White whale in the big smoke: How the geography of London inspired Moby-Dick

Maybe not quite in the same league, but I loved hearing how Iain M. Banks was influenced to write about really big spaceships by living in North Queensferry in Scotland where you are in the shadow of the Forth Bridge - which looks particularly spectacular from that angle.

[Of course, Iain Banks did also write a novel influenced by the very same Bridge that includes a nearby city that features a a lot of volcanism].