The weather this month has been memorable, to say the least!
I have been wondering whether weather details are important in my novel writing. Does it matter to the reader if the day is sunny, windy or if there is rain pouring down upon the characters in the story?
A certain amount of ‘settings’ information is surely necessary, but we all know very long epics where each and every item in the surrounding fifty miles is listed ad nauseam (yes, I am talking about you, my required reading authors from high school!).
I find weather sets the mood or the atmosphere. In Sea Changes there is a section in which the cruiseship is experiencing a storm in the Mediterranean. The rolling of the ship sends the susceptible passengers to their cabins for the day and allows others to roam around on their nefarious, or other, business, unobserved. That weather condition sets the scene.
Whereas happy, sunny days are pleasant, it’s the dark, dreary ones that mirror a character’s feelings.
In the same book, Andreas, a mysterious stowaway, is compelled to throw himself over the side into the ocean when the night of wind and rain fight against him long enough for young Samuel to pull him back from the brink and save his life.
Would that dramatic scene be half as powerful on a calm bright day?
So, perhaps weather really matters. How much it matters, and how much of it the reader needs to know is the question.
Monthly Archives: February 2015
Those of you who have read the Prime Time books have said how much you grew to love the characters.
As the author, I have the same feeling. Anna Mason Drake and Fiona and all their friends are still living on in my mind and although I may not write any more books about them I have a secret to reveal.
All my future books will have an update on the lives of these characters from the series.
You will find out if Fiona and Gordon married and what sex their baby was right at the end of Sea Changes. In the sequel, Sea Tides, meet Alina and Philip again on a cruise.
Best of all, get a good look at an apartment owned by Anna in the Lake District in the soon-to-be-published novel, Seven Days There, and also meet up with Jeanette McLennan and her mother.
I am enjoying inserting these characters into my new writing and so far it has been easy.
Do you think it is worthwhile?
Amazon has informed me that 259 people downloaded the free copy of my novel Auld Acquaintance in January.
I am hoping some of these lovely people will enjoy the first book in the Prime Time Series enough to want to read the other five. It’s always a thrill to get new readers. Since the ebooks go all over the world, there may be people in Australia or England or Scotland or who knows where, reading about Anna Mason’s family mystery right this minute.
I love the internet.