/*from pinterest*/

This is the real Lost Lake in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.

There is also a Lost Lake in fictional Bandit Creek. Here’s what the Bandit Creek Bible says about the lake:

Lost Lake covers the Old Town and there are many rumors and stories generated about the waters. Some say there is something in the lake . . . perhaps a creature, although there is no proof of such. Others say the lake is bottomless in some areas. This could be the flooded mine shafts.

Divers come from all over the world to enter Lost Lake and Old Town that lies at the bottom. Both residents and tourists have drowned or disappeared in the lake throughout its history.

Ghost Lake, Alberta, CanadaGhost Lake, Alberta, Canada

This is a real lake in Alberta, Canada. It’s called Ghost Lake. (This would also have been a good name for Lost Lake, Bandit Creek.)

In THE GHOST AND CHRISTIE MCFEE, my heroine spends some time diving in Lost Lake. I decided to give Bandit Creek’s Lost Lake the same characteristics as Ghost Lake in Alberta.

Ghost Lake, Alberta, CanadaGhost Lake, Alberta, Canada

The water is cool. 16 to 18 degrees Celsius (60.8 F – 64.4 Fahrenheit)
Surface elevation = 3898 feet
Average depth = 48 feet
Maximum depth (that we know about ) = 112 feet

If you are a writer, do you choose real places for your settings and then modify them?
If you are a reader, do you like to know how a setting came to be?