Do you prefer one season over another? Winter, spring, summer, fall (autumn), or all of them?
If you know anything about Georgia, USA, you’d know that we rarely get snow in winter. Maybe some flurries here and there, or slush, or maybe a blizzard or two. We do get black ice on the road–sheets of ice we can’t see that have caused wrecks for motorists, especially on bridges. But snow a la winter wonderland… That’s rare.
So last weekend was rare. We had a few inches of snow, and wonder of wonders, it actually stuck on the ground. The snowflakes fell in my backyard and in the forest beyond, and blanketed the forest floor in a belated white post-Christmas. The temperature was in the low 30F on Saturday. By Sunday morning it was 27F.
Meanwhile, all through the cooler fall and chilly winter seasons, I’ve been busy juggling life while writing and revising my novel set in the hot summer months of Florida. Yes, the land of hammocks and sandals and sand. LOOK FOR ME is Book 4 in my Vacation Sweethearts series of travel romance novels that explore the various places I have visited and enjoyed around the hemisphere.
In Book 4, we visit Key Largo in southern Florida, where Martin MacFarland is trying to reconnect with his long lost girlfriend, who has troubles of her own. This novel will be released on March 31, 2020. You can preorder it on Amazon, or sign up for my newsletter to be notified when the book is in Kindle Unlimited.
What a contrast, huh? In real life, the weather outside is still cold, cold, cold. But in my story world, the weather is almost always warm, warm, warm. Even my winters are mild in my books. It always reminds me that no matter how cold life is, Jesus warms our hearts.
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him” (Psalm 28:7).
Questions for you:
- What are your favorite seasons of the year in real life?
- What are your favorite seasons to read in a story world?
Do comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of my 740-page novel, SHARE WITH ME (Seaside Chapel Book 1), about a small-town violinist and a billionaire heiress violin collector. This novel begins in December when it’s cold on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, and goes on through the seasons of the year.
To answer my own questions, I would say I like all seasons because God made each season for a reason. While I gravitate toward milder climates in both real life and in my story world, I am not done writing yet. At some point in time, I’m sure I will write about snowdrifts and freezing temperatures.
I came close with WAIT FOR ME (Vacation Sweethearts Book 3), which is set in Alaska with its glaciers, albeit in the summer months. Being a tropical girl, I remember wearing a head-to-ankle goose down coat during both of the times I went to Alaska in July. I’m sure that if you live in colder climates, you’d be laughing at me. But I’m a beach town type of tourist. Give me sun and surf any day…
Stay warm and don’t forget to comment for a chance to win a beach town romance from me! (The giveaway ends on Monday.)
Happy reading!
In Christ,
Jan Thompson
USA Today bestselling novelist Jan Thompson writes clean and wholesome multiethnic contemporary Christian romance with elements of women’s fiction, Christian romantic suspense with an air of mystery, and inspirational international thrillers with threads of sweet Christian romance. Join Jan's mailing list for her latest book news: JanThompson.com/newsletter
I love fall with its crisp mornings and beautiful colors of the leaves on the trees. I also like football games, hayrides, and visits to pumpkin patches. I like to read about all seasons but if it takes place in fall and there is a fall picture on the cover I really want to check the book out!
Spring when every thing is fresh and new.
Hi Jan,
Thanks for your post. I love fall with the beautiful leaves and the cool air, and spring with the beautiful flowers.
Hi Jan! Living in SW Michigan we have all four seasons, sometimes all four in one day. Living in a resort town on the shores of Lake Michigan fall is my favorite season. Less tourist. Enjoy driving down country roads smelling the grapes and apples, seeing the pumpkin fields and colorful maple trees. As a reader, I enjoy reading holiday inspired stories, because they are set in the season that I am experiencing at the time. Or reading stories that have similar seasons to what I experience in Michigan. For example: The Chapel Cove, Washington series. The town along the Pacific is very similar to mine in SW Michigan. Best wishes. Enjoy your weekend.
In the Caribbean where I reside we have two seasons wet and dry which I am accustom too .when its the wet season we get lots of rain and the an opportunity to stay in bed and cuddled up with a good book.
I’ve always loved spring best, because of the beautiful new flowers, the smell of pollen, the warming temperatures, the feeling of new beginnings. Lately autumn has overtaken summer as my second-favorite, and it is almost neck-and-neck with spring now that I live in the Southeast with the gorgeous fall colors.
As to reading, I don’t care too much about settings or seasons, except that nearing Thanksgiving, I like to read Christmas romances. I wrote my first book in the summer, its sequel from September to February, and the third in the spring.
Winter is definitely NOT my favorite. I’m not a cold weather fan. Spring has to be my favorite. I love spring flowers. For reading I’m not particular about the season.
