Does the weather change your mood?

When you wake up some mornings and you know it’s going to snow, maybe the roads are already covered with a dangerous invisible layer of black ice, maybe the wind is a terrifying howl against your bedroom window, what do you do? Are you tempted to pull the covers back over your head?

I am a sensory girl. I live and breathe for the sun. I love rainbows. I love bright blue skies, and when I’m writing, I’ve incorporated a giant tip Maggie Stiefvater mentioned once on her blog: Always remember the weather. I went back into some of my favorite books and the bell went off in my head. Oh, yeah, and wow!

Follow along with me. Take a look at these two pictures. Take a moment to think how you feel when you  see them.

The first one, I smile. I want to lift my arms and spin around in the very grass underneath that bright huge sunshine. The warm breeze. The way the wind and the sun feels against my skin. And the flower? I’d just love to stand there and smell it.

The second one?

A shiver rushes all the way to my toes. I wonder what will happen. I wonder if it will hail and destroy something, how the wind must feel pressing against the giant buildings and shaking the windows. Is it raging in the streets? Will branches break if trees are around? Oh no, and then, what if the electricity blows and the lights go out-eek! I must admit,  I’m still afraid of the dark 😉

Weather In Your Life.

Think about the impact of weather in real life, too. My dad always checks in on me after a storm. My mom is constantly watching the weather and telling me when to be careful, texting me or calling me when she sees instant alerts in my area. We’ve been through a slew of bad weather in our lives with hail, funnel clouds, and yes, way too close to a few swirly tornadoes where we’d spent many nights in the basement of old churches. I think we even outran one once, being stuck in the middle of a wheat field. What about you? Do you worry about your family? Do you worry about the stray animals on the streets in the storms? I know my best friend T, worked at an animal rescue place in Denver. She made it all too real for me, what happens to animals who get lost from their human friends and caretakers in serious storms like Hurricane Katrina.

Weather As You’re Reading.

As you read one of your favorite author’s books, what happens to you when you come across a scene with a huge creepy storm just on the brink of the horizon? Do you feel your pulse rise? Do you worry about the characters in the story? Movies have been made alone, just on the one creep factor of the weather.

Weather As You’re Trying To Write.

Imagine now, if you’re trying to tell a story and you’re going for a certain feel. Your characters are in some moment. You have a really great scene you’ve already thought through, and what will the addition of weather do to your scene? For me, it adds a time and place element (another huge piece I plan to bring up at some point down the road). It sets the season for you with the color of the leaves, the feel of the wind, the storms and the surrounding trees. It just might be the icing on the cake you need for building a really great mood for the reader.

And Back To Life.

Living in Kansas City, Old Mother Nature sounds like she’d like to drop more snow and cold temperatures right on us this week. I’m rubbing my arms right now just thinking about it. My mind races with all the possibilities and the dangers, and then—and then I breathe. I think, what can I possibly do about it? I can prepare, and then I can live. And I’d rather live my day to every happy potential I possibly can.

That’s all I’ve got today, but stayed tuned for a couple of fun books I’ll be showcasing this week.

Happy Monday, and …