Lawyers turn to fiction to unbutton their creative sides

When Nicole Slaunwhitestarted writing romance novels, she was embarrassed to tellother lawyers.

The Halifax woman was afraid they'd see it as "too frivolous" or unprofessional,but it turned out that many were excited about her turn to fiction.

"I think people would find that the profession is more supportive than they expect,"Slaunwhitesaid.

She's one of many lawyers whohave turned to fiction writing as a hobby or alternative career.

Slaunwhite, who writes under the pen nameNicola R. White,believes a lot of her colleagues are creative people "underneath their rational self," and turn to writing as a creative outlet.

"They tend to be type-A personalities who like to have a project finished," said Slaunwhite, who ownsBlue Sky Lawin Halifax."Lawyers typically have very full schedules. The work can be very stressful and so finding something that is completely different than your work life can be a very nice change."

Original Sin

Slaunwhite has been writing since 2015 and is on a one-year sabbatical to focus on her fiction. She's the author of the self-published seriesNew EnglandFuriesand Original Sin.

She's surprised by the number of romance authors who used to be lawyers. She knows of six and adds that two of her favourites arethe Canadian romance authorsSusan Lyons and Shelley Bates.

She's also a fan of lawyers who turn to crime writing, such as Canadians Catherine McKenzie and William Deverell.

Halifax's Pamela Callow worked as a lawyer in the 1990s before becoming a best-selling thriller writer.Like Slaunwhite, she has an undergraduate degree in English literature, which allowed her to feed her passion for writingbefore going to law school.

Using law in fiction

"I think the pragmatic writer ends up going to law school because there are many lawyers who are either writers as hobbyists or as professional authors, or they have expressed to me that they have goals to do that down the road," said Callow.

"Lawyers do have a certain appreciation for language and they have to use it."

Callow said her legal studieshaveinfluenced her writing and sharpened her research skills.

She's the author of the Kate Lange series, in whichthe main protagonist is a lawyer.

Her first book, Damaged,was inspired by a U.S criminal case and her second book,Indefensible,tries to answer a question she had at law school.

"What would you do if you were accused of a crime and you were innocent ? How do you handle that?" Callow said.

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