Welcome Dave Thome, author of the romance novel, Fast Lane

“Don’t let anybody write your story for you. Say what needs to be said. Write your own story.” ~ Taequanda, in Fast Lane

Often in life, we approach a situation or a goal (or a relationship), letting outside assumptions and expectations fuel our vision, only to discover that the truth of the matter is not at all what we anticipate. The same can be said for Lara Dixon, the protagonist in Dave Thome’s debut novel, Fast Lane. In the quote above, Taequanda is talking to Lara, who is on a hunt for the inside story of Clay Creighton and his man-centered, womanizing business, Fast Lane Enterprises. What Lara discovers once inside Fast Lane’s inner circle, more so when she gets to know Taequanda, is that everyone harbors a secret and no one fits their facade. Lara is torn between writing truth or fiction.

In a post on Babbles from Scott Eagan ( of Greyhause Literary Agency), Eagan empasizes a few “musts” in category romance novels: not “to see [characters] in bed and having a full on romance after the first meeting” but “to really get to know who these people are AS people. Emotion, motivation, depth.” Dave Thome’s novel gives readers exactly that, a satisfying romance with well-developed characters. I’m honored to host Dave today, where he talks about his writing journey and the discoveries he made along the way.

CC: When you started out writing, did you imagine you’d embark on the journey of a romance novel? I’d love to hear more about your background and how you came to be a Man Writing a Romance.

DT: Way back. Way, way back, I always assumed I’d write novels. But I also liked writing articles and columns for my high school paper, so I became a newspaper reporter. I loved being a newspaper reporter. Every day I got to meet new people and write about different things. Literally. When you’re just out of college and work for a small-town paper, you’re writing about a new math program at the high school in the morning, the last local survivor of World War I in the afternoon, and a stampede of dairy cows circling a house near downtown the next morning. (Seriously, I once wrote an article about how cows got spooked on a dairy farm in the middle of the night, broke down a fence, ran along the highway into Watertown, Wis., turned onto a side street, randomly circled one house, left—and returned a few minutes later to circle the house again. In the opposite direction.)

Anyway, newspaper stories are kind of like mini novels. Really mini novels. Like 400 words instead of 55,400 words. But you have to hook people right away. The story has to flow. You work in dialog (quotes) and narration and use description to help readers visualize things. You don’t really build to a climax, but there’s usually some element of tension in a newspaper story. Lots of news involves tension. A good reporter also has to know something about human nature. You have to get to know people quickly and assess their veracity and character. That translates into writing fiction, too.

I started a couple of novels over the years but never got anywhere. They seemed too big and complex. Then I discovered screenplays, and they seemed like a good idea because not only are they a lot shorter than novels (18,000 words), they also have a structure you have to follow. Certain things have to happen by the end of page 1, 3, 10, 28 and so on. And you have to finish by page 120—max. For comedy, finishing by page 90 or 95 is even better. Having those goals in mind helped me focus on elements of story and character that had to be developed. My mindset is exactly the same when I write novels, only now it’s a matter of rhythm instead of a matter of having an absolute page number to hit.

I ended up writing twenty screenplays in about twenty years. I wrote comedies and thrillers and sweeping science fiction action stories. The first four weren’t very good, but something clicked on the fifth. I was in a writing group and I brought in the first seven pages of what I was working on and one guy tore me a new one, making big red circles on my pages to make sure to dramatize how much he hated my dialog. He did this in front of the whole group, eight guys, I think. And then he said the lines his way—and he was absolutely right. I went home and started at the beginning and rewrote all the dialog to sound more natural—shorter sentences, dropped words, things like that—and the script just came together. When the dialog became more organic, so did the characters and the story.

That script, TERMINAL SEX, is about a woman in her late thirties who was recently divorced, hated her job and was having problems with her snotty sixteen-year-old daughter, so she follows a friend’s advice and logs into an Internet cybersex website. I made up everything that happened online because it was 1994, and I had never seen the Internet, but I made the cyberspace sequences into scenes with the characters in fantastical settings. Sex and murder ensue, and TERMINAL SEX won a writing award and got me an agent at a fairly high-profile agency in Hollywood. The script got read by some cool people—actors, producers and directors—but no one opened their wallet. Then some writer friends who were hot after having a big TV movie success tried to sell it to a network. Everyone there loved it except the last guy. The guy who had all the power.

After that, METAL MOM, a comedy about a woman who continues her heavy metal singing career when her kids are in high school almost got made twice. Another comedy, THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS, was next up on a company’s docket until they had a movie tank so badly they lost their financing. And yet another script, FRANKIE BIG LEAGUES, about a gangster who coaches his thirteen-year-old daughter’s softball team, got optioned for money but went nowhere.

