The Wolf At His Door Blog Tour: Whether To Say Weather

How’s the weather?

Weather is easy to overlook in fiction unless it pertains purposefully to plot: the characters are trapped by a flood or left homeless by a tornado. The elements, however, can convey mood or setting.

I think of when I was a child, waiting for the bus in the country. I loved the fog! It was eerie the way it changed my relationship with the world around me. I could no longer see the cornfield across the road or the neighbor’s house. Sounds echoed differently. Lights shimmered. The fog created a mood.

In my novel Red Haze, I use slushy freezing rain to set the mood for a scene between a mother and daughter with a failing relationship:

Marne plopped down on a bench at the edge of campus and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Her hair, wet and cold, clung to her face and icy water dripped from her nose. The phone buzzed in her ear and then her mother answered. Slush fell in angry clumps from tree branches, smacking the pavement.

“Hello?” To Marne’s ears her mother’s tone sounded sharp.

“Mom, it’s me.”

“Marne, sweetheart, I’m surprised to hear from you again so soon.” Her voice did not warm. “Are things going well? How’s pledging going?”

“Fine, Mom.” Marne shivered. Moisture rolled down her neck to her back. She had so many things she wanted to discuss with her mother, so many unresolved feelings, and pledging was not one of them. Marne and her mother had never discussed her brother’s death, his suicide. In fact, her mother had never said the word suicide. Marne never blamed her mother, though she wondered if her mother felt that she did.

 

In this scene, I’m using the horrid weather as a mirror for the relationship: cold, uncomfortable. Marne is lost in the elements, while the mother is distant and warm at home. Weather becomes a metaphor and can help readers feel the cold. Setting the same phone call on a bright, warm, sunny day would have a different affect. In some ways, it could be just as effective—to show the contrast. The result is in the handling and in remembering that weather is an important part of setting the mood.

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SYNOPSIS

Ilene Rune has lived with a secret for 21 years that threatens to destroy her marriage, her life, and all of humanity. But how can she tell her son, Alec, that his new boyfriend, Jared, may be part of that secret?

Investigating a brutal murder, Detective Lance Herald enters a dark world of fairy tales and fantasy—that shakes his belief in what is possible and imagined.

Lucy Rune cannot fathom what happened the night one brother was slaughtered and the other critically wounded—but she does know, her boyfriend, Rene, who was also attacked is changing.

Geraldine Bloom, Alec’s grandmother, has the gift of foresight, and has waited for years for the evil that wants her grandson to come for him.

Alec Rune wakes from a coma to learn his twin brother has been murdered—and that he is the only witness. But he remembers nothing of the night.

Werewolves, genetics, and a thrilling murder mystery intertwine in this “multi-layered and unpredictable” (Christine Coretti) horror novel that builds to “an absolutely epic ending” (thegayUK.com).

Author Bio:

Adrian W. Lilly is the author of the novels The Devil You Know, Red Haze, and The Runes Trilogy: The Wolf at His Door, The Wolf in His Arms, and The Wolf at War. His short fiction and poetry have been published in Hello Horror, 69 Flavors of Paranoia, Nervehouse and The Weekly among other publications. He can be found online at www.adrianlilly.com.

He is a fan of Gothic suspense movies and novels, which greatly influence his writing. Adrian’s writing focuses on strong character development and the nuances of fear that build toward horror. The mansion in his first novel, The Devil You Know, was inspired by the grand mansions in the Victorian neighborhood where he lives.

Adrian writes novels, short stories, and poetry and has spent many years as a copywriter in the advertising industry. In addition, Adrian has directed two short films and co-directed a feature-length sci-fi comedy.

My website: www.adrianlilly.com

Facebook: facebook.com/adrianwlilly

Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+AdrianLilly

Twitter: @AdrianLilly1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6545875.Adrian_Lilly