Write What You Know

I like to set my stories in locations I've either lived in or know well from having visited there. Even if I don't necessarily use the name of the town, the basis for where they're living can be found in a very real setting. For example, in A Mystic Romance the story starts in NYC then goes to Seattle, where I've been on a mini vacation, and Mystic, CT, where I've been several times on mini vacations.

The new story, A Ghost of a Chance, is going to start in northern New Jersey then move to the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire. I lived in northern NJ for a dozen years and am very familiar with the areas I'm writing about, though I've not been living there for eight years so I've had to Google a bit to get building names, landmarks, street names, and so on correct. The rest of the story is going to take place on a farm that is actually located in Alstead but is going to be moved to Keene for my story and the land be changed, like it isn't going to be huge fields or a brook. The only parts that will be included are the garage with a apartment above it and the main farmhouse, and maybe some other features like the old outhouse and small garden behind the house.

Do you write about the places around you? Or do you prefer to create new worlds?