I get inspiration for my stories from just about everywhere. Sometimes I'll base a novel's setting on a place I once lived in. Other tales have characters in them that are inspired by actual people I've met. Or, in the case of my newest Sapphic romance novel, During the Storm, the main plot point was inspired by a true event.
Last year, Texas went through one of the biggest natural disasters ever: the infamous winter storm of February 2021.
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| from krqe.com |
We Texans are not used to these types of snowstorms to begin with. To make matters worse, the state epically failed us when the power grid totally crapped out all across the state! This blunder put thousands and thousands of people, including many of my family members and friends, into days and days of no electricity and heat! Lucky for me, my power stayed on, and the biggest hassle I had to deal with was bundling up my old weenie dog and persuading him to go out into the ice-cold snow to potty. But forget traveling anywhere! The snow was thicker than I've ever seen it, and the roads were completely iced over.
A number of local public buildings that still had power offered warming stations where people could come and thaw out for a few hours and charge their phones, but I'm sad to report that 246 Texans died in the tragedy.
Although my house kept its power on, I did have to deal with the water being shut off for a day. Our pipes didn't freeze, but many of the mainline pipes in the Metroplex did, which made the cities have to shut off the lines so our water wouldn't come through our pipes contaminated. Some unfortunate towns had no running water for weeks!
The whole experience was so wild that it inspired the events that happened in During the Storm. I wondered, what would happen if a woman got caught at home in a snowstorm, and only had her grumpy (but totally sexy) neighbor to help her through it? Hmm!! Well, if you want to find out, then check out the story!
