Cate Holahan | Write What You Learn

“I know why you’re here.”

The dance teacher approached me as she spoke. She was a petite woman, but her
posture
and the length of her stride made her appear far taller. It was only when she
stood
directly in front of me that I realized she couldn’t have topped five-foot-two.
Despite my sway back stance, I towered over her.

“I know why you’re here,” she repeated, smiling in that satisfied way people
have
when they’ve guessed something important. Something secret.

How could she know that I was a writer? Or, that I intended to research ballet
for
the novel that I was working on? I’d barely decided myself.

I tucked my hair behind my ears, a nervous habit if there ever was one, and
readied
my appeal for her to accept me into her adult ballet class—the one populated by
half-
a-dozen willowy women, pulling limbs to impossible angles and parted in splits
on the
floor before me. I prepared for her to say no. These people were former
dancers, some
ex-college performers, some ex-professionals. I’d never even taken toddler
ballet.

The dance teacher pressed a palm against my stomach. “You’re here about this
marshmallow,” she said, her voice accented by her native language, maybe
Mandarin or
Korean. “You had babies. Now you can’t get rid of this belly.”

She pressed again on what I’d thought, until moments ago, was a flat stomach.
Sure, I
had a three-year-old and a two-year-old at home. But I’d long returned to my
pre-
pregnancy weight. I’d done sit-ups. I fit into my skinny jeans.

“Don’t worry,” she smiled again, her dark brown eyes laughing. “You are a
marshmallow
now.” She slapped my abdomen. “But I will make you a rock.”

My goal wasn’t to be a rock. After writing a novel that had secured me an
agent, but
didn’t sell, I was determined that my next book land a publisher.

As a relatively new mother, I wanted to write a suspense story filled with
fears for
my someday- teenage daughters: cyber-bullying, omnipresent cell phone cameras
and
poor, pubescent decisions, peer pressure, academic competition, body images
issues. I
wanted the tale to take place at a boarding school, but I feared scenes in a
classroom would get boring. Setting the action during extracurricular dance
classes
offered a solution. Plus, dance would heighten the competition between my
characters
pushing them to their physical limits in the kind of zero-sum game that most
teenagers are not emotionally equipped to handle.

The dance set-up was perfect. The only problem? I possessed only a fans
appreciation
of what it took to be a dancer.

Write What You Know. It’s the tried and true mantra. Ex-cops write detective
stories.
Journalists write investigative reporter saves the day tales. My trade was
business
reporting, but I didn’t want to pen a financial crime thriller—at least not
yet. My
children consumed my attention. I wanted to use my concerns for them as
creative
fodder.

As for writing what I knew, I’d been a teenage girl, I’d gone to Princeton
University, so I understood a bit about competitive, academic environments.
What I
didn’t know was dance.

For the next year, I took ballet two-to-three times a week and wrote. The lingo
in
classes became part of the novel’s vernacular. The pain of stretching until I
thought
my legs might pop off my body like a broken Barbie doll is something I became
familiar with and wrote about. I talked to ex-ballerinas in the class and used
their
experiences with auditions to add realism to my narrative.

DARK TURNS sold to Crooked Lane Books. I continued to take ballet as I went through the editing process, adding new details from my experience performing in the school’s annual recital. I’m convinced that, without all the research, the scenes wouldn’t have contained the required realism to entice a publisher.

The novel came out November 10, and I no longer take ballet.

The classes did tighten my stomach muscles and improve my flexibility. More
importantly, however, they proved something that will help inform all my other
books.
You don’t have to know anything about the subject you’re writing, as long as
you’re
willing to learn.

Giveaway

Have you ever pushed yourself outside your comfort zome to learn? Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of DARK TURNS.

About Cate Holahan

Catherine "Cate" Holahan is an award-winning journalist and former television
producer.

Her articles have appeared in BusinessWeek, The Boston Globe, The Record and on
web
sites for CBS, MSN Money, NorthJersey.com, BusinessWeek.com, and CNBC. Her
short
fiction won first place in the 19th annual Calliope competition, a magazine
published
by the writer's group of American Mensa. She lives in New Jersey with her
husband,
two daughters, ages 5 and 3, and dog Westley.

DARK TURNS is her first novel.

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About DARK TURNS

Nia Washington is an incredible ballerina. She fought her way up from the streets and was nearing the pinnacle of her profession when an injury and a broken heart derailed her career. Taking a temporary job at an elite boarding school in Connecticut was supposed to give her time to nurse both body and soul. It was supposed to be a safe place to launch a triumphant comeback. It is anything but.

Shortly after she arrives at the beautiful lakeside campus, she discovers the
body of
a murdered student, and her life takes a truly dark turn. It’s not long before
she is
drawn into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with a ruthless killer. And Nia
isn't
the only target. She must use all of her street smarts to protect her dancers,
save a
wrongfully accused student, and rescue the man she loves.

A stunning and suspenseful tale of passion and betrayal, Cate Holahan's Dark Turns will take readers deep into the mind of a murderer and the woman who must put an end to the killing.