Legal eagles

This cycle we're doing two really exciting things:  we're talking about our journey to becoming writers, and we're also giving away free books!  What could be better than free books?!  Especially during the holiday season.  Just leave a comment on this post and you'll be entered to win a signed copy of my novel, Jack with a Twist.  (Signed for you or for a friend, if you'd like to give it as a gift!)

The question I’m most often asked about being a writer is how I made the transition from lawyer to published author.  People want to know why so many authors were lawyers first.  There’s Emily Giffin, Lisa Scottoline and the Girlfriends Book Club’s very own Maggie Marr, just to name a few.

There are lots of answers to this question—there’s the discipline that it takes to be a lawyer that translates really well into being an author.  Sit in front of a computer screen for hours upon hours? No problem! Work in your isolated office by yourself for days on end? Just part of the job. And then there’s the ability to work with the partners or senior lawyers. After you’ve had a scary partner mark your brief up with red pen (and quite possibly yell at you about it), working with an editor who’s only trying to make your manuscript even better is a piece of cake.

But for me, the truth is, I’ve always been a writer. Even as a little girl, I’d make up stories and write them down. My love of writing is the reason I became a lawyer in the first place—trying to find a career where I could write full time. I practiced at a large law firm and also did a federal clerkship, but I just couldn’t find the perfect niche for myself in law. Even while I’d been practicing law, I’d find thinking about these fictional stories that I wanted to write.

My debut novel

I began working on my first novel while I was still working full time. The first step in becoming a published author was to take a writing class. Before that, I was really writing without a net, not knowing anything about story structure or how to really craft a novel. A friend of mine suggested a writing class and I scoffed. “I know how to write,” I told her. “I know you know how to write,” she told me, “but don’t you want to learn the rules?”

It was a real a-ha moment for me. I immediately enrolled in a writing class and, armed with the basics of character, story structure, and story elements, began writing like crazy. I wrote whenever I could. Instead of renting a movie on a rainy night, I would just sit and write. If I was able to take a lunch break, I’d be there in the coffee shop, writing. If a friend was late in meeting me for dinner, I’d be at the bar, pen and pad in hand. And buses and subways? I’d always be there, head down, scribbling away furiously.

My second novel

Once I had completed my manuscript and edited it to a polished gem, it was time to find an agent. There was a lot of rejection at first (and I mean A LOT), but then I met Mollie Glick from the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency (she’s now with Foundry Literary + Media). It was an instant connection and I immediately knew that I wanted her to represent me. Mollie then took it from there and found the perfect home for my book with Selina McLemore at Red Dress Ink. Selina offered me a two book deal, and the rest, as they say, is history!

Two novels under my belt, I’m now working on my third. I don’t even miss law one little bit! Who are your favorite lawyers-turned-authors?

Anyone else out there who started in one career only to abandon it and start another?  How did you do it?

Just leave a comment on this blog post and you'll be entered to win a signed copy of Jack with a Twist.  Don't forget to give me your contact info so that I can reach you if you've won.  Good luck and happy holidays!