I used to live an hour from London and hardly ever found the time to go, but when I moved to Tenerife, a day trip to London was an essential part of an visit home. I'm not sure why I ended up in Bloomsbury; I was probably looking for the British Museum. I spent a wonderful day watching dancers in the Brunswick centre, sitting in Russell Square and just walking. Although slightly chilly, the sun was bright enough to rose tint my glasses and I was touched by the place, so much so my next book is set there.
Fortunately, I also love Cardiff, which is where we returned to when when I finally persuaded my husband Tenerife is a daft place to live! But has Bloomsbury charmed anyone else? Or is there somewhere else you would like to offer as spellbinding and inspiring? I now live next to the mountain believed to be the inpiration for The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain. Reading the book and climbing the mountain are on my to do list; a bit like London when I lived so close. But I've realised location is a big part of my creative process, even though it usually turns out to be quite incidental to the plot of my book. How about you? Location, location, location?
I've never been to Richmond, but I've always intended to go as my mum used to skate there at the weekends as a child. She came from Ealing.
My husband comes from Enfield in North London. English people often have the impression the Welsh don't take to outsiders, but having spent a few months with him in Enfield, I don't think anywhere else could possibly beat the wholly unwelcome vibe. Inspirational, but for all the wrong reasons.
I've lived in London all my life. Have moved around a hell of a lot too, mostly in the North London area.
I frequently visit Bloomsbury as I work there. I enjoy the walk to work from Euston (I could get the tube all the way to Tottenham Court Road but the walk is nicer). The little squares that make up the area are intriguing. I love the little parks that form here and there.
I am too using the area in the novel I am writing at the moment, as well as North London.
It's a huge question, Victoria. I've put up a twin question as it's so important but I didn't want to divert the direction of your question. I don't know London hugely well, but it has magic in many places for sure. I don't know Bloomsbury. For me the magic has been Richmond and Sheen, the Cutty Sark and the Park and great Galleries, the Greenwich Observatory and its GMT, Chiswick, and Covent Garden.
Certain places pull in a pleasant or very unpleasant way.TC Lethbridge wrote about haunted places in Britain, and WHY or HOW they are experienced as haunted. He's useful to read up on for anyone writing ghost or horror stories.