How My Real Life Seeps Into My Books

Melissa here! I was thinking about all the crazy things I have in my books from secret societies, to organized crime, to lost libraries filled with ancient missing tomes. Of course, most of this has nothing to do with my actual life. Not sure if that’s good or bad. Lol.

But I also realized there is a lot in my books that does come from my real life. I love how writers are able to take things that we are familiar with and bring them into our stories. It helps make the stories more believable, I think, since we have a strong knowledge base.

1.      Fighting. I’m a 4^th degree black belt with experience in traditional Taekwondo, Krav Maga (Israeli martial art), various weapons (mostly simple non-bladed like stick and staff), joint manipulation, pressure points, some ground defense, and a little Kali and KFM. This is SUPER helpful as a suspense writer!

2.      Motorcycle riding. I have my motorcycle license. I’m no hotshot for sure, but it’s helpful to understand how this type of vehicle works. For example, I once read a snip of someone else’s story in a writer’s group in which someone wrecks a motorcycle, and they mentioned how the engine was still running. Well, motorcycles are manual transmission, so unless they put it in neutral before crashing, the motorcycle stalled once the foot was taken off the gas.

3.      Hacking. Okay, I don’t have experience hacking, but my husband is a network security engineer and does a lot of white hat hacking training. White hat hacking is about breaking into a system in order to find the vulnerabilities so that they can be fixed (and stop someone else from exploiting). He talks at me a lot about things I do not understand at all, but sometimes I pick up a bit.

4.      Knives. This one is also thanks to my husband. He loves knives. Knives can be confusing. Switchblade, traditional folder, slip joint, out-the-front (OTF)… I almost used the term switchblade once when I really meant OTF. He saved my butt.

5.      Commercial Real Estate. This one is boring but helpful. I’m a commercial property manager by day (I manage shopping centers). I have a new book coming out 9/15/26 in which the main male character does mostly real estate investing. As I write the series, it’s helpful to have a bit of knowledge to throw tidbits in to make the character believable.

6.      Geographical locations. I live in Florida and grew up in Ohio. You’ll see those places come up a lot in my books. Except my new book coming out. It was the first book I ever wrote (I completely rewrote it recently), and I placed it in Washington state simply because I had written a scene where they watch the sunset from the beach, and well, that dictated which ocean they were on! I could change it, of course, but it’s so stuck in my head that way that it would be hard to shift my thinking.

7.      Biblical themes and/or apologetics. I read A LOT about Biblical subjects. I’m not so much a devotional kind of girl. I’m more of a scientific, archeological, linguistic nerd. I love how those things clarify, support, and prove so much about the Bible—and the more scientists discover and archeologists dig up, the more they prove the Bible. I’m built to be more concerned with hard facts than feelings, and I love how Jesus tells us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. God does not want us to disengage our minds. He gave them to us to use. For me, engaging my mind has allowed me to better connect with God. And I really enjoy bringing some of the things I learn into my books.

Leave a comment to be entered for a chance to win a small but fun bookish surprise!

Be on the lookout for Endless As The Rain! It releases 9/15/26.

Adriane must uncover the truth of her kidnapper’s past, how it entwines with her own, if she wants to survive.

Melissa Koslin is a fourth-degree black belt in and certified instructor of traditional Taekwondo. During the day, she masquerades as a commercial property manager. She, her husband, their young daughter, and two feisty cats live in Florida, where they do their best not to melt in the sun.

 

SUSPENSE SISTERS: JUNE GIVEAWAY

Suspense Sisters: June Giveaway

WHAT'S HOT in Christian Mystery and Suspense - New release from a Suspense Sister!

Marji Laine here. 

I have so enjoyed the books from my fellow Suspense Sisters, and you can be this one is going up to the top of my TBR list! 

DANGEROUS SPRING

by Roxanne Rustand

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From USA Today best-selling author Roxanne Rustand comes another heartwarming, character-driven, small-town romance in her popular Northern Pines series. This is a clean, faith-friendly romance with a light touch of suspense.

Ex-rodeo cowboy Connor Rafferty is a desperate father, stranded with a dead truck and his last fifty dollars. He must reach Detroit before his ex-wife and her abusive boyfriend vanish again with his son. Five years in prison for her lies cost him everything. Now, time is running out.

Keeley is barely holding her antique shop together after her employee quits on the eve of tourist season. She needs safe help—not a scarred stranger with secrets…and eyes she can’t ignore.

Connor asks for a few days’ work. No charity. Just a chance.

Keeley knows better than to trust him—but with customers lined up outside her door, she tentatively says yes.

If he’s telling the truth, his child is in danger.
If he’s lying…she’s invited trouble—and heartbreak—inside.

But 911 is already on her phone's Speed Dial. And this time, she won't hesitate to use it.

THIS WEEK ON THE SUSPENSE SISTERS

We have exciting things planned for you this week on the Suspense Sisters!

On Tuesday, Suspense Sister Marji Laine will tell us what’s hot in inspirational suspense and mystery.

