Lucky 13: Linda Rettstatt

For April’s installment of Lucky 13 on the 13th, Linda Rettstatt shares her story of how good luck can come disguised as bad. Linda is an award-winning author of Women’s Fiction and Mainstream Contemporary Romance. She was named Author of the Year in 2010 at Champagne Books where she also serves as a mentor for new authors. In March of 2012 her novel, Love, Sam, won the prestigious EPIC eBook Award for Mainstream Fiction. Her work is published by three small presses: Wings ePress, Champagne Books, and Turquoise Morning Press. She has also independently published her first romantic suspense novel, Protection. Linda grew up in the small town of Brownsville in Southwestern Pennsylvania, but has lived and worked in NW Mississippi for the past fourteen years.

Here is Linda’s story.

Luck Is A Matter of Perspective

In 2004, I sat down to try to write what became my first novel. I say ‘try’ because I wasn’t at all certain I could do it. The book began with a title—And The Truth Will Set You Free. I toyed with that, wondering what story it might tell. I knew only that I wanted to write women’s fiction. Then Kate Reynolds revealed herself as my protagonist and off we went. Kate’s story is that of a fifty-something woman who’s not unhappy, yet not quite fulfilled with her life. When she is asked to take an early retirement from a job she’s held for over thirty years, Kate goes into a tailspin that drops her down right smack into depression. Her life is out of her control and she feels helpless.

I started the book on a cold January afternoon when my counseling clients had either canceled or failed to show up for appointments. The writing took off for me, much like champagne bubbling from a shaken bottle. Then, in early April, I became Kate. I was informed that the program in which I worked was to be closed due to an “organizational restructuring.” Plainly put, I was now out of a job. Most people would consider that to be terrible luck. And it would have been worse had I not been in a position to pay my bills for a while before seeking new employment.

In her story, Kate’s best friend tells her to see this crisis as an opportunity to do something she’s always wanted to do. You guessed it—Kate wanted to write! But back to my story. My family and friends offered condolences for my circumstance. I, on the other hand, saw this as a gift. I had a few months to live in Kate’s shoes, sort of, and to write her story from the inside out. Of course, I didn’t thank my employer for the favor. A relative sent me a check, saying she was sorry I was “down on my luck.” That certainly wasn’t my perspective at all, but I could hardly admit that. I thought, “How lucky to have the opportunity to truly get inside my character’s head, experience her shock, fears, hopes, and determination to follow her dream.” I needed that stroke of bad luck to bring me good luck in writing that first book.

(In case you’re wondering, I just published book number eighteen!)