As I research (yes, I do -- I approach The Casebook of Elisha Grey series as historical fiction even though I label it science fiction) what Hanunnah (Turtle Island, also known as North America) would have looked like during the time of Atlantis I'm also considering places known to this day that most likely would have existed during that time.
Why? Because I need a setting for new crimes, brought to Elisha Grey's attention by a rehabilitated gem smuggler, Walela Pearl.
It's not easy envisioning what the North American continent may have been during the time of Atlantis. Key element: displacement of water by a continent between North America and Africa. Think of all the places along the southeastern area of the present United States that are at, or in some cases below, sea level, and you get the idea -- they would have been underwater. One example: the Mississippi River may have actually been a wide inlet splitting the continent so that it looked like a large mitten.
But that's not the only criteria. Why would Atlanteans be coming to Hanunnah? In part, it's because of the pastoral surroundings, so different from the bustle of their advanced civilization, the healing hot springs, and the mesmerizing energetics of quartz crystals, and the economic opportunities for exploiting resources.
Even in this seemingly peaceful place, greed raises its head, and where that happens, crime does as well.
Research is fun.
Photo: Elliot Fine Minerals