Every novel has a place where its characters can finally think.

For LumaSynchrony, that place is Washington Square in San Francisco’s historic North Beach neighborhood.

Surrounded by cafés, neighborhood life, and the iconic Washington Square Park, with Saints Peter and Paul Church standing watch across the lawn, the square is one of the city’s true gathering places. Families picnic beneath the trees, friends meet over coffee, musicians drift through the neighborhood, and on sunny afternoons the park becomes the living room of North Beach.

In LumaSynchrony, it serves another purpose.

When Raine and his closest friend, Craig, need to discuss what cannot be spoken anywhere else, they come to Washington Square. Away from offices, phones, and hidden microphones, the constant movement of people and the open air provide something increasingly rare in a technological world: the possibility of a private conversation.

Those conversations become the heart of the novel.

As the two friends begin uncovering the dangerous operations surrounding Mike and his organization, they realize that finding the truth is only the beginning. Proving it without becoming targets themselves is another challenge entirely.

Washington Square becomes more than a backdrop. It is where ideas are tested, trust is strengthened, and impossible decisions begin to take shape. The park reminds us that even in a city filled with technology, some of the most important moments still happen face to face, beneath open skies.

If you visit North Beach, take a few minutes to sit in the square. You may find yourself standing in the very place where the journey of LumaSynchrony quietly changes direction.