The simple answer is because it's home.
I've lived my whole life in Washington State. I wouldn't set a story somewhere I've never been. Every location in these books is a place I've actually visited and spent time in. I know what it looks like in late summer. I know what the roads feel like. I know how far it is between towns.
That matters.
I'm not interested in building a setting off Google Maps. If I write about a valley, it's one I've stood in. If I write about the coast, it's one I've walked. The realism comes from that. These are real places, and the needs of the people in the story match the geography.
Another reason is simple too. Most people think "Washington" and picture Seattle. That's not the whole state. Not even close.
We have dry wheat country. Fishing towns. Timber communities. River valleys. Isolated peninsulas. Small farming towns. High desert. I wanted to highlight those places — the parts of Washington that don't get national attention but are just as real.
My work history plays into this as well. I've worked across this state as a telecom tech, operations manager, and in local government. I've been in central offices, county buildings, rural shops, coastal towns, and farming communities. I've seen how infrastructure actually functions in these places, and what people rely on.
So when Book One centers on a valley that needs communication across it, that isn't random. The Methow Valley fit well, but there are other valleys here that could work too. Book Two moves to the coast, which gives you salt, weather, and isolation. Book Three shifts to farming country, where abundance becomes the problem. Washington has all of that without leaving the state.
The specific locations aren't sacred. The realism is.
Washington also has incredible variety. Rainforest. Desert. High plains. Mountains. Volcanoes. Ocean coastline. Inland sound. Marsh. Arid scrub. It's like every biome packed into one state. You can drive a few hours and feel like you're somewhere completely different.
That gives the series room to grow while staying grounded.
If someone says, "You only set it there because you live there," I'd say yes. Exactly.
I live here. I've worked here. I understand how these communities function. That makes the rebuilding feel believable. The problems make sense. The solutions don't feel forced.
If I'm going to write about rediscovering foundations, it makes sense to start from my own.