If the title didn’t give away the theme, then the art work for this month’s Writer Wednesday Blog  certainly does.

Yes, today we’re talking all about natural disasters we’ve experienced.

Growing up as a Navy brat, then later marrying an Air Force guy I’ve had the opportunity to live in various parts of the world.

From the Caribbean, to the Florida Keys and the Panhandle, to the tumbleweeds of Texas, to the shores of South Carolina, to the rising Mississippi River areas of southern Illinois, to northern California and across the Pacific Ocean to Okinawa. I’ve experienced tropical humidity, dry heat, cool northern breezes, and frigid Midwestern ice and snow. But no matter where I’ve been, I’ve experienced some sort of natural disaster.

I’ve waited out hurricanes in a shelter on a military base in the Keys. I’ve hunkered down at home while storm waters and high winds battered our home.

I’ve hightailed it to a basement storage area, praying a tornado wouldn’t level our house down upon us. Then later crawled out of our basement to find our home safe, yet my neighbors’ missing a roof or a front porch or worse. 

I’ve plugged my computer into a generator when icy power lines were knocked down for days. 

I’ve hit the closest grocery store, stocking up on food and supplies in preparation for a typhoon party with close friends in our base apartment complex while the military planes were evacuated from the base for safety. 

I’ve watched on the television as a beloved hometown was ravaged by nature. I’ve driven through a childhood neighborhood that Hurricane Andrew left as nothing more than street roads leading to grassy areas where homes had once stood. 

Even worse, my parents lost nearly everything in the Hurricane Wilma flood waters and finally decided they’d had enough of living in the Keys. It was time to make the move to central Florida. 

But through all these disasters and difficult situations, there’s one thing that has stood out in my memory—the way others stepped forward to help their neighbors, friends and family. Being a part of a neighborhood team helping those who hadn’t made it through the storm as well as my family had.

Dragging trees to the street corner, climbing on roofs to remove debris. Inviting neighbors over so their kids can plug in to the generator so their mom isn’t driven crazy by their boredom. Offering shelter to those forced to evacuate.

This beautiful side of humanity. The side that shows one person reaching out to help another. The face of perseverance and determination, of sorrow and fear, of compassion and hope…

These emotions are all found in the pages of romance novels.

We write stories of conflict and fear, of people facing challenges and hardship. Sometimes they lose; sometimes they win. But the heroes and heroines in our novels always grow and change. And in the end, they’re happier, healthier, a little more whole. And definitely ready to tackle whatever challenge the future might hold– together.

And speaking of romance novels…if you’re looking for a little escape this weekend, why not try these two books by my fellow Firebird sisters.

Hidden Identity

a Love Inspired Suspense by Carol J. Post

available on Amazon

After becoming caught in a web of blackmail and murder, Meagan Berry escapes by faking her death. She finds anonymity on Florida’s Cedar Key until, while out in her boat, she witnesses a small plane go down and rescues a state senator. Her face is plastered on the 6:00 news, and the nightmare begins anew.

Something tells Cedar Key police officer Hunter Kingston that Meagan is not who she claims to be. But the fear in her eyes and the vulnerability beneath that aloof exterior reach out to him. When he learns the truth, he is determined to protect her, whatever the cost. Because at least one person is trying to see to it that the next time Meagan “dies,” it’ll be for real.

The Millner’s Secret

by Natalie Meg Evans

available on Amazon  

June 1940. As Paris, the City of Light, approaches its darkest hour, a young woman treads the line between survival and collaboration.

Londoner Cora Masson has reinvented herself as Coralie de Lirac, using a false claim to aristocratic birth to launch herself as a fashionable milliner. When the Nazis invade, the influence of a high-ranking lover protects her business.

But the cruel demands of war – and of love – cannot be kept at bay forever. Soon Coralie must find the courage to do what’s necessary to protect her friends, her freedom and everything she believes in.

So now it’s your turn.

You know how it goes. One person shares a story and another usually has one to add. Have you been through any natural disasters? Enquiring minds want to know!

Also don’t forget to click over to the other Firebirds sharing their natural disaster stories as part of the Writer Wednesday blog. This month we’re featuring:

Jean Willett, Wendy LaCapra, Kat Cantrell, Kay Hudson, Natalie Meg Evans, Kristen Ethridge, and Carol J. Post