Nashville Floods Showed a Community's Character

It has been just over a month since the flooding in Nashville, Tennessee and the surrounding areas. In addition to the famous landmarks that were destroyed, such as the Grand Old Opry and the Opryland Hotel, thousands of residents were either temporarily displaced from their homes or lost them forever.

This natural disaster did not receive a great deal of national attention, in part because it occurred at the same time that the tragedy of the BP oil spill was just beginning to unfold in the Gulf and the Times Square bomber was being arrested. But, I also believe many of the stories from the flood stayed under the radar of the media because the people of Nashville came together and did the work that was needed to help others in the community. I have friends in Nashville who were affected by the storms, and I've heard from them about the countless neighbors and strangers who asked how they could help.

In my second novel, Finish Line, readers are introduced to a character who was forced to flee his successful musical career in New Orleans following another devastating weather event in our country--Hurricane Katrina. He finds employment and a new group of friends at the Prairie Winds Golf Course and, much like the people of Nashville have done, shows resilience in the face of great adversity.

Mother Nature is just one of the difficulties that characters face in my three novels, and how they react to the storms in their lives is an important component of my storytelling. If you haven't yet, I hope you will check out Lifetime Loser, Finish Line, and Tuey's Course and think about how you would react to the situations I create.