We've got below zero and dangerous wind chill in the forecast for the Chicago area Thursday night going into Friday. Already there's a mix of snow and ice on sidewalks, streets and parking lots. It's difficult navigating around even if you're in a car. Good time to stay home, keep warm and read a book, but not everyone can do that.
Those who experience winter weather in states like Illinois and tons of other places know all too well how can impact their lives.
Along with other winter scenes, my romantic suspense,
Killer Career, shows two of the main characters looking for a missing dog in a snow covered backyard. Their shocking discovery heightens the feeling that something is amiss.
Have you written a book where winter weather plays a part in the setting or plot?
Or, maybe you'd like to recommend someone else's.
Let me get this out of the way: I live in Arizona.
ReplyDeleteI'm not one of those warm weather snobs. I'm an AZ native, and have been to other climes where you get all four seasons, unlike southern Arizona. We miss nature's majesty out here in the Sonoran desert.
My book Stranger on the Shore is about a Lake Effect Snowstorm. Author, Jordan Blake's life is disrupted when a body shows up on her shore and she rescues the stranger. Unfortunately, once he comes to, he has amnesia. Worse, Jordan is strangely attracted to the man.
ReplyDeleteIt's due out March 1st at Muse It Up Publishing -
http://tinyurl.com/4q96vtn
The first to come to mind book wise is The Chronicles of Narnia when they come out of the closet into Narnia. {I'm feeling a need for something magical and adventurous today...lol}
ReplyDeleteThe Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is a great choice, Farrah. It's very magical.
ReplyDeleteI like books set during Christmastime, and I'm from New England, so that means snow.
My latest children's book manuscript is set on Christmas Eve. I'm finalizing the edits next week and hope to send it off to the publisher by the end of the month.
Cheryl
Wayyy too many to name them all, but let's try a few.
ReplyDeleteDANCE WITH THE DEVIL by Sherrilyn Kenyon involves one of the Greek goddesses trapping a Dark Hunter in a cabin and creating a storm outside, to keep him there for the period of judging. Zarek (the DH) lives in Alaska, and winter weather features heavily in his book.
TEMPEST'S GIFT by Robin Leigh Miller involves a young magic user with the power to control weather. The one problem is, her power is out of control. A snowstorm is battering the state, and she can't stop it...until she takes her rightful mate, which she doesn't want to do. Once they end up in the same place, the weather conspires to trap them together until she comes to her senses.
STORM OF THE CENTURY is a great little Stephen King horror that centers around a supernatural murderer that shows up during a blizzard and makes a horrible bargain with the town.
The one that comes immediately to mind, from my own books, is FAIRY DREAMS. I have a scene where the two main characters have to escape the law and return to the fairy realm in the midst of a snowstorm. To complicate matters? She's injured, she's pregnant, and she's too new a flier to fly in high winds. Oh...and let's not forget the mob with rifles trying to catch them.
Brenna Lyons
Oh, Narnia is a winner! Always winter and never Christmas.
ReplyDeleteB
Most of my series takes place in the South, so not a lot of 'winter' weather. However, part of Book IV takes place in New Mexico, so I got to dump some snow on my characters!
ReplyDeleteMorgan, I've got a WIP in which winter weather will take a part. It's set during Christmas time between Boston, MA, Brattleboro VT, and St. Petersburg, Russia. Should be fun. hehe
ReplyDeleteMy upcoming release The Count's Lair takes place during Christmas time in Hungary, and the finale where the hero and villian face off, take place during a snowstorm.
Smiles
Steph
Hi Morgan,
ReplyDeleteThe worst kind of weather in my books are thunderstorms. I never realized how I avoided writing about wintry weather until your post!
But I agree with an earlier post - The Chronicles of Narnia is a great wintry weather choice.
Maggie
who writes of sunny skies in the South
http://mudpiesandmagnolias.blogspot.com
I could see how winter could play a very intriguing setting for a vast array of stories. Chill Factor by Sandra Brown comes to mind. I remember reading it, snuggled on the couch with a blanket of snow covering everything outside!
ReplyDeleteWe have winter weather here in central TX, but nothing like the north and east. I planned to go to the grocery store today but the temps are dropping and the wind is howling. I think it's down into the 40s already. I'm staying home. I set my stories in the area where I live so winter doesn't play a big role.
ReplyDeleteI know here in Northeast PA we're supposed to get 6 inches of snow tonight into Friday. It's like Mother Nature forgot to turn off the faucet with all of this snow.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Nicole
Tribute Books
Hank Phillippi Ryan's "Drive Time" has a very vivid scene of driving in the snow and ice in Boston. -- Brenda
ReplyDeleteI used to live in the midwest and now live in Australia. Even over four years on, it still takes a little adjusting to have no snow in winter.
ReplyDeleteI haven't written any winter scenes or books with winter, but I would like to.
Well, there's my hockey hero book, Thin Ice, which takes place in Minnesota in February...so I guess that counts. There is a scene with a snowstorm, come to think about it. My other two are set in summer.
ReplyDeleteOk, this is so funny because you are look for scary winter stories and the only thing that came to mind was an old Laura Engels Wilder from when I was a kid from when they were stuck in a blizzard and they had to tunnel their way out. LOL!! So funny that's what came to my mind. I'm from the midwest and grew up with lots of snow and now I live in TX and don't ever get to see it. I actually miss it!
ReplyDeleteMy current WIP is set in regency England during 1816, the year with no summer. Europe and America suffered almost a mini ice age because of a volcano eruption they knew nothing about. Having no summer, food shortages, deaths due to cold, etc. play havoc even with the aristocracy. Makes for an intersting problem
ReplyDeleteNadine Doolittle's ICED UNDER. A brilliant, under-sung tale of literary suspense set in Canada.
ReplyDeleteOne day perhaps I can suggest my own winter mystery, but alas, the time is not now!
Love reading over all these choices. Good post, Morgan.
Michelle V--my daughter and I just finished THE LONG WINTER by Laura Ingalls Wilder--North Dakota in the 1800s, about as wintry as it gets :)
Hi Morgan,
ReplyDeleteAs it happens, my most recent release, ALMOST HOME, focuses on a New England blizzard. In this erotic romance, the heroine grew up in Massachusetts but has been living in California for a decade and doesn't remember how to drive in the snow... I had a lot of fun writing this because I now live in the tropics, so I haven't really had snow for 8 years.
Best,
Lisabet
I detest winter. DETEST. It's one of the reasons I now live in London, where a flake of snow sends everyone into a blind panic! Stay safe and warm!
ReplyDeleteI typically love winter, but this one has been colder than normal. I live in southwestern Ohio. It's all the way up to six degrees out there now. BRRRRR! Single digits!
ReplyDeleteMy WIP starts out with a chilly fall day. Winter scenes are in a later chapter. In some parts the MC recalls her childhood in a northern winter climate.
Hope you stay warm!
hello guys
ReplyDeleteI never realized how I avoided writing about wintry weather until your post!
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