The best kind of fiction books are those that bring the characters and stories to life. While novelists will always need their imaginations to develop plots, authors who bring personal life experience to their stories can add a level of realism that draws readers in.
The twelve authors on this list became experts in their respective fields before honing their craft of writing. They’re able to use practical knowledge to add depth to the story while also creating compelling characters and page-turning intrigue.
If you’re participating in the Crazy4Fiction Reading Challenge, pick a book to fulfill the novel by an expert in their field prompt!
Chad Robichaux
Military
Silent Horizons, Riptide
Chad Robichaux is a former Force Recon Marine who served on eight deployments to Afghanistan as part of a Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) task force. Chad partnered with Jack Stewart on the Silent Horizons series, saying in an interview with The Real Book Spy that he wanted to honor those who risk their lives serving on teams like JSOC, as well as the servicepeople’s families.
Chad goes on in the article to talk about how the character of Foster Quinn is similar to his own military resume and how he wants to provide an entertaining story that also puts readers into an aspect of the military that doesn’t often get fictionalized. In the acknowledgments of Silent Horizons, Chad and Jack write that they want “to provide an entertaining and thrilling glimpse into the clandestine world of special operations while delivering a message of hope to our veterans.”
And based on reviews, the novel has done just that. In his endorsement, Mike Glover, US Army Special Forces (Retired), said, “Silent Horizons eloquently depicts a warrior’s journey on and off the battlefield. It’s the human side of the operator that hits hardest and resonates with my own experience.” And former CIA intelligence officer Andrew Bustamante said, “The tension, the terminology, the thrills, the tradecraft—this is as real as secret intel ops get.”
Jack Stewart
Military
Silent Horizons, Riptide
Jack Stewart is a former FA-18C Hornet fighter pilot who retired with the rank of commander. During his time in uniform, he flew combat missions, was a member of an Air Force Tactical Air Control Party, and a part of a Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) task force. Jack partnered with Chad Robichaux on the Silent Horizons series, which follows former Force Recon Marine, Foster Quinn.
In an interview with The Real Book Spy, Jack and Chad talk about how their time in JSOC helped them be able to write on this unique aspect of military service, even though they weren’t on the task force at the same time.
Nick Freitas, a former US Army Special Forces Green Beret, says, “Written by a true real-world operator and a TOPGUN aviator, Riptide stands out for its unmatched realism and tactical authenticity.”
Kristine Delano
Wall Street
The Lies We Trade
Kristine Delano spent twenty years with a career on Wall Street before becoming an author. She also hosts We Talk Careers, a podcast where she interviews those who still work on Wall Street about various aspects of their professional lives. As Kristine says in her author’s note in The Lies We Trade, the novel was loosely based on her own experiences and those whose stories have been told on the podcast.
Those experiences lend authenticity to the story, as Publishers Weekly mentioned in their review: “Delano vividly depicts a cutthroat financial industry where greed and out-of-check egos fuel mistrust and misdeeds.”
Andrews & Wilson
Military
The Shepherds series
Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson, collectively known as writing duo Andrews & Wilson, both have military experience that they brought to the Shepherds series, about a former Navy SEAL who becomes part of a group of elite covert warriors known as the Shepherds; Brian Andrews is a former submarine officer and Jeffrey Wilson made multiple deployments as a combat surgeon with a SEAL Team.
As they mention in their author’s note in Dark Intercept, the Shepherds series is a journey that people in the military face every day, grappling with the difficult questions around the nature of good and evil. And fellow author K. J. Howe says, “Andrews & Wilson write with the authenticity that can only be achieved through boots-on-the-ground downrange experience.”
Janice Cantore
Police Officer
Edge of Truth, Every Deadly Suspicion, and more
Janice Cantore is a former police officer. She worked a variety of assignments including patrol, administration, juvenile investigations, and training. And readers can see this varied experience appears throughout the plots of her romantic-suspense novels. As Janice said in a Q&A with us, “There is a little bit of my life in police work in every character.” She also mentioned that she tries to stay accurate to real-life police procedures, even if she speeds the timeline up for a better pace to her novels.
