Coffee and Conversation with the #RomanceGems

It's time for Coffee and Conversation with the Romance Gems! So, grab a cup of your favorite beverage and join us for some fun. This month's topic is: Weather In Your Books 

We’ve all heard the phrase…April showers bring May flowers. But what do they bring to your books? 

Weather is a great tool authors can use to set a mood or set things into motion. Snowed in by a blizzard or frightened by a thunderstorm? Maybe a twister or Nor’easter slams through your fictitious town? A kiss in the rain, or a downed plane? 

Share one of your books where weather plays a major roll. Let’s talk!

“Kentucky Rain. Elvis Presley sang the song. I used it as a title for a romance novel, and in the opening and closing scenes. “Scott moved toward her and took her into his arms. There, in the crowded asphalt parking lot at dinner time, he hugged her and kissed her. A car drove by and honked. They ignored it. They ignored the raindrops that began to fall.” ~ Jan Scarbrough

“Weather affects me while I'm writing--a rainy or snowy day will make the word count soar--but I don't think I use it that much IN writing. One exception was in The Happiness Pact, when a tornado ripped through the Lake Miniagua community, destroying the heroine's business. Living where tornadoes are "popular," the description was easy, but the emotions were real enough to make it uncomfortable to write. I loved it!” ~ Liz Flaherty

A moment from Wild Card Undercover – book 1 in the Love on the Line series (currently only 99c)

The rain fell heavy, matching Meg’s mood. She watched the empty beach from the bedroom balcony, tears intermingling with the mist. Empty. She understood that. Felt it deep inside today. The worst part, it was her day off. She couldn’t even distract herself with work.

Leaning on the railing, she didn’t care that she got even wetter. Nothing could penetrate the blanket of sorrow covering her. It had seeped inside her skin, chilling her to the bone. Why had she allowed herself to get into this fix? Couldn’t she have been happy with her life the way it was? ~ Kari Lemor

“Jax had to get Suzanne to a safe place. He had to get to his ship because he was scheduled to move the ship within the hour. He brought her to his ship intending to take her out to the Bering Sea with him to keep her safe while he and his crew are crab fishing. What Jax didn’t know was that Suzanne was deathly afraid of water, and she suffered from sea sickness. It is almost always stormy in the Bering Sea. Storms and winds make the sea very dangerous, and the waves rock the boat back and forth, Does she get out alive?” ~  Constance Bretes

“Weather can be a good tool in a story. In my recent release, Breathe, Max and Tessa are driving home from an important meeting when a snowstorm flares up. It causes treacherous driving conditions and ice puts their SUV into the guard rails.

“They’re both injured but sadly Tessa’s injuries are more severe. As they’re trapped in the car and she’s unconscious, Max realizes Tessa means more to him than just a boss or friend. Putting them in this situation gave Max an opportunity to begin to leave behind his lone wolf demeanor and a chance for personal growth.” ~ Lucinda Race

“Emma Prescott, the heroine in my very first book, buys her own land and puts in a cotton crop. She does it to prove to the man she loves that she's not the spoiled heiress he remembers. It also proves to him that she really did run away from her murderous father. But just when her cotton plants have blossomed, a tornado rips through the town and destroys her crop. She has to start over. But nothing, and I do mean nothing, can keep Emma Prescott down. She is one of my favorite heroines. And her book is Welcome Home.” ~ Kara O'Neal

“Although the weather doesn't play a major role in the book, I love how it adds to the scene in ROCKED BY GRACE when Zane comes to apologize to Grace for being a jerk. It's raining and a streak of lightning illuminates the bedraggled Zane on Grace's fire escape, complete with his sad, mangled bouquet of flowers. It provides a little dramatic effect for his entrance and also makes him sympathetic enough for Grace to take him in and hear him out.” ~M.J. Schiller

“I adore rainstorms. The louder the thunder, the brighter the lightning, the darker and murkier the sky, and I’m a happy girl. Carly Lennox, in THE VOICES OF ANGELS, definitely does not like storms. Of any kind. The childhood trauma of her father's death during a storm still haunts her to this day.

“When she and Mike Woodard are caught in a violent spring storm, Mike comes to realize he’d do anything to comfort Carly. The storm raging outside is nothing compared to the one raging within him, all due to the lovely mystery writer.” ~ Peggy Jaeger

“I wrote TABOO while on vacation in Jamaica, where every afternoon at 2 pm a warm, sensual light rain would fall for about 15 minutes.  I never even left my lounger, just made sure my hand-written manuscript was safely under cover.   Is there any doubt I included a highly sensual scene of my hero (who’d been purchased at a bachelor auction) and my heroine (a repressed widow) making love outdoors while a warm, spring rain fell?  I couldn’t help myself.” ~ KathleenLawless

“Weather. You either love or hate it. I was never a fan of the stranded-by-weather trope but assumed I'd eventually write one. Because I live in the North Atlantic, I knew it had to be snow. And, of course, trapped in a cabin! Oh, and with a man in a kilt.” ~ Nancy Fraser

“I consider the weather another character. For instance, a thunderstorm can be the foreboding of trouble to come, as it is MAIL ORDER BLAZE. The main characters know there’re killers searching for them and expect to be attacked—but when? Lightning and thunder stage foreboding that becomes reality for the family. Over the course of my writing career, I believe I’ve used every type of weather to further a story’s impact. After I submitted one manuscript to a contest, the editor/judge asked me if the weather event in my story (a flood) was accurate. She said, if so, why would anyone live in such a place? I tactfully failed to remind her she lived where hurricanes came ashore.” ~ Caroline Clemmons   

“I do love weather—both in my books and in real life—and I feel it can truly amp up the intensity and/or impact of a scene. In my first book, Haunting Highland House – A Time Traveler’s Journey, Samantha Merrill (a reluctant caretaker of a remote estate) experiences a powerful Nor’easter while alone in a Victorian-era mansion. The old house has stood the test of time and weathered many rough storms. But a secret is revealed to Sam that night, as she huddles in candlelight. One that changes everything.” ~ Kathryn Hills

Okay, it's your turn to join the conversation! Add your comments below or send via email through the "contact us” link on the bottom of the left sidebar. You can also make suggestions on what you'd like to discuss here in the future.

 Thanks for joining us!

 ~ The Romance Gems ~