Wednesday, we’ll hear from Suspense Sister Melissa Koslin. She’ll be talking about how her real life seeps into her books. You’ll really enjoy this column. Leave a comment for your chance to win a bookish prize!

Here’s a little something about one of her recent releases, DESCENDED.

Thousands of miles from home, Isa sees a man who looks intensely familiar. After she thwarts an attempt on her life, she escapes down the mountain with the familiar man, Xander, and he explains about four ancient bloodlines, each with its own unique set of skills: Cicero, Solomon, Sun Tzu, and Lilith. He belongs to a secret society devoted to observing and recording, but never interfering. Until now.

As Isa fights to survive, she grows close to Xander. She learns of her abilities passed down through blood and struggles to uncover the truths of her past. She decides she has to put a stop to the killing of the bloodlines and protect Xander from any further harm…even if it kills her. But will the truth of the killer's motivations and identity be too much to handle?

BUY IT HERE 

Friday, author Marji Laine will review THE WORST DETECTIVE EVER series by Christy Barritt. She’ll be giving away an eBook copy of the book, READY TO FUMBLE.

Publishers Weekly bestselling author and Kindle Unlimited All Star, Christy Barritt, brings readers a fun new series that will have them trying to solve a mystery and laughing out loud.

I'm not really a private detective. I just play one on TV.

Joey Darling, better known to the world as Raven Remington, detective extraordinaire, is trying to separate herself from her invincible alter ego. She played the spunky character for five years on the hit TV show Relentless, which catapulted her to fame and into the role of Hollywood’s sweetheart.

When her marriage falls apart, her finances dwindle to nothing, and her father disappears, Joey finds herself on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, trying to piece her life back together away from the limelight. A woman finds Raven—er, Joey—and insists on hiring her fictional counterpart to find a missing boyfriend. When someone begins staging crime scenes to match an episode of Relentless, Joey has no choice but to get involved.

Joey’s bumbling sleuthing abilities have her butting heads with Detective Jackson Sullivan and kindling sparks with thrill-seeking neighbor Zane Oakley. Can Joey channel her inner Raven and unearth whodunit before she ends up totally done in? And where is her father anyway? Can she handle fame, or is disappearing into obscurity the wiser option?

Get Ready to Fumble your way through this enchanting new series.

BUY IT HERE 

Don’t forget to enter our monthly contest!

THE SUSPENSE SISTERS

WE LOVE BOOKS

Three Ways I Overcome Writer's Block

 

As a writer, I encounter some level of writer's block with each book I write. Typically, at the one-third point in my first draft, I hit the dreaded wall. The culprit most of the time is imposter syndrome. I look at where I am in the story and where I want to be, and the gap between feels impossible to bridge. I convince myself I'm not capable of shaping a complete mess into a story readers will actually want to finish. The books I've written in the past were all flukes, and I have no skill. The secondary reason for my mental blocks is thinly tied to my imposter syndrome- perfectionism. I want my rough draft to look like it's ready for publication. Not an achievable goal. 

Here are three things I've found that help me overcome my own worst writing enemy--me!

1.) Give Myself Permission to Write an Ugly First Draft 

After several years of perfectionism leaving me more paralyzed than successful in the writing process, I've decided to give myself space to be a bad writer. As I wrote my first few books, I would read earlier chapters before sitting down to write more. When I say read earlier chapters, I mean lots of earlier chapters. The longer the book got, the more chapters I would read. And while I read, I edited. This stole so much time from writing, and made me discouraged, because I was focusing more on grammatical flaws than the story I wanted to craft. After attending a class at a writing conference taught by one of my favorite authors, I was presented with just the truth I needed. Instead of editing during the rough draft phase, I needed to get the story out on paper, no matter how ugly it looked in the beginning. "Get the clay on the wheel, " she said. There is plenty of time to make it pretty and make it flow, but I can't do that before getting the story onto the page. Somehow, letting the story be a little bit of a mess in the beginning has eliminated some of the writer's block that used to sideline me for months. 

2.) Ask Questions

Sometimes, I hit the wall when I don't know what should happen next, or when I feel the story is falling flat or lacking suspense. This is the time to ask questions. 

-What is the worst thing that could happen to my protagonist right now?

-If my character made a bad decision, how would the consequences impact the story?

-Is my character hiding a secret? What would happen if someone found out what they are hiding?

-How would this scene change if I wrote it from another character's point of view?

Questions like these often spark ideas that make me want to keep writing. 

3.) Bounce Ideas Off Another Writer

Talking with other writers about my stories has helped me on more than one occasion. I can tell the story is dragging, but don't quite know how to fix it. If asking questions doesn't work, I have writing friends I call for a brainstorming session. Somewhere in the mix of ideas I find one that works or sparks other directions I can go to keep the story flowing. 

After nearly ten years of writing, I've found these tricks helpful in overcoming writer's block in most situations. Now, here's hoping I remember to use them when I'm in the thick of my current rough draft!