Library Journal has said that Janice “draws on her real-life experience as a police officer to write compelling thrillers.”
Joel C. Rosenberg
Politics
The Marcus Ryker series and more
Joel C. Rosenberg graduated with a BFA in film drama from Syracuse University and from there he worked for a range of US and Israeli leaders and nonprofit organizations. During his time in Washington DC, he served as a policy analyst and communications strategist.
Joel’s geopolitical novels include scenes that feature behind-closed-doors happenings that feel true to life. As Mark Greaney says, “Pairing a fast-paced plot with an impressive understanding of the inner workings in the corridors of power of the Russian government, The Kremlin Conspiracy is a stellar novel of riveting action and political intrigue.”
Randy Singer
Lawyer
Rule of Law, The Advocate, and more
Randy Singer has run his own law practice and was named to Virginia Business magazine’s select list of “Legal Elite” litigation attorneys. He has also taught classes in advocacy and civil litigation.
A majority of Randy’s novels have been contemporary legal thrillers. In an interview with Family Fiction, Randy mentioned that details about his life or his cases show up in his books and that his books are often set in Virginia Beach, where he lives.
But in another interview with Family Fiction, Randy talks about one of his novels that didn’t take place in Virginia Beach: The Advocate, an ancient-historical novel that takes place in ancient Rome. He says, “I normally write contemporary legal thrillers and, as a practicing lawyer, I know and live in that world. But for this book, I knew the history but I didn’t know the culture. I wanted to write the book as somebody who was living in that culture, not as a historian looking back. To achieve that level of familiarity took a long time.”
Chris Fabry
Radio
A Piece of the Moon
Chris Fabry is an award-winning radio personality who hosts the daily program Chris Fabry Live on Moody Radio. While Chris’s adult contemporary novels are typically set in the South, what sets A Piece of the Moon apart is that it’s also set at a radio station. The two DJs at the station are reluctantly drawn into a local treasure hunt.
Write Read Life said that “Fabry’s years of experience on the radio show with the technical knowledge included in this book!” Chris also shared a story with us about his early time in radio in West Virginia, where A Piece of the Moon is set, and he said, “So when I crafted the story A Piece of the Moon, I put a young man, Clay, in that same situation I was in and ramped up the conflict.”
Jason Elam
Football
Riley Covington series
Jason Elam spent seventeen years in the NFL as a placekicker. Jason worked with Steve Yohn to bring a series about Riley Covington, an NFL linebacker who returns to military service after a terrorist bombing. Over the course of the series, Riley works to uncover terrorist plots while also being a professional football player. As Publishers Weekly said about the first novel in the series, “Rich details about life as an NFL player invigorate the story.”
Candace Calvert
Nurse
The Crisis Team series and more
Candace Calvert is a former ER nurse. Her bio says her medical dramas offer readers a chance to “scrub in” on the exciting world of emergency medicine. The expertise she brings to her medical romances was noticed by reviewers, as Publishers Weekly noted about Maybe It’s You (“Calvert adeptly intertwines drama, passion, hope, and her medical expertise to deliver a suspenseful tale.”) and also about Trauma Plan (“Calvert, herself a former ER nurse who was sidelined by an injury, infuses her story with detailed medical procedures and terminology.”)
Amy K. Sorrells
Nurse
Before I Saw You
Amy K. Sorrells is a registered nurse. Her novels are inspired by social issues that are close to her heart and Bible stories that connect to those issues. In Before I Saw You, Amy writes about adoption and the opioid crisis through the lens of the retelling of Moses’ birth mother. In an article for Family Fiction, Amy says, “As a registered nurse who has practiced at the bedside of premature babies, children, and adults for nearly 25 years, I have seen the rise of the tragic devastation of the opioid epidemic in people of all ages and socioeconomic levels, but especially in those from small towns and who are economically marginalized.”
