It was a dark and stormy night…

Let’s take this clichéd weather phrase as segue to the following question: How important is weather in fiction? As usual, the answer is: It depends.

Sometimes apocalyptic weather is like a main character: tornados, hurricanes, blizzards, volcanoes raining down ash and pumace, and other dangerous events often become villains in thrillers. I still remember from my three-year-old book reading experiences a story about a little red fire engine who had to perform in the middle of an ice storm. Yea...