Jannine Gallant | Keeping Fiction Fresh

They say there are no original plots. Each new story is simply a variation on a handful of themes. If this is true, how do we make our book unique? How do we keep our readers from rolling their eyes and moaning, “Not this again!” I believe this is where the author’s voice comes in. We have to create characters who are memorable, a setting that’s unusual, and tell the story in a way that is uniquely our own. And a few crazy plot twists don’t hurt…

EVERY STEP SHE TAKES is romantic suspense with a plot you’ve probably seen before. The hero and heroine are both trying to find a government witness in protective custody. The hero wants to bring him in safely to testify. The heroine wants to get the story of a lifetime for her newspaper. Then there’s the villain, a hitman hired by the drug lord who wants to take out the witness…and everyone who gets in his way. My job is to spin this basic plot to make it different—fresh!

Element #1: Setting.

Here’s something you can change up to do the unexpected. I decided to drop my government witness into a fishing camp in Nowhere, Alaska. Then to take it a step farther, the witness heads out on a week-long backpacking trip. Of course the hero and heroine and hitman all have to follow. Unique? I hope so. At least a little different from the standard gritty city setting for a book like this.

Element #2: Characters.

My hero is an ex-Navy SEAL. Okay, okay, a little typical. But now he owns an investigation and security company. He’s the boss. He doesn’t work in the field anymore. He just wants to grab the witness and hustle him back to the lower forty-eight to hand over to his buddy the fed. And he’s having a bit of a mid- life crises of the “all work and no play makes Travis a boring dude” variety. Maybe shaking up his life isn’t such a bad thing. Then there’s the heroine, Grace. She’s a reporter with attitude. A string of ex-boyfriends makes her a little un-heroine-like, but she’s hard on the outside to protect a damaged sole. The woods are not her thing. She’s a city girl out of her element, forced to rely on the hero, which doesn’t make her a happy camper. And last but not least, the villain. How to spin him to make him more interesting… I gave him a past, one that includes Grace, though she doesn’t know it. Now his mission is personal. He’ll take out the witness…and settle an old score while he’s doing it. Hopefully I’ve done my job with these three and made them unique and interesting.

Element #3: Voice.

I firmly believe readers either like an author’s voice…or they don’t. The way we tell a story is ours alone. I use a lot of dialogue in my writing. Witty banter (at least I hope it’s witty!) gives a dark plot a lighter side. If you check out my book, you’ll have to let me know if I succeeded in putting a fresh twist on an old plot. As a reader, are you a fan of tried and true themes…or do you enjoy the unexpected?

About Jannine Gallant

Write what you know. Jannine Gallant has taken this advice to heart, creating characters from small towns and plots that unfold in the great outdoors. She grew up in a tiny Northern California town and currently lives in beautiful Lake Tahoe with her husband and two daughters. When she isn’t busy writing or being a full time mom, Jannine hikes or snowshoes in the woods around her home. Whether she’s writing contemporary, historical or romantic suspense, Jannine brings the beauty of nature to her stories. To find out more about this author and her books, visit her website at janninegallant.com.

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About EVERY STEP SHE TAKES

You can run from the past, but you can’t hide . . .

Tough as nails, no nonsense San Francisco reporter Grace Hanover will do anything to cover the story of the decade—and her career. Having survived a painful past, she’s learned never to let anything stand in her way. Even if it means following a key witness into the Alaskan wilderness, and partnering with Travis Barnett, a former Navy SEAL turned PI who’s working for the Feds, and who would love to bring in Grace’s witness before she can get her story. But together in the wilderness, they’ll each have to put aside their differences and trust one another if they want to survive.

Because someone from Grace’s past is watching, waiting for just the right moment. Every step Grace takes draws her deeper into the line of fire, and into the hands of a killer…