Staci
Troilo loves getting lost in sci-fi battles, fantasy realms, horror worlds,
suspenseful intrigues, and romantic entanglements, both in her reading and her
writing. Learn more about her and her books at her website. stacitroilo.com
Bad
Agents and Erroneous Lab Results Make for Great Fiction
I have to say, I’m a bit late for this
birthday bash. December is the month three of my novels celebrate their
publication anniversaries. All three—Type
and Cross, Out and About, and Pride and Fall—comprise the Cathedral
Lake series. While I missed the official celebration dates, I’m still in a
festive mood about the novels, and I thought I’d share how they came to be.
Once upon a time, I had an agent who was
shopping my first romance novel around New York. I assumed I was supposed to
continue working on the series, so I dove into book two before book one was
purchased. Halfway through, my agent chastised me and told me I should be
writing in a different genre, because the romance genre was glutted and hard to
sell.
Why, then, did she offer to represent me
to begin with?
I couldn’t figure it out, but I dove into
my idea file to look for something in a different genre. Turned out, though,
almost all my story concepts were for the romance genre. Various sub-genres,
but still, they were all romances.
All but one.
A few years earlier, my husband had blood
work done. It was nothing serious, just routine. But when he got his lab
report, he was puzzled about his blood type. Both of his parents were O+, so he
just assumed he would be, too. But he wasn’t. So he talked to his parents about
it. He wanted to be sure he knew his parents’ correct blood types, in case
there was ever a medical emergency.
Turns out, he was right about the
types—his parents were both O+.
Turns out he was wrong to ask his parents
about it—his father freaked out.
I, by nature, am a curious person. And I
avoid conflict like the plague when I can. When this all hit the fan, I did
what came naturally to me. I researched how blood types are determined.
It’s a fascinating subject. Each person,
despite having one “type” (or Rh factor) stated, actually has two determinates—one
from the mother and one from the father. So anyone with a positive blood type
could actually have one positive antigen and one negative antigen. Because
there’s even one positive, that person will state their blood type as positive.
But that negative antigen is still there, and it can be passed on to offspring.
That means that two blood type positive parents could actually have one
positive and one negative antigen each, and both the mother and the father
could pass on the negative, not the positive, antigen, resulting in a child
with two negative antigens. In other words, a child with a negative blood type.
I was thrilled that I’d discovered the
mystery behind my husband’s blood type. I wanted to calm everyone’s anxieties.
Turns out, I didn’t need to. The blood lab contacted my husband and reported
their error. I don’t know what made them review their results—but it was good
that they did. The family relaxed, secure in the knowledge that all was as it
should be.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Not only was the Rh factor information fascinating, the A, B, O research was
compelling, too. I mulled things over for a while, and the seeds of a medical
drama sprouted and grew into the Kellers, a dysfunctional family who lives in
Cathedral Lake, a fictional town in Western Pennsylvania. They are deliciously
complex, and the pages of their stories pretty much wrote themselves.
I was halfway through the first novel in
that series when my agent told me mainstream fiction—which is what she
categorized the series as—were the hardest novels to sell.
That made two series she didn’t want to
promote. And she offered next to no guidance in what I should do next.
Left to my own devices, I did what I
think any frustrated new author would do. I fired her and signed both
series—the romance and the mainstream—with a smaller publisher. It was a relief
to find a company who was as excited about my work as I was. And the Cathedral
Lake series was quickly finished and is now a completed trilogy.
It might be a belated celebration, but
I’m still commemorating the novels’ birthdays. Type and Cross details one family’s journey from devastation to
redemption, Out and About chronicles
the merits and miseries of freedoms denied and gained, and Pride and Fall is a story of healing and personal growth.
Without a little serendipity and a lot of
luck, the Cathedral Lake series might never have come to fruition.
Type
and Cross, Book 1 of the Cathedral
Lake Series
Blood defines family. Blood reveals betrayal.
Dr. Royce Keller is no stranger to blood. As Chief of
Emergency Medicine at Oakland Regional Hospital, it’s his job, his calling. To
Royce, it is the very essence of life—what ties his family, his career, and his
world together. Until he learns everything he believes is wrong.
Vanessa Keller has a secret she has kept hidden for almost
two decades. It’s her burden, her cross to bear. To Vanessa, the truth is a
choice—something best forgotten for the greater good of her family and their
future. Until the day it comes back to haunt her.
A tale of family dysfunction, betrayal, heroism, and loss, Type and Cross is the story of one
family’s journey from devastation to redemption.
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