At that point, I’d had enough of screenplays, so I wrote a novel, CHICK FLICK, during Nano in 2006 and worked on it for the next two years. It’s the opposite of a screenplay, with lots of the action going on inside the main character’s head. People in my writing group liked it very much, but it’s a really dark romantic comedy with a male lead. In some ways it’s “literary,” in others it’s like a romance novel, so it’s hard to imagine a traditional publishing market for it. I will eventually self-publish it.

Fast Lane came about because the writing business my wife, Mary Jo, and I have run since 1999 had its worst quarter ever at the end of 2009. She knew a woman who published erotic romances online, so she thought that might be something to do while business was down. I thought that if she was willing to do that, I should, too. But neither of us ended up writing an erotic romance. Fast Lane began as an idea for a screenplay that I started but never finished twenty-five years ago. I tried to write it in the erotic romance style, but I couldn’t stop myself from cracking up like a sixth-grader. Not a good thing. But the story was much better after having steeped in my subconscious for a quarter of a century, so I decided to make it a contemporary romance instead.

CC: In FAST LANE, your minor characters add such depth to the story — from Taequanda, one of the women in the rotation, to Morgan Hopkins, Clay’s security guard (one of my favorites, by the way). Did you spend a lot of time initially on character development? Or, did the characters fully come to life during rewrites?

DT: I don’t develop anything initially. I’m the epitome of a pantser. The side characters, believe it or not, always come to me when I need them.

Continue reading “Welcome Dave Thome, author of the romance novel, Fast Lane

From Self-Published to Harper Perennial

Last night, Redbird Studio and RedBird-Red Oak (both offer classes and writing retreats in Milwaukee, WI) sponsored a panel of five published authors. Each author spoke on their experiences and their individual approaches towards publication. The discussion ranged from self-publishing (where the author fronts all the costs) to subsidy publishing (the author pays a fee to a POD publisher) to the traditional route of a book in print released by a major publishing house.

Some of the authors’ experiences, and the advice they offered, stuck with me and warranted a post.

Karen McQuestion was already a successful freelance writer – with articles in Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune, and more – when she branched out into fiction. She shared that though she was an agented writer for several years, her books were not picked up by a publisher.

“I couldn’t get in the front door of publishing, so I went through the side door.”

She published her first fiction novel on Amazon’s Kindle. She uploaded the manuscript herself, used the free marketing on Amazon, and had amazing success. Now, she has six novels on Amazon’s Kindle, one of which (Scattered Life) has been optioned for film. To publish on Amazon’s Kindle, she said, you are responsible for designing the cover art and ensuring your work has been professionally edited. However, she spoke highly of her e-publishing experiences. While Amazon keeps a significant percentage of the royalties, one of her stories has sold 25,000 copies. I don’t have a Kindle. I hope to go the traditional route of publishing. Yet, Karen’s story certainly caught my attention.

Kirk Farber, a Wisconsin native, climbed to success through traditional means: published short stories, an agent, a book deal. With just a few short stories published in the literary arena, Harper Perennial still took notice of his first novel and decided to release it. Kirk’s debut novel, Postcards from a Dead Girl, has received rave reviews. His experience proves that an emerging writer with only a few writing credits can still succeed in the traditional print world. He emphasized that, for him, his success was also a result of simply getting out of his comfort zone. Even with great writing, authors must be willing to step away from the corner table in the coffee shop. Go to writing conferences and meet agents face to face. Show your work to other writers. He suggested two sites for those interested in fiction:

  • Fictionaut, where writers post short stories for critque by other writers.
  • Authonomy, a site designed by book editors at HarperCollins where writers showcase their work for editors, readers, and publishers.

The discussion also dipped into whether or not a writer should post essays or short stories on a personal blog. As is the custom, the worlds of nonfiction and fiction differ in perspectives.

For nonfiction, posting essays on your blog may get you noticed and will likely help cultivate your audience and build your platform. Later, those same essays can undergo a few rewrites and still be valuable for publication in a book.

For fiction, however, the answer came with shoulder shrugs and a look of “it depends.” Posting short stories, or chapters of a novel, on a blog will still get a writer noticed. However, the work may be pushed aside in lieu of a writer whose work is unseen by the public eye. Of course, never say never. If the writing is steller, it may not matter that the story has been viewed online before. Another side of the “to post or not to post” coin for me, is that if I continue to showcase my stories here, I have to pump out more creative writing elsewhere. Talk about accountability….

The last important piece of advice I took away reminded me, again, that I have to make social media my friend — get my name out there, find my own community, step out of my comfort zone. As a writer, I am rarely a social creature. The fact that I attended the panel last night, sat near the front, and actually spoke to published authors proves that I am committed. But, it isn’t always easy. Still, places like Twitter, Facebook, GoodReads, and She Writes offer portals of support and connection that writers, ten years ago, couldn’t tap.

I could go on about the evening, but instead I’ll leave you with a few more links to suggested sites for writers:

Phew! That’s all I’ve got folks. It’s Friday, and I’m diving back into my novel tonight. Watch out.

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