{ Weathering the storm }

I live in an area that sees a wide variety of weather conditions throughout the year. Right now it's raining cats and dogs. A week ago the temperature was high but bearable. A week before that--sweltering. It got over 100 degrees for a few weeks this year. 

Spring and Fall each last for about a week and a half during the year and the rest is Summer and Winter. We've got humidity, wind, rain, fog, thunderstorms, below freezing temperatures, ice and snow, as well as the occasional tornado, hurricane and blizzard. I know this isn't exactly weather-related, but every eighteen years we also get a visit from swarms of cicadas. We basically get everything except for dust storms and thank the weather gods for that. 

Weather is a very important factor in my life. Not only does it affect how I dress, it affects my mood. Sunny days tend to see me happy and bouncy, while things slow down and get a little depressing on gray, rainy days. Warm sunny days leave me itching to go driving outside while listening to music, while days like today make me pine for some knitwear and a chai latte. 

I take the weather conditions into consideration in my writing all the time. Loch Raven takes place during the summer because at its heart it is a bright story filled with warmth. It's also easier to contrast that warmth with the cold parts of the tale. Ghosts of Fallen Leaves takes place in the fall because such a chilly, spooky story seemed perfect for that chilly, spooky time of the year. I've recently made the decision to do a bit of editing and make autumn more autumnal in the story. It is my favorite time of year, after all.

Weather is fundamentally a part of the setting when it comes to writing. You can't describe an outside scene without describing the weather. Some people pay attention to it more than others. The weather can be used as a literal plot element--it is raining, therefore giving the character a chance to get wet. Or it can be used metaphorically--sunny skies reflect the happy mood of a character. 

Sometimes I like to think of the weather another character in my stories. It affects the plot and the human characters in more ways that people realize. 

{ Weather songs }

These are just some tunes that make me think of the weather or specific seasons. The reasons why are more obvious for some and less for others. The Black Prairie songs in particular always make me think of sitting on the porch on a hot evening just as the sun sets. Will There Be Enough Water by the Dead Weather invokes thoughts of hot and sticky summer nights. KT Tunstall's Drastic Fantastic album makes me think of fall/winter because I used to listen to that album while driving to school all the time. The Decemberists songs are obvious: rain and the summertime. Kim Taylor's Days Like This was actually the inspiration behind Loch Raven--story, setting and mood. 

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