My favorite season is spring!
I love to read books set in all seasons! Usually I read whatever I want/need to read without much thought about the season, but occasionally I end up reading a book that is set in the season I’m reading it in and I really enjoy it when that happens, but it’s also fun to read a book set in the summer during the winter and vice versa on occasion! 😊
Hi, Jan! Winter is my favorite season, bit that I get much of it in Florida!
Having grown up in upstate New York, I got to enjoy all 4 seasons. Friends from farther north and east used to say they had 2 seasons: winter and the 4th of July! LOL. These days, I prefer the crisp air and beautiful colors of spring and fall but I’ll enjoy reading about any season.
Jan, thank you for the post!
I guess all seasons are for a reason! All in due time!
Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
—Psalm 73:23-24
This Native Floridian has never seen snow! If I wasn’t Mom’s caregiver, I’d have been tempted to pack up and visit my cousins in NW GA when they started posting their snow pics! Of course, by the time I’d have gotten there, it would have been slush, and slush I’ve seen. That’s no fun! My favorite time is Winter, because that’s usually when FL gets some cooler weather! We’ve been down in the low 40’s some this year; however, we’ve also had our days in the upper 80’s already, too. I like all weather in the books I read, though!!
Fall is my favorite. Warm sweaters and hot coffee.
I love spring when everything is new. But I like stories in almost any season. Fall is a favorite too, because the descriptions can be so pretty.
I love summer not when its over 100 but I still love summer. The warmer days the longer days, its Summer holidays, etc. Here where I live its a fairly dry heat with just a little moisture. I really don’t do humidity. I had a holiday in Perth once and they have an even dryer heat and loved it. (ours isn’t as dry as Arizona). If I had to live in a tropical place I would prefer Spring.
In a book while I like most seasons I love Winter (more so northern hemisphere winter). I love reading books with snow. I have only seen old snow which was the same as defrosting my freezer and putting the ice on the ground as it was like ice and hard and not what I expected. Oh Alaska is one of my favourite places to read about. I also love Hawaii.
My friend is in Rossville and she posted the snow last weekend (a morning and afternoon shot one with snow one where it was gone)
Fall is so lovely! I do have one novel set in the fall with a photo of the fall mountains on the cover. The location is on top of the Great Smoky Mountains:
JanThompson.com/reach-amazon
Another book also has a fall scene (camping in RV) but it’s only one scene in the enter book:
JanThompson.com/call-amazon
Thank you for your comments. I’m with you on fall. It’s lovely!
I like Spring too! Yes, indeed, when the flowers bloom. I think spring time is almost here!
Thank you! Looks like we have more votes for fall and spring! I agree!
You’re so fortunate if you can see the seasons prominently. Some day I’d like to go up north in the fall and enjoy the beautiful leaf colors. In the south, it’s a hit or miss, depending.
A long time ago we brought our son and mother-in-law to the apple orchard to pluck apples. It was very fun!
I haven’t read Chapel Cove, but that sounds lovely. I have been to Cade’s Cove in the Smoky Mountains, and they have amazingly scenic views in the fall.
Yes, have a great weekend too!
That’s wonderful! I grew up in the tropics where the leaves are perpetually green. I was also near the ocean, so I love that environment. That’s why I write a lot of beach town romances.
Which part of the Caribbean are you at? I enjoyed my visit to the Bahamas so much that I made it a setting of one of my novels.
JanThompson.com/smile-amazon
Nassau is one of my favorite Caribbean towns. But I must visit more places later. On my bucket list :-)
Congratulations on your first book! Woo hoo!
I do like Christmas romances too. I only wrote one Christmas romance so I suppose I should write more since I myself enjoy reading it.
I do enjoy spring and fall too for those reasons! Especially Thanksgiving time!
Winter is so cold! I start taking out my down coats by October LOL. Everyone else is usually still in tee shirts and then there’s me. :-)
Spring is very lovely, I agree!
In the cold winter months, I have fun writing about hot summer settings in my books. :-) I should try writing about winter settings in the summer just for the contrast, but I haven’t done so yet.
Looks like lots of people like spring! All the flowers are so beautiful!
Florida winter is to die for IMHO! The weather is mild and where you are, do you get below 40F in the winter? IIRC the last time I was in the same weather zone, it was 45F at Thanksgiving week — but we might have been a bit north of you.
The next novel (LOOK FOR ME) is set wayyyy down south in Key Largo. I almost set it in Key West, but I have more memories of Key Largo. Yes, it was HOT!
I have heard about the lovely seasons in upstate NY and also in the New England region. It’s a photographer’s dream vacation IMHO. Some day we’ll go up to the NE area in the fall for the view.
