While considering which book to offer in November, nature made the decision for me. The big event setting the “Hopes, Dreams and Reality” story in motion is a major flood and nature decided we needed just that this month.
In the Novel
My hypothetical flood is the result of a large hurricane turned tropical storm slowly moving north. It drops unbelievable amounts of rain over four days resulting in widespread flooding.
Such a flood, in rural areas, destroys roads isolating rural homes. It usually takes down the electric lines. In the novel it takes out the phone line as well and Mindy’s place has no cell service.
After talking to my road grader operator, I found out many of these people live out of town. If their roads are washed out, they can’t get into town to take the graders out to fix the roads. It would take weeks to clear the roads of fallen trees and grade the gravel roads.
This November’s Major Flood
The Ozarks has been in drought for several months. Rain had just started back when this storm came in. After 30 years living here, a big rainfall total is six or seven inches.
This storm dropped six inches over one day. Then it kept on raining all night. Water filled a five-gallon bucket, seventeen inches tall, and flowed over the top.
By the time we walked out in the morning, the water level in the creek had already dropped two or three feet. Debris out in the pastures marked the high water extent over the creek roaring past.
One end of the bridge over the creek had shifted several feet downstream. This was anchored with a cement pillar two feet by four feet with a cement footing and large rocks. Two I-beams topped this. The top, we saw later, was cracked.
It will take weeks to fix the damage left by this major flood. The novel shortens that time as the drudgery of fixing fence and cleaning up debris does not make interesting reading.
For the month of November, you can get a free digital copy of “Hopes, Dreams and Reality” from Smashwords using coupon code BSPJ7.
