Hot Chili reads like a TV show, with episodes grouped into seasons.
You'll follow the ups and downs of a rock band, and the lyrics of their songs are an integral part of the plot. Hot Chili is not a "song-fic" in the traditional sense, as the lyrics don't belong to any known artist—they're entirely original creations.
With that in mind, this novel is an Anglo-French melting pot. You'll be invited to consider how certain puns or wordplay might work in both languages. The story takes place in a Fictional State with anglophone leanings (school system, healthcare system, etc.), which frees me from some real-world constraints. I navigate more easily through my imaginary cities than through a Parisian, New York, or Brazilian setting.
That said, my characters live in our world—they'll cross the Atlantic, sightsee in Milan, study in Oxford, walk the streets of Venice, or go on a cruise to Macao…
Since I couldn't settle on a name for this Fictional State, I decided it simply wouldn't have one. A fully intentional quirk—you'll soon notice how little this absence matters. For context, it's a vast archipelago, somewhat like Australia, located on the Pacific Plate, stretching from the Tropic of Cancer down toward the latitude of Guatemala. It's neither in Asia nor on the American continent but is close enough to the U.S. to justify using the dollar as its currency.
As for the climate, since this archipelago straddles the Tropic of Cancer, it allows for a Mediterranean climate in the north—with cold extremes in the far north—and a tropical climate in the south, with very hot or even arid zones in the center.
Finally, the Fictional State won't be my only invention. The Hot Chili Universe (HCU) spans everything from cosmetics to agribusiness, media to fashion, music to academia and politics.
With that—enjoy the "viewing"!