Let me be very clear.... I never said that adding real-life events to stories is wrong or wasn't right or anything of the sort. I just made a point to say that some authors use WAY too many real life events as if they are trying to write an autobiography. It's called fan fiction for a reason, why not add some fiction to it? The boys haven't hired anybody to write their story professionally .
For instance, I'm reading Hannah's "Borrowed Time." it's about real events but she adds enough FICTION into it that makes it enjoyable. In fact, I love it and can't wait til I get time to read more.
As for locations, unless I've been there personally, whether it's my comfort zone or not, I don't want to write about it. Granted, I write about Los Angeles a lot, but that's because you see it all the time on television, etc. Does that make me a bad writer? No it does not.