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.

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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.