I decided to take some time today to think about how authors write from experience – specifically the weather.

Last night my city (and several surrounding cities) were hit with a wicked storm. While my house was left without any damage, except for my outdoor umbrella (RIP umbrella), I have several friends who were hit much worse. Trees down, power lines down, flooding, and hail damage were all reported.

This had me rethinking some things. Did I accurately portray what a storm is like? When Adeline and Zale are escaping across the ocean, a storm hits them and begins to really test the strength of the boat. The wind was rushing and howling, waves were crashing and gnawing at the sides of the boat – Adeline was afraid (and for good reason). While I have not personally been at sea during a storm, I have been in tornado weather several times in my life, and that was scary. With each gust of wind my heart would quicken, the sinking feeling of being helpless if my roof collapses or is sucked up makes my stomach turn even now.

I try and use my own feelings when writing – so writing about a storm should be no different. How do you write a weather-type phenomenon in your novel? Do you go based on experience? Or do you use a little bit of imagination sprinkled with experience?