LOL re: two seasons. It felt like that in Alaska too — cool and cold!
Good verse! God is so amazing with His creativity. And yes, His promise to Noah after the flood that there would be four seasons.
Thank you for your comment and for sharing the verse!
Florida is my type of weather, but alas, I only get to visit occasionally! Yes, we usually get slush here and it’s a big mess after each snow. However, this time, the snowflakes were fluffy and then the sun came out the next day and defrosted everything. So it was a very clean one-day snow. I remember saying that Saturday would be a good day to snow — and sure enough, there it was. We had a lovely time… INDOORS!
Thank you for your comments! Stay warm :-)
That sounds delightful! Warm wool and hot tea for me! :-)
Thank you for your generosity in these giveaways. I will try to buy your books when I can.
IKR! Fall is so beautiful that there must be a million ways to describe the season in any book.
I remember saying to myself that if I ever wrote a book set in the spring, I must have daffodils. And so I did, in FIND YOU AGAIN (Savannah Sweethearts Book 8).
I also like stories set in all the seasons. There’s more variety that way. However, I must explore snow more… (Hard to do in Georgia!)
We once had over 100F here and I thought it could be like Arizona though I’ve never been there. I’ve only seen photos where people cooked eggs on the sidewalk over there LOL.
Do you get a lot of snow in the winter in your hemisphere? Over here in Georgia it’s just awfully cold. Even if the sun is out, the windchill is bone-chilling IMHO. Yes, it feels like opening the freezer and standing there LOL. Most of the time, if it rains here, the next day, the rain will turn into solid ice. When that happens on bridges, it’s a disaster on the streets.
Thank you for your comments!
Thank you so much, Sonnetta! Glad to share. Thank you very much for your generosity also and I hope you can read some of my books soon. I enjoy writing them and I hope you enjoy reading them too.
I love spring because it means I have all of summer to look forward to and enjoy. I love the fresh smell of dirt, the return of the robins, watching flowers push through the earth, and having windows open at night.
Seasons don’t matter to me in a book. I do enjoy reading Christmas books but will read any book that takes place in any season. Genre and premise are more important than season.
I live on the twin islands Trinidad & Tobago I was born in Trinidad but married and living in Tobago,
The sea is just 3 minutes walking distance from my home
I love the fall colors.
That’s cool that you’re so close to the beach! When I was growing up, my family was 10 minutes of driving away from the beach. I thought that was close LOL. You’re practically living by the sea!
Bird songs are lovely in the spring, for sure! We should soon get to see some backyard birds here. So far a squirrel has come out of hibernation but I don’t see or hear the birds yet. Soon…
Indeed, I agree that “genre and premise” are more important. I do try to cover all seasons, but from a Southern perspective. That is… not a lot of snow, if at al, in my books!
Lovely season!
I’ve always loved Winter but rarely get to see real Winter where I live.
I love watching all the seasons and the changes they bring, but my favorite is late spring when I can plant my garden and watch it grow and produce.
I love summer. I love beaches, water
I love the fall because it finally starts to cool off here.
I enjoy reading stories set in any season, but if I had to select one I would probably say winter is my favorite to read about.
Do not enter me into your contest as I already have this book (but have not yet had time to read it). :( The St. Simons setting intrigues me as it is one of my favorite places to go for a day trip getaway. I always enjoy seeing the lighthouse, visiting Fort Frederica, and taking a walk on the pier.
Here in MN/US our winters arrive early & last long (6-8mos); and can be bitter cold. Therefore, spring, although brief (1-2mos), is filled with cheer (yay! Winter is done!); our summer’s are lovely (3mos)and our autumns are gorgeous but short (1-1.5mos), because winter is again nipping at it’s heels. I fully embrace our 3 shortest mos, winter – not so much. :D
Reading . . . Occasionally, I enjoy reading about blizzards & terrible winter conditions. Such storms can make good settings for suspense novels. As a scuba diver, I love novels with characters as rescue divers, coast guard rescue, military divers, research divers. etc. with summer or winter conditions.
I love spring, for the flowers and the rebirth of the earth. And fall, for the colors of the leaves and the hint of chill in the air. I’m not so fond of the extremes in temperature of summer and winter. As for reading, the season doesn’t matter, especially since I love Christmas stories. Thanks for the chance.
I’m a summer girl! Not only do I prefer being hot over being cold, but I also love how laid back and stress free summer tends to be. Second would probably be fall. All the leaves changing color and fun traditions like visiting the pumpkin patch make up for the cooler temps.
I used to enjoy winter when I was growing up in Brazil. Then I moved to upstate NY and summer was a favorite. I’m back in Brazil and not I’m partial to Spring and Fall.
I love the fall of the year when the leaves are changing and the cooler temps. When I am reading a book it doesn’t matter to me what season it is! Have a Blessed Day!
We’re in the southern USA, so our winters are mild. If you see lovely snowy winter wonderland on TV, that’s probably not where I am LOL.
I do too! Many of my stories are beach town romances for that reason!
Spring is so lovely. That’s when the butterflies come to the gardens and the flowers are gorgeous. Happy spring is coming soon!
Thank you, Mary! Glad you have the novel already. Let me know when do you get around to reading it. I know that I myself have so many to-be-read ebooks on my Kindle app — I am sure they are stacked 5 years tall. Sigh. So many books, so little time to read them all!
I do enjoy lovely St. Simon’s Island. The stories are not done yet. When I finish my Sweethearts collections, I will work on finishing my Seaside Chapel series. Or sooner. We shall see!
Thank you for commenting!
That’s wonderful that you have definite seasons that can be differentiated. Over here we sometimes wonder if it’s still fall when it feels like winter, or still winter when we see the first signs of buds on trees.
That’s cool that you scuba dive. Sounds like fun and adventurous! Most of my books are above water on land… But with beaches, sand, and sun!
Have a warm winter!
Spring is coming soon, it looks like!
I also like Christmas stories. I hesitate in writing more than one book set around the Christmas season because my books are location-based, and in the south, there’s hardly any of those picture-perfect Christmas scenes. We get ice, we get chills, but rarely real Christmassy snow.
Yes, I also like fall. Lovely season!
Thank you for your comments!
I like summer too! I know right re: “laid back and stress free” — For sure, summer is that. School is out, life is easygoing. Flip flops and sandals everywhere. No need to layer up like in winter…
Yes, fall is so picturesque! On my bucket list are places in the New England area where leaf colors are so vibrant. Some day!
Hello international traveler! Sounds like fun to move back and forth between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Upstate NY sounds like snow country. Does it snow anywhere in Brazil, maybe on the mountains? I know that it has a tropical rainforest so I would think the weather is hot year round?
Thank you for your comments!
Yes, I do like all seasons, but fall leaves are so vividly colorful, aren’t they? God is so amazingly artistic. Thank you for your comments. You have a blessed day too!
I live in Northern CA where it is either HOT or COLD! I prefer the cold. When reading I like the season to be autumn.
So there is a rain forest in the northern portion of the country where it’s warm all year. I live in the southern part. We have all four seasons in south… but winter goes down to 1-2C / 33F, and snow only reaches us every 10-15 years in specific areas.
I like Spring. I’m in SoCal. Summer is way too hot. Fall is fire season. Winter is the rainy season. In Spring, everything is still green and things are blooming and it’s not too hot to get outside to enjoy yourself.
That’s a lovely place to be too in Northern CA! I have driven all the way to the Humboldt forest to see the redwoods. It has been a while back, but we drove to Eureka. The weather so pleasant there when we went. It has been a while so I can’t remember which season, but in CA, it’s all mild, right?
How far south are you? I haven’t been to SoCal except when changing planes at LAX. Some day I’ll check out the city. Meanwhile, staycations is the thing to do here nowadays. Yes, it gets hot over here too. But your area must be hotter because you have fires. I remember those fires — we were all praying for God to send rain!
Yes, I like Spring too. Such a lovely time of the year, for sure!
Thank you for your comments.
Winter is probably my favorite! Summer – no way! I also like spring and fall but in recent years we seem to go from winter to hot summer and very little fall either.
I love Autumn, but I love reading Christmas stories.
I prefer spring and summer. I am not a cold weather person. I was born and raised in North Georgia but prefer the even warmer weather of Florida.
I like to read books with a warm beach scene.
Thank you for the giveaway
Yes, summer is hot over here! Super hot — muggy, humid.
IDK where fall goes sometimes. In some years, we would wait for the leaves to fall and suddenly it’s winter. So yeah, it can happen.
Winter is nice too, especially if you get snow where you are!
Thank you for your comments!
Those are lovely months! I like to read Christmas stories too – and also watch Christmas movies.
Thank you for your comments!
Florida is so nice and warm! I’m glad you like warm beach reads. I have at least two series filled with sunny beaches. :-)
Georgia is my favorite state so I have a lot of books set in this state!
Thank you for your comments!
I love spring and fall
My favorite real world season is spring, but I love to read stories set in the winter. I too am a Southern girl so this is my way of enjoying winter.
I love all the seasons for their own merits, Spring is probably my favorite for the newness of life after the barrenness of winter, summer for the glorious sunny lazy days, Fall for the perfect temp and crispy leaves, and Winter for the beautiful snow and Christmas. But I love reading books set in fall and winter the most I think.