Bestselling Author Allison Winn Scotch
Unafraid to Trust Her Inner Voice

Time of My Life
by Allison Winn Scotch
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When I visit recently with New York Times bestselling author Allison Winn Scotch, she is in the middle of a busy day.  “I have a celebrity interview coming up, and I’m working on my third book,” says Winn Scotch.  “I don’t do much freelancing anymore, except for celebrity stuff.  I make my income as an author.  I have two on the market and sold the third on a pitch.”

The Department of Lost and Found, her first best-selling title, was quickly followed by Time of My Life, a fast-paced tale which asks the ultimate what-if question of what our life would be like if we hadn’t let our first love get away.  After a lengthy massage to clear the cobwebs, Jillian Westfield, wakes up seven years in the past and sees just what life might have been like.  The Department of Lost and Found is an endearing tale which manages to explore the ripple effect of our choices, not only on our own lives but those we love.

Winn Scotch says that the women she writes about tend to have a common thread. “They’re all women at a crossroads who are looking to sort of come out on the other side of their lives, and I tell the story of those journeys. But I’d never base a character on someone whom I know...I dunno, I think I’d have a hard time separating real life from fiction and wouldn’t give the character the necessary freedom to become an invention of my imagination.”

That doesn’t mean you can expect all future works to follow the same pattern, however. “I have considered doing a male voice, and think that I will in one of my future novels. One thing I’d like to do is write a book with several different voices, and I suspect that one of them will be male. But for now, I’m still enjoying exploring these different women.”

Winn Scotch, who works in her home office to be near her two young children and husband, says that work is well under way on her third novel, The Happiest Days of My Life, which sold in November, 2008, to publisher Shaye Arehart Books. It wasn’t too long in her past that she didn’t think it possible to earn a living as an author. “I was a history major in college, and I always loved writing. But I thought you couldn’t make a living at it, so it wasn’t something I considered.”

After successful stints in public relations and retail business partner, Winn Scotch started her writing web copy for her own business. That soon grew into a flourishing freelance writing career, with her first attempt at fiction not coming until she was 28. “I picked up fiction as a creative outlet, and I think one of the reasons I was successful is that I wasn’t afraid to trust my inner voice.”

Part of trusting that inner voice has also been a willingness to put her characters in often uncomfortable situations that challenge her readers’ thinking. “I tend not to have a problem dealing with uncomfortable topics. I mean, I think the only interesting thing about reading fiction is watching characters overcome conflict, so if you’re not going to throw some serious conflict in their paths, what’s the point?”

But Winn Scotch says she does listen to reader feedback. “I got a lot of reader feedback - from a very specific set of readers, however - who didn’t like my curse words. I haven’t changed anything about how my characters talk in my next book,” she laughs before adding, “but I guess I do keep that in mind and ensure that every f-word that I use is actually necessary.”

For this author, the writing process begins long before the first words ever hit the paper. “I spend a lot of time thinking about the characters, their backgrounds and their various problems before I dive in. Weeks, months even, after I’ve gotten my initial spark of an idea. So by the time I sit down and write, I have a very good idea of who these people are and where their journey begins.”

So does all this planning mean she follows an outline and knows where the story will go? “All bets are off. I really just track everything in my head and let the characters roam to where they want to go. But the only way I can manage this is to go back and reread every 50 pages or so. It reminds me of where I’ve taken them and helps me keep them on track. But no, no outline for me –it would be pointless because I tend to write scenes and places that I’d never anticipate from the beginning.”

One of the difficulties of writing about women, especially ones that may have things in common with the author, is that readers often assume that the characters are based somewhere in reality. Winn Scotch says that she had this particular experience happen to her after Time of My Life was released. “A lot of people assumed that was me and my marriage and my feelings, but it really, really wasn’t. She was just a character I understood, even though actually, I shared little in common with her. I think it’s important to find that emotional connection with your characters, that’s all. If you can do that, you’ll be able to create multi-dimensional characters regardless of what traits you share with them.”

But every once in a while, she does throw in things from her own life. The name of a character is actually that of her best friend’s daughter. A Winn Scotch’s sorority made an appearance the The Department of Lost and Found. But Winn Scotch says it isn’t even all that much about privacy that she doesn’t base characters or places after things in her own life. “I don’t think it’s a conscious choice on my part, it’s just that my life isn’t interesting enough to write about. What would I write? That’s for memoir writers, and I’m not one.”

Lisa Abeyta is an award-winning writer, columnist and writing teacher. Having sold hundreds of articles to national and local publications, she also provides copywriting, web-copy, and other writing services to private and corporate clients. She is active in several online writing communities, moderating forums and providing guest articles on freelance writing. Lisa also serves as a guest lecturer, speaker and teaches writing to both adults and students.