The
first time I experienced the weather of the South was the very month I
moved from DC to Mississippi. Only one week landed and there were tornados "walking the Interstate". One of the worst winters the state had ever had.Coming from Maryland I was no stranger to bad thunderstorms. We had our share being near the Atlantic coast. But in fact my father told me I got my fear of loud noises and lightning from a Fourth of July fireworks event they took me to when I was three.
Tornados, though, were another story. After I moved to the South, I became a weather watcher, a weather forecast addict, listening to all the preventive tips on avoiding lightning strikes, how to tell if a tornado is near, etc.
I remember sitting up in the middle of the night that winter wondering "Is that a train? Or is that a train? To this day I still don't know what part of the train I'm supposed to be on the look out for, the roaring, the whistle, the wheels on the tracks...
But my experiences aren't just based in Louisiana for the last how ever many years. I also spent a lot of time at my mom and dad's house near Tampa. I remember one weekend while I was visiting, four people were killed by lightning. It's the lightning capitol of the world. They were doing everyday tasks like washing a car, boating, bathing and one man was on the phone. Back then the weather authorities didn't advise the public as much as they do now to stay away from those types of activities during a lightning storm. But I was gathering clues to bolster my phobia.
I'm not as fearful of storms as I used to be, but I don't go out when it's thundering either. All this to say that much of what I write about in the Storm Lake series is first hand. As the months go by, I'll share a few of my funny stories about my ridiculous reactions to thunderstorms.
But don't hold that against my heroine in Storm Warning. Brenna has chosen to confront her fears on Storm Lake, which is infamous for its severe weather. Storm Warning is set in Thunder Point (you can see a map in the front of your book or here on my website and read an excerpt as well.)
As you know if you've read any of the series, the books based on the west end of the lake are the paranormal books and as you travel east on the lake things have less of a mystical bent. By the time you get to Larue, home of the Under-Cover Knights and Thunder Point where the most violent weather is because of its location, you've arrived where the books are contemporary (military romance and contemporary).
The Destiny books are a continued series with recurring characters and should be read in order. All the books are loosely connected to the lake and in Blame it on the Moon, Ridge from Her First Knight even made an appearance, but for the most part the Under-Cover Knights and Thunder Point books are standalones.
I hope you enjoy Storm Warning. It was the first book I wrote, ten years ago, in what would become the Storm Lake series. The characters are like family. I've already been asked if Declan will get a story and the answer is a resounding YES!
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Livia
