Today, I'm thrilled to introduce you to a lovely writer, Molly Zenk, author of the contemporary Christian romance, Out of Character. She's here with a guest post to tell us how Out of Character came to be. And here she is!
Movie And Book Inspiration For Your Evolving Plot
Molly Zenk
I bet you can name at least
one or two popular books that started their life as fan fiction. The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones
by Cassandra Clare started out as a Harry Potter fan fic. Fifty Shades Of Grey was an
alternative universe Twilight fan fic. Sometimes, transforming them just takes
creative use of the find-and-replace button in your word processing
program. Other times the changes evolve
the story in a whole new direction that you never thought possible. That’s what
happened to me with Out Of Character.
Out Of Character started out as a Pirates Of The Carribbean fan
fic. I wrote it back in 2007 when the
movies were at the height of their popularity.
When I noticed the finished story clocked in at 36,000 words, I knew with some tweaking I could turn it
into a market ready manuscript. At first,
I tried the old find-and-replace names form of editing. I was told it was too much like the main
romantic plot of Pirates Of The Caribbean. No surprise there. I needed to add
something that made it stand out. Adding the actors on a TV show spin still got
it called a “back door historical.” What more could I do? I know--they were
actors on a historical reality show. That would give it a great juxposition
between modern and history. My main inspiration for a historical reality show
are 1900s House and Frontier House on PBS. In both shows, modern
families agree to live life like the pioneers and Edwardians for three months
while cameras rolled. I knew instantly
that I wanted to put my own spin on the historical reality show genre. Now I
definitely had something unique that broke away from its Pirate Of The
Caribbean beginnings.
Out Of Character continued to evolve through several more
revisions and three rounds of edits till it was published in 2015 by Anaiah
Press. It’s come a long way from its fan
fiction beginnings.
MOLLY ZENK was born in Minnesota, grew up in Florida, lived briefly in
Tennessee before finally settling in Colorado. She graduated from Flagler
College in St. Augustine, FL with degrees in Secondary Education, English, and
Creative Writing. She is married to a Mathmatician/Software Engineer who
complains about there not being enough "math" or info about him in her
author bio. They live in Arvada, CO with their young daughters.
Website:
mollyzenk.wix.com/home
Twitter: @UnsinkableMoZe