Have you ever considered writing a book? If you have, I'd love to know what genre! Let me know in the comments below for a chance to win an ebook copy of The Purple Nightgown. 

THE SCARIEST PRAYER I EVER PRAYED

Many authors tell me they knew they were called to write when they were young. That wasn't true for me. I did love books, though. As a child, I spent so much time in the library that the librarian let me help put books back on the shelves after school. In elementary school, I checked out four or five books at a time and raced through them before the next day. At night, I'd hide under the covers with a flashlight and read until I fell asleep—though that didn't happen very often because I always wanted to finish the books first. I even wrote my first "book" when I was around eight years old. It was called Danny Goes to the Circus. Danny was my younger brother. I wrote the story, illustrated it myself, and proudly stapled it together on notebook paper.

Years later, in high school, I continued to write. I filled notebooks with poetry. Looking back, most of it was probably fueled by teenage angst, but I loved writing it. One day, my English teacher asked everyone in class to submit three poems. I was so excited. At a time when I desperately needed encouragement, I hoped she might tell me mine were good. My parents were divorced, and my mother was struggling with mental health issues. Life was difficult, and a little affirmation would have meant the world to me. After the poems were all turned in, my teacher read them aloud to the class without identifying the authors. She read mine. When she finished, she said she was sure she'd read them somewhere before. In other words, she didn't believe I had written them. I was crushed. What I didn't realize until years later was that she must have thought they were good poems. Good enough that she couldn't believe a student had written them. Unfortunately, I wasn't confident enough to see it that way at the time. After that, I didn't write again for many years.

Then, when I was in my forties, I heard a minister say something that changed my life. He suggested that if we looked back at our childhoods, we might discover clues about God's calling on our lives by paying attention to what came naturally to us. I realized that my love for books might mean something. Around the same time, I was watching "Murder, She Wrote." For the first time in my life, I found myself thinking, I want to be Jessica Fletcher.

Not literally, of course.

But something about her life appealed to me. That, along with the words from the minister, made me wonder. Was it possible that God was calling me to write? So, one day during my lunch hour at the bank where I worked, I sat down at a computer and tried to write a novel. Three pages later, I quit. I stared at the screen and thought, I must be wrong. I can't do this. Then a quiet voice whispered, Try one more time. I didn't expect anything to change, but I took a deep breath and tried again. And something happened. Suddenly, the words began to flow. Ideas appeared. Characters came to life. My fingers moved across the keyboard as if they'd been waiting for permission.

That feeling has never left me.

I spent the next year learning the craft of writing. Because writing isn't just inspiration—it's work. It's learning structure, pacing, characterization, dialogue, and all the countless skills that turn an idea into a novel. But then reality set in. I realized how much effort it would take to become a published author. I understood the sacrifices involved. The time away from my family. The commitment. The possibility of failure. Before I invested years pursuing this dream, I needed to know whether it was really God's plan for my life. So, I prayed the scariest prayer I have ever prayed, and I set a fleece before the Lord.


Now, I know some people would say I should have simply trusted God and followed His leading. They're probably right. But at that point in my life, I needed reassurance. And God, in His kindness, didn't scold me for that. He met me where I was. My fleece was simple. I asked God to make it snow during a specific week. That may not sound like much, but there was one problem. The week I chose was in April. I was living in Wichita, Kansas, and although I didn't know it at the time, Wichita hadn't received measurable snow in April for forty years.

Forty years.

Had I known that little fact beforehand, I might have chosen a different sign. But I had to know. The unspoken agreement was simple: if God answered, I would believe He was calling me to write—and I would follow.

So, what happened?

Did God answer my prayer?

He did.

During the week I chose, on Friday, it snowed nine inches. Nine inches. Later, when I learned that Wichita hadn't seen measurable April snow for four decades, I nearly fainted.

But God had answered.

Five years passed before I signed with my first major publisher. During those years, I collected lots of rejection letters. There were disappointments. There were moments when quitting would have been easier. Did I get discouraged? Of course. Did I give up? No.

Because of the snow.

Whenever doubt crept in, I remembered that April snowfall and the promise behind it. God had answered my prayer. He had called me to write, and He wasn't going to abandon me halfway through the journey.

Today, after more than fifty books, I can see His fingerprints all over my career. Looking back, I'm grateful I prayed that scary prayer. I'm grateful I was willing to ask. And I'm grateful God was gracious enough to meet me where I was.

What about you?

Is there something God has been nudging you toward? A dream you've been afraid to pursue? A door you've been hesitant to open? You may not need nine inches of snow to find your answer, but if you're willing to seek God's will and trust Him with the outcome, you may discover that the thing you're most afraid of is the very thing He created you to do.

Sometimes the scariest prayer you'll ever pray is also the one that changes everything.

Please visit my website to find out about my books. You can also contact me through my site.

Leave a comment, along with your email address, and you could win a copy of my upcoming release, FATAL FINALE!  

Nancy