Susan and John Ruff, Fantasy Authors

Travel provides one of my most consistent sources of writing inspiraton. Because John and I typically write high fantasy, we seldom use real world locations in our books, but actual places can still be the basis for some of our fantasy settings.

I thought it might be fun to start a photo page highlighting some of the places that have inspired scenes in our books, along with a short explanation of the scene they influenced. Of course, the fantasy locations in our stories are never exactly like their real world inspirations, but you can judge how much they differ from the original. Enjoy!

-Susan January 1, 2026.

A Crusader-era tower on the Island of Rhodes. Although I did not have this photo specifically in mind when John and I wrote our novella Coins for the Counter, I’m pretty that my memories of this tower and others like it on Rhodes provided the inspiration for the ruined tower that housed the Wharf Road regional tax office in the story. (Photo by S. Ruff 2001.)