Hi, all! Allow me to welcome fellow writer Liv Rancourt! She’s talking about weather and books!
Thanks, Michelle, for giving me the chance to appear as a guest on your blog. I love connecting with new readers!
I’ve been cruising the interwebs this morning, and it seems many, many people have opinions about the weather. Some are celebrating the fact that spring has sprung; others, not so much.
Sometimes it snows in April…
Prince had a point with that line. Of course, he was referring to how changeable relationships can be, but I want to take it in a bit of a different direction. When you’re writing, regardless of the length of the piece, the weather is as much a part of the setting as the rooms your characters move through.
Quick, which blond telepath likes to sunbathe in her bikini as soon as the sun comes out and considers a tan part of looking pretty?
Hint: Her ex-Viking boyfriend NEVER tans.
Charlaine Harris does amazing things with her Louisiana setting, making Bon Temps so realistic it just has to be on a map somewhere. As an example, there are a couple scenes in Definitely Dead where Sookie and Quinn are in her cousin’s New Orleans apartment, and the muggy heat reaches right out and grabs me here in soggy Seattle.
In Devon Monk’s Tin Swift: The Age of Steam, an awesome steampunk paranormal, the story is set in late fall somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, and the cold weather becomes as much of a threat as any of the enemies Cedar Hunt and his friends are facing. It increases the tension, because not only to they have to get away from the bad guys, they have to do it before winter starts to get serious.
And no one can predict when that blizzard’s going to happen.
Because, like the line from Prince’s song, sometimes it snows in April, and you have to be familiar enough with your location to know the little quirks that’ll make it ring true. I had a good learning experience while at a wedding in Aspen, Colorado. I’d never been to that part of the country, but the late September sunshine was absolutely gorgeous – warm but not hot, blue skies, and gorgeous gold-leafed aspen trees everywhere. On our arrival, the bride and groom gave every guest a gift pack that included bottled water and Chap-Stick. See, between the altitude and the clear skies, the air was really dry. I’ve never been a bigger fan of Chap-Stick in my life.
As a writer, I wouldn’t have known that without experiencing it, though I don’t mean you have to physically travel to your location before writing about it. (After all, Stephanie Meyer did a pretty decent job creating Forks, WA without every visiting.) You do need to do enough research to nail the details, or at least some of the details, to make the setting ring true. Then make your Seattle gloom or your oppressive humidity or your threatening blizzard work for you, to add another dimension to your plot.
So what about you, lovely readers? Do you live in a place where it snows in April? How do you go about researching something as subtle as the weather for your stories?
Peace & sunscreen,
Liv
My newest book, Forever & Ever, Amen, is available from Crimson Romance, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and ARe.
Sometimes you have to break the rules to do what’s right.
About Liv:
Liv Rancourt writes paranormal and romance, often at the same time. She lives with her husband, two teenagers, two cats and one wayward puppy. She likes to create stories that have happy endings, and finds it is a good way to balance her other job in the neonatal intensive care unit. Liv can be found on-line at her website & blog (www.livrancourt.com), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/liv.rancourt), or on Twitter (www.twitter.com/LivRancourt).
I don’t read a lot of romance, but I admire and appreciate those who can write it. I love to know what people are thinking and what inspires them, which is why I love the insights other authors bring to your site.
Thanks so much for stopping by, Caleb!
It’s fun to pay attention to how the author works with something as basic as the weather, no matter what the genre, Caleb. I’m glad you liked the post…Thanks so much!
And thanks again, Michelle, for the chance to be a guest here on Ye Olde Inkwell. Cool blog name, btw…
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Good info! I love all the different weather types that we can use to add flavor to our stories. It makes the story deeper and more “real” – thanks for the reminder of this important element to a story.
Thanks Jillian. You do a good job with that, in your most entertaining beach stories…
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thanks Liv! I appreciate it.
Nice post, Liv. Yes, it snows here in April. My last small snow pile on the top of my driveway melted away on April 2nd 🙂
I think weather adds a lot to a story. The cliche thunder and lightening in a scary story, but a blinding blizzard and a hurricane with trees creaking back and forth and finally breaking (both weather events we’ve had this year) are great for a setting.
Yeah, Deb, you’ve had tons of opportunity for weather research this year, haven’t you?! I think you’ve covered just about everything winter can do. Now maybe you need a nice tropical vacation. For research purposes, of course.
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Thanks for checking in…
You are correct. Weather plays as much a part of describing the scene as do the surroundings. Imagine not describing the bone chilling, snowy weather in “The Girl with The Dragon Tatoo?” It wouldn’t put the reader in the bleak setting. Since I write both Non and fiction works, it’s not as critical for the non-fiction works, but fiction?:Absolutely! When I wrote the historical vampire novel, it was critical describing the weather in Southern Poland.
Hmm…historical vampire novel in Poland? That sounds very cool. Have been toying with an idea for a historical vampire mystery set here in gloomy Seattle, and the weather will almost be another character.
Thanks for commenting, Jeff!
Yep. I took a few liberties with history and pitted two warring vampire clans against the Third Reich. Historically,it’s dead on. The vampires? Not so much. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Linell Jeppsen. She wrote a very similar book your describing; “The Hunt.” Very exciting. She has a small Indie store in Republic.
I’ll keep my eye out for Ms. Jeppson’s work. Thanks for the tip!
Sounds like a good read, Liv. Looking forward to cracking it open. And it snows right up to April in Buffalo and the surrounding areas all the time. Actually it snows periodically in May!!
Snow in May? That’s pushing the limits of rational behavior, don’t you think?
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Thanks for checking in, Cathrina. I hope the weather warms up for you!