Blog Post 4: Story Locations

Story Locations: Why Geneva Matters

Every location in "Blood and Brilliance" is a place I've walked, driven, or camped. I've crossed northern Montana six times - by car, van, train, and motorcycle - even in winter heading to ski at Whitefish. I've camped in Zermatt gazing at the Matterhorn, driven the Rhone Valley, and stayed along Lake Geneva's shores.

The American settings are equally personal. I've driven the entire West Coast from Vancouver to Tijuana, explored every Rocky Mountain national park from Montana to the Grand Canyon, and wandered through Yosemite down to Death Valley. The Central Valley, Reno, the mountain forests - I know these places intimately.

My travels extend beyond the novel's geography: two years stationed in Hawaii as a Marine, three weeks in Kenya during election season, sailing the Florida Keys, crossing the Great Plains countless times. Each place leaves its mark on how you see the world.

But I deliberately started this story in Geneva, not San Francisco.

Silicon Valley's AI culture is powerful and fascinating - I follow it closely, read books by its famous creators. But starting there would have constrained Q's development. The academic and startup ecosystem would have pulled my AI character toward existing models rather than something genuinely different.

Geneva offered creative freedom. Away from Silicon Valley's gravitational pull, I could explore brain chips inspired by Neuralink, but develop them along unexpected paths. The Rutgers could meet at Baby-Plage beach, Marguerite could wear her scarlet bracelet, and Q could evolve from European scientific collaboration rather than venture capital pressure.

This geographical choice shaped everything. Q emerges from careful scientific need, not market disruption. The story spans from Alpine valleys to the Wild Village near the Northern Rockies, where eventually the first European castle with rock walls rises in America - a fusion of Old World craftsmanship and New World wilderness.

Sometimes you need distance to see clearly. Geneva gave me that distance, letting me wonder, wander, and behold possibilities that Silicon Valley's proximity might have obscured.