Writing About: Wildfire + Question of the Month

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Dear Impatient Writer.

Wildfires aka brush fires are scary. I blogged about them in my 2015 A to Z Challenge (my theme was disasters), and I shared my own experience when a fire threatened my childhood home and took the life of one of my family’s beloved pet cats. Her name was Angel, and she passed away on my birthday.

Fire is one of my fears and living in Central Florida we have a fire season that typically begins April 1^st. If there’s no rain, everything is dry. Leaves are dead, and trees are brown. A single spark could set ablaze a fire in a second. Wildfires are also a threat every year in California and other states across the US.

Here are a few things to remember to mention if you write about a wildfire:

- Smell of Smoke

When a fire is close, the unmistakable stench of burning wildfire can be detected in the air.

- Smoke Stacks

Wherever there’s a fire, there’s smoke, and smoke stacks in the distance can always be seen if there’s a fire anywhere.

- Ashes

Another indicator that a fire is close are the black and gray ashes that fall from the sky. They can be an inch-long or even up to six-inches-long depending on what’s burning.

- Flames

As a fire approaches, orange can be seen flickering through tree branches and brush. Then all of a sudden, that same place you were looking is consumed in flames. Flames go to the tops of trees, snake along the grass, and can even jump over roads. I’ve seen it.

- Charred Nature

After a fire blows through, ashes and charred wood is left behind. Trees are blackened. Palmetto bushes become burnt stumps. And the ground is a sheet of ashes and burnt pieces of nature that crunches beneath your feet.

Fire is alive, so if you ever have to write about it, treat it as though it’s a living, breathing thing.

QUESTION: Have you come close to a wildfire before?

Question of the Month blog hop

To join this monthly blog hop visit Michael G D'Agostino's blog.

QUESTION: What’s your favorite beach?

MY ANSWER: I live in Florida, which has the largest coastline in the US (1,350 miles), but I haven’t been to many beaches. I walked the boardwalk at Hollywood Beach but didn’t step onto the sand to see the water. And I’ve been to Melbourne and Cocoa beaches because that’s where I’ve lived, but my favorite beach was in Fort Lauderdale. (I don’t know the name of it. Though I suspect all of them are as lovely.) My family took our first and only vacation to Fort Lauderdale when I was maybe ten. During the day, the water was so clear it was magical. Every night we would go to the beach and watch the ships, sparkling like flames on the ebony waters, cross the horizon. It was lovely. Peaceful. I’ll never forget it.