WHAT ARE THE ODDS? by Lois Winston
In fiction authors know to steer clear of
circumstances that are considered too coincidental. Readers and reviewers will
call them out on it. However, in real life coincidences often occur fairly
frequently. For instance, when my husband and I lived in Philadelphia, every
few months we’d drive up to New York City for a weekend of museum hopping and Broadway
shows. On countless occasions we’d wind up bumping into people we knew from
Philadelphia.
Considering the population of Philadelphia and
how many people are on the island of Manhattan on any given day, what were the
odds of this happening even once, let alone half a dozen times over the course
of three or four years? Still, it’s not a trope I’d ever use in a book. Truth
might be stranger than fiction, but coincidence stretches the suspension of
disbelief too thin for most readers.
However, coincidence did play a role in the
creation of Literally Dead, the
second book in my Empty Nest Mystery series. An unbelievable coincidence in my
own life gave me the idea for one of the plot points in the novel.
A couple of years ago my husband and I reluctantly
attended a family reunion given by one of his elderly aunts. (Arm-twisting on
the part of his sister played a huge factor in our agreeing to go.) His family
is a bit strange. Not only were family members in attendance but so were
ex-spouses of family members who had divorced decades ago. I knew very few of
the people at the party. My husband’s family is not what you’d call close. We
rarely saw any of them, which made the reunion and our invitation to it all the
more surprising.
One of the invited guests was an ex-spouse of
one of my husband’s relatives. Although we had never met, I knew addiction had
played a role in the breakup of their marriage. Imagine my shock when I
discovered this ex-relative was someone I knew from the publishing industry!
What were the odds?
Even though I’d never write a coincidental
meeting into one of my books, my own coincidental meeting of this person at the
family reunion wound up playing into the storyline for Literally Dead. And to think, I almost skipped going to that party.
Literally
Dead
An Empty Nest Mystery, Book 2
After her last disastrous episode as an amateur
sleuth, Gracie Elliott is back. The budding romance writer has spent the past
year crafting her first novel. Her hard work and determination pay off when her
manuscript wins the Cream of the Crop award, a contest for unpublished writers,
sponsored by the Society of American Romance Authors. First place entitles her
to attend the organization’s annual conference, normally open only to published
authors.
With husband Blake in tow, a starry-eyed Gracie
experiences the ultimate fan-girl moment upon entering the hotel. Her favorite
authors are everywhere. However, within minutes she learns Lovinia Darling, the
Queen of Romance, is hardly the embodiment of the sweet heroines she creates.
Gracie realizes she’s stepped into a romance vipers’ den of backstabbing,
deceit, and plagiarism, but she finds a friend and mentor in bestselling author
Paisley Prentiss.
Hours later, when Gracie discovers Lovinia’s
body in the hotel stairwell, a victim of an apparent fall, Gracie is not
convinced her death was an accident. Too many other authors had reason to want
Lovinia dead. Ignoring husband Blake’s advice to “let the police handle it,”
Gracie, aided by Paisley, begins her own investigation into the death. Romance
has never been so deadly.
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About
the Author
USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery,
romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter
books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically
acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature
answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is an award-winning craft and
needlework designer who often draws much
of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences
in the crafts industry. Visit
Lois/Emma at www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts &
Crafty Killers blog, www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com. Follow everyone on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/anasleuth and onTwitter at https://twitter.com/Anasleuth. Sign up for her newsletter at https://www.MyAuthorBiz.com/ENewsletter.php?acct=LW2467152513
Comments
Thanks for stopping by!
Your series sound very interesting. I will check you out on Amazon Smile. I like stories about writers.
By the way, one of us 8 writers on The Writers In Residence blog this week, wrote her post on cozy mysteries. Maybe check it out, and add YOUR list to ones that have also been suggested.
Here's the short link to the post. http://bit.ly/2dYPdRA
Did you reveal to the relative at the reunion that you *knew* him/her? Or did *they* also recognize your name? Quite fascinating!
Gemma, she had no idea who I was, even though we'd sat next to each other at a luncheon several years earlier. But that was during her coke days. I'm guessing she doesn't remember much of that period of her life. Thanks for stopping by!