it happened, I wanted a mid-sized city as the location for my story. I needed to understand the geography in order to be accurate with locales and descriptions. I also desired a mixed ethnic population for my characters — this aids in developing their backstory. In a city where the district attorney, the police chief, investigations captain, and multiple homicide detectives and policemen can be counted on as personal friends, it made the most sense. Not to mention also knowing numerous defense attorneys. Such being the case, if I ever encountered a question or needed to fact-check, a simple phone call was all that was required. A perfect fit for any crime writer.
But I still had one troubling question to resolve, and that was addressing the story’s premise: Can a mid-sized city of 120,000 inhabitants lend itself credibly to a plot filled with serial kidnapping and human trafficking? The answer was simple: Why not? Are we not constantly surprised when we learn that some serial whack-job comes from Small Town, USA? The fact is, many of our most notorious monsters commit their deviant acts in small-to-mid-sized cities. Examples are easy to find: Dennis Rader, Wichita, Kansas; John Wayne Gacy, Des Plaines, Illinois; Arthur Gary Bishop, Cedar Fort, Utah …. Even Ed Gein, from little old Plainfield, Wisconsin.
Crime happens just as easily in small cities as it does in large metropolitan areas. Knowing the area, as well as how the citizenry of Green Bay would react to a rampant serial criminal operating in their midst, gave me the green light to proceed. I feel that choosing the proper setting for telling a story is integral to the plot; the location sits like a silent brooding character, overseeing all, yet breathing life into the story. Thus setting my crime story in Green Bay was no great stretch.
Sadistic killers, it seems, regardless of the degree or level of deviance, can pop up anywhere. Even in your kind of town.
