by Kate Noble
When I was a kid, I had planned on being a movie star. As you do. I loved the movies and television and the glamour associated with them. Too bad stage fright kept me from being the awesomest Brigitta that ever warbled in a local community production of the Sound of Music. (Not to mention, you know, talent… but I digress.) The truth of the matter is, life doesn’t always turn out as one planned. And it’s a theme I return to again and again when I’m writing my books.
Case in point is Winnifred Crane in FOLLOW MY LEAD. She expected to be able to enter the Historical Society and be accepted as a member. But one annoying cousin and an accidental run-in with the flame-haired Duke of Rayne, and suddenly, life takes a major, screeching turn.
When Winn ran into Jason Cummings, the Duke of Rayne, she lost her proof that she is the author of anonymous academic papers – which would have guaranteed her admittance to the Historical Society. Now, she had to bet the Head of the Society that she can prove a certain painting is authentic – and if she does, then she’s in. But it won’t be easy – especially since the proof she seeks is all the way across Europe. Not to mention her odious cousin will try stop her every chance he gets.
As for Jason, he had VERY definite plans about the next stage of his life. He’s going to get married. To whom, he’s not exactly certain, but marriage