‘As Told To’ Project Prompts Solo Efforts

By Linda Lovely

The idea of writing a book was an occasional, fleeting thought.  Sometimes I figured out a mystery before reaching the half-way point in a book and thought I could do better.  Other times I’d roll my eyes at the actions of a wimpy or TSTL—too stupid to live—heroine and think MY heroine would be much braver and smarter.

But these were random thoughts. I was busy trying to make a living. We had just moved to the South Carolina coast for my husband’s job, and I’d recently sold my interest in a partnership, which required me to honor a non-compete clause. That meant I needed new clients.

I've always been a writer. But writing a book? It took an
expensive lesson for me to decide, "Yes, I can."

One happened to be a fast-growing ad agency that hired me as a freelancer. I really liked one of the agency principals, a talented writer and a real hoot. We’ll call him Ed. One day Ed told me about an “opportunity.” Someone he’d met in a bar wanted to contract with a writer to pen an “as told to” expose. Ed was in the middle of writing a TV pilot and had no time to see if it was a worthwhile project. He suggested I check it out. What could it hurt?

The contact turned out to be a duo—two disinherited members of a famous, wealthy family. They wanted to make some money by revealing juicy tales about their relatives and, not incidentally, extract some revenge on people they felt had wronged them. 

Their tales of birthday parties at 21, private jets, exclusive schools, fabulous estates, and, okay, drugs and kinky sex, were so far from my life experiences that I was fascinated. We signed a contract. It gave me a fair share of the royalties once the book was published, and they’d pay all my expenses for travel and research, but no advance. What did I have to lose?

I should have asked a lawyer. I didn’t. Bottom line? I spent months doing research. I traveled with them to visit former haunts. I read related books. I outlined the entire book, wrote perhaps a third of the book as well as a proposal. We secured a well-known, New York literary agent to represent us.

The agent let the cat out of the bag. The ensuing negotiations—I wasn’t included—led to a multi-million dollar family arrangement, essentially a bribe to not publish the book or reveal any of its contents. A provision in my contract said I could not disclose my clients' identities or use any of my research without their permission. If I did, I’d be sued.

So, I wound up spending hundreds of hours on a project that cost me money. Do I regret it? Not one bit. I learned I could, indeed, write a book. I also had an opportunity to hear first-hand tales about famous people and lifestyles beyond anything I could imagine. Plenty of material for fictional plots and characters. I also decided that what I really wanted to do was write fiction. And I vowed I would be the only one to decide if a book should be published.

Of course, I didn’t immediately sit down and start writing a novel. I took fiction writing courses and continued to work hard for paying clients to earn a living. Now I’m happily at a place where I can write what I want—mysteries and suspense coupled with laughter and love. I hope you’ll check out my new humorous Brie Hooker Mystery series when it debuts this October.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Publication by Lynn Lovegreen

Considering the theme for this month, I thought of this story immediately. At first, I was afraid to tell it for fear of sounding negative toward a certain person, but I decided the life lesson was too important to ignore. So some of the details are missing, deliberately.

None of us are born experts, and we all have to start somewhere. Like everyone else, I started writing fiction before I knew what I was doing, and got advice and help from more experienced writers and others along the way. But that doesn’t mean that everyone had valuable advice for me—I had to sort out what was true for me. Here’s the most obvious example.

I signed up for a manuscript review at a writing conference. A successful agent met with me to discuss the first chapter of my first novel, a sweet YA romance set in the 1940s. The agent knew her stuff, and had several authors placed with big publishers. But she didn’t know me or my writing goals—that became apparent during our meeting.  

She began by pointing out the things I did well and the places where I needed to revise or make changes. (I am still grateful to her for that.) Then she said, “You’re a high school English teacher. You know about literary fiction. Why are you writing romance?”

I could only manage an incoherent stutter for an answer.

She went on. “You should put this aside and write something important, something gritty and edgy.”

I stumbled through a thank you and shook her hand. Then I went upstairs to my hotel room to take in what happened. 

At first, I had to giggle. The agent wanted me to take a complete 180 in my writing, either from snobbery, or from not understanding who she was talking to. I don’t have a gritty or edgy bone in my body.

But as I thought more about it, I became angry. How dare she tell me what to write?! How dare she suggest that there was something wrong with a sweet romance?! 

By the end of the conference, I vowed to write the best dang romance she’d ever see. And I came up with the plot for Fools Gold, my first published novel, on the trip home.

Life Lesson: Listen to the experts, but only take the advice that works for you. Disregard everything else, or use it as motivation to do what you want to do. As Polonius says in Hamlet, “To thine own self be true.” 

Lynn Lovegreen grew up in Alaska, and still lives there. She taught for twenty years before retiring to make more time for writing. She enjoys her friends and family, reading, and volunteering at her local library. Her young adult/new adult historical romances are set in the Alaska Gold Rush, a great time for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Goodreads, and Pinterest.

Tough Hide and Determination by Paty Jager

This month we've been asked to talk about something funny on the road to publication.

I wrote two murder mystery books with only taking a few college fiction writing courses. I had little aid in how to write a mystery because back in the day, most mystery groups wouldn't include you unless you had published a book. Then I stumbled onto LaVyrle Spencer and Nora Roberts books and decided I'd write a historical western romance. I wrote the book and found out about a local writer's group. I went to first meeting and they were all poets. They snubbed their noses at me and didn't have anything helpful for a novelists.

Then I found out about Fishtrap, a writing weekend in the county where I grew up. I could stay with my parents and attend the workshops I wanted. I signed up for one where you read some or your work to a New York editor. I was stoked and ready to get some feedback.

I arrived at the workshop early and smiled at the other people as they entered the room. As anyone who has met me knows, I tend to shrink into the corner of the room as it fills. We were instructed to sit around a large table with the young woman at the head who was the New York editor.

She told us she wanted each of us to read the beginning of your work.

The first person read and I thought it was a nice story. The second person read and I didn't understand what they were trying to say with their work. The third persons story was way out there and then there was another story that was wordy and full of beautiful descriptions.

Then it was my turn. I cleared my throat and started reading my historical western romance. You would have thought I had the plague. The other members of the group leaned away from me and the editor stopped me way before she stopped the others. She asked me if I had heard of RWA. I told her no. She asked me to see her after the workshop.

When the workshop was over, I stayed behind and she handed me a piece of paper that had the website for Romance Writers of America. She told me to contact them and they would help me with writing a romance. That Fishtrap was a literary writers organization.

I went home and put in the website, saw that they had classed, workshops and online help. I was in heaven! I received my first RWR- the RWA magazine and saw there was a conference in Seattle. I told my husband I had to go. I needed to attend the classes.  I met wonderful, kind people who had characters running around in their heads too! I'd found my people! One of them asked me what chapter I was in. I replied, "Fourteen," thinking she meant in the book I was working on. She meant a local chapter. I learned of the two in Oregon and made it a goal to pick one of them.

I did and attended meetings once a month in Salem, a two and a half hour drive from where I lived. But I learned so much and met so many wonderful people it was worth the travel and time.


I joined RWA in 1998 and in 2006 and after writing 2 mysteries and 7 historical romance books I was published by a small press. On the way to being published by the small press I had over 100 rejections from agents and editors. But I also had been a finalist in 8 of the different RWA chapters writing contests. It was those contests and Agents saying they liked my books but didn't know where to place them in the New York standards for genres that kept me writing.

I have since left the small press and self-publish all my books. I love the ability to write what I want and promote it how I feel best works for the book. My entourage of editors, cover designer, and beta readers all keep me on task and make my work shine.

Becoming published had it's knocks and required a touch skin when it came to the rejections, critiques, and edits. I also had to use the same drive and determination to get published that I had as a child growing up with two brothers. I was determined to do everything they did as good or better and I have that save drive when writing a book. When I can't write the next book better than the last, I'll throw away my keyboard. Until then, I'll keep plotting, writing, and bringing characters to life for readers. 

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 25+ novels and over a dozen novellas and short stories of murder mystery, western romance, and action adventure. She has a RomCon Reader’s Choice Award for her Action Adventure and received the EPPIE Award for Best Contemporary Western Romance and a RONE for her Murder Mystery. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

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Fiction's Inciting Incident and Point of No Return: Life Changing Events, by Kristin Holt

by Kristin Holt

In fiction, “Life Changing Event” (LCE) is often referred to as the Inciting Incident, the situation/occurrence that kicks the story ball into play. Overlapping with the Inciting Incident is a component of fiction called the Hook—action/situation that snags the reader’s attention and holds it long enough for the reader to care about the hero and what he wants.

We’ve all read one too many books where the supposed Hook and/or Inciting Incident were not inherent to the story and plot. A random, disconnected, flashy beginning or an attention-grabbing action scene that is not an integral part of the story is a rip-off and one of the big reasons why readers abandon books.

All readers know what comes after the initial story set-up (Hook and Inciting Incident). Circumstances get worse, pressures on the hero grow, and before too many pages pass by, he reaches the Point of No Return.

Some might argue that this is actually the LCE. Personally, I don’t think it matters if it’s one or the other or both.

The Point of No Return is the event/catastrophe/circumstance that our hero cannot ignore, plunging him into the quest. The character’s life is irrevocably changed. His world is kicked out from beneath him and nothing will ever be the same again.

The character figures out merely reacting to circumstances is no longer enough.

It’s not a “hey, if you get a chance…”, not a suggestion. It’s not an invitation.

He’s provoked, compelled, 100% in.

He must engage.

Otherwise, the event would not be a LCE (Life Changing Event—emphasis on the changing).

LCE’s demand a character to take action. No more simply floating along living day by day, reacting to the conflict the bad guys (and good guys) toss in his way.

The best of fiction shows us the character—belief system, capacities, flaws, strengths—by putting them through a LCE and allowing readers to see them react and act. The reader hears the character’s thoughts and words spoken.

The writer might have the character do something tremendously risky or illegal, mean-spirited or callous—but that’s perfectly okay because the reader understands the character and exactly why he does what he does.

Make the stakes high enough, crank up the pressure, and readers find themselves rooting for the character, caring about what he cares about, turning pages well after midnight, and vested in the character’s success and eventual triumph.

The reader “falls in”, lives and breathes the story through the point of view character. The reader lives vicariously, experiencing the emotional highs and lows, the risks, danger, falling in love (all the best parts of the selected genre).

It’s all connected. The character’s LCE is the Hook, Inciting Incident, Point of No Return. Plot points and huge setbacks (such as death of a mentor) will inevitably count as more LCE’s. Everything matters, is woven together, and nothing extraneous detracts from the thrill of the roller coaster ride. The reader’s recliner disappears under the power of the written word. Bedtime comes and goes, and despite the fact she must get up in a short six hours, the reader can’t set the book down.

Gifted, highly skilled, experienced authors make it look easy.

I know it's not.

What authors do you enjoy reading because Life Changing Events at the beginning of their books bring characters to life and make for a powerful read?

Kristin Holt, USA Today Bestselling Author writes Sweet Victorian Romance set in the American West. She writes frequent articles about the nineteenth century American west--every subject of possible interest to readers and amateur historians. She contributes monthly to Sweet Americana Sweethearts (first Friday of each month) and Romancing the Genres (third Tuesday of each month). 

Sweet Romance Appropriate for All Audiences

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