The tornado at Panera Bread: February 6, 2020

I have a little story to tell...

On Thursday, February 6, 2020, I had a 1:30 pm meeting at Panera in Raleigh, NC. Specifically, the one on Colonnade Drive off Six Forks Road.

I arrived early so I could work on novel number four before my meeting started. Yey, me! I took my obligatory photo of my computer and my coffee as you see below...

My meeting partner texted me that they were running late...the text said 1:44 pm. No problem, I just kept working on my book.

After their arrival we started talking and about 10 or 15 minutes into our conversation, I felt the pressure in my ears change and I immediately got light headed. I said, "Oh, man, my ears." My friend said, "You felt that too?" And as soon as the words slid from their mouth, the clouds broke loose and rain started pelting sideways and the wind started blowing so hard that the outside tables and umbrellas were blowing everywhere. Yes, we were sitting inside of the restaurant, where at this point the power went out.

My friend ran up to the front doors and peered out and then came running back, while screaming, "Everybody take cover. Get into the bathrooms!" And we all got up and ran to the bathroom area. I wound up in the men's room with many others, both male and female. We all stayed in there for a good 10 minutes...everyone was texting their family and friends. It was a scary 10 minutes for sure. My hands were shaking so badly, I could hardly text.

We all emerged unscathed, and went about our way. As I stepped outside to go to my car...my NEW car, by the way, I saw in the parking lot, a tree that was broken in half that had gone THROUGH someones car! It was awful. (Picture featured above)

Having lived through a tornado before, (In April 2011, I had half a pine tree go through my house), these were all typical signs of a tornado and tornado damage. Plus, I felt it in my ears and in my head, just as I did in 2011.

My family was home safely. They endured extreme hail and brutal thunder and lightening. I saw several baseball sized hail as I approached my home. We, our cars, home and property were safe...thankfully!

And that's my story!

My Car :) 

More from Author Deanna Martinez:

My Interview: The Average Joe podcast

Weekend in Snowshoe: The things I saw...

Using owned media as an author

My interview: The Average Joe podcast

If you have read past blog posts about my most recent published novel, Hot Cocoa, Green Tea and the Man Who Sweetened My Heart, or watched my YouTube videos about the book, you know that it is written about a domestic violence survivor, named Stephanie.

Well, that domestic violence survivor, is me. The story in the novel was altered as to not name names or share exact events.

Recently, I was featured on a new podcast, created by my husband, Greg Martinez. In the podcast, entitled, Battered, But Not Broken, I share a bit about my past and some challenging times that I have overcome.

I was nervous at first, but Greg is honestly good at this new endeavor and easily keeps the conversation flowing.

I would be honored if you took 26 minutes to listen. My hope is that it will help someone in a bad situation and encourage them to get out. Please share!

The Average Joe: Battered, But Not Broken

More from Author Deanna Martinez:

Social Media course reveal

Using owned media as an author

I talked about my interview on my YouTube channel too! 

Weekend in Snowshoe, West Virginia: The things I did and saw...

My long weekend in Snowshoe...

It has been an enjoyable weekend of writing for me. I have been warm and cozied up in the condo, which happens to reside on top of a mountain. It has snowed and has been below freezing, but I have gotten thousands of words written for novel number four!

On the way, I observed:

A rooster coup? There were at least fifty roosters, and each had their own little house. Something I have never seen before.

A man, riding a bike, talking on his cell phone, riding the wrong way down the highway. This was also a first for this New Jersey girl.

And last, but certainly not least... as we were driving literally THROUGH a mountain, this psycho in a compact Chevy car, rode our bumper so closely we could not see his headlights in our rear-view mirror! I kid you not. We drive a Jeep and were taking the curves pretty nicely, but it wasn't fast enough for this guy. Talk about stress. Finally he passed us and we then enjoyed the windy roads once again.

Talk about a jam packed weekend!





More from Author Deanna Martinez:

Using owned media as an author

Social Media course reveal

Using owned media as an author AND my book giveaway...

Check out my latest YouTube video where I discuss owned media, what it is and how to utilize it as an author.

I will also talk about my book giveaway! I have always said, after I hit 5,000 followers on Instagram, I will give away a signed copy of one of my books. Well, the time is here! Please listen to learn how you can participate in my book giveaway.

To follow me on Instagram: Writer_Deanna
And PLEASE sign up for my email list! There are 2 ways you can do this:
1. Add your email address into the pop up right here on this blog
2. Email me and ask me to add you to my list: book.writer.deanna@gmail.com
Thank you!

Please click the book photo above to read about Stephanie and her plan on transforming her life from a domestic violence victim to a domestic violence survivor!

More from Author Deanna Martinez-Bey:

Social media course reveal

To outline or not to outline

What is the first draft?

Raleigh bloggers group: Self publishing

I am a member of the Raleigh, NC Bloggers group. Today was my second time attending. Three weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending for the first time. This group is amazing. It is filled with smart, kind individuals who love to share their knowledge.

Today, we had a speaker who talked about self-publishing. It was informative and helpful. I took about a page and a half of notes and came home and immediately applied a couple of things to this blog and my website. www.deannamartinezbey.com 

We met at a local private school and today, I took a few pictures of the pristine campus to share. Enjoy the pictures from today's meetup...

Anna Marie Jehorek spoke 

Missy (Midlife Margaritas) gave me new specs...

For those of us who are directionally challenged

The long hall....

More from Author Deanna Martinez:

Raleigh NC Bloggers Group

Social media course reveal

To outline or not to outline

My latest YouTube video: Social Media reveal

Social media course reveal...

Hello, everyone! I have some exciting news to share...

Guess who wrote an online social media course? This girl. It took me months to write it and complete all the videos. However, it took YEARS of research to obtain all the information I share in the course.

As a published author, I had to learn how to successfully network myself online. The course is written, NOT just for authors, but for everyone who needs to network themselves, their business or their brand online.

All you have to do, is email me: book.writer.deanna@gmail.com and I will send you pricing and details about the course. I can tell you this: the course contains videos, PDF documents and on screen tutorials...everything you need to network!

Check out this video I made on Facebook live when I revealed my course:

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Should you follow your heart when writing?

To outline or not to outline...

Coming up with new story ideas

What is the first draft?

Preparing your writing environment 

Should you follow your heart when writing?

Do you think that a writer should follow their heart when writing books?

Have you ever got that feeling way down in your stomach that made you know that you must do something? I once heard it referred to as knowing in your knower.
Some call it listening to your heart, and others say it is following your gut. Whatever you call it, refer to it as or have heard it called, we all know that feeling. It is almost like you just can not carry on with anything else in your life until you give in to that nagging feeling or those persistent thoughts.

As writers, we need to pay close attention to this feeling. There may be something that we need to add to our book or delete from our book. If you get the feeling that there are changes that need to be made to your book, go with it and make the changes. Chances are it will make for better reading and an all around better book!

It is important that as writers, we pay attention and listen to our thoughts and feelings. If we want to write the best book, we need to make necessary changes at the exact time they are needed. If we ignore the feelings, it just may keep us from getting offered a publishing contract or that offer to write another book from our publisher!

Tip: Listen to those persistent thoughts and/or feelings that you need to make changes to your story and/or book!

More writing articles:

To outline or not to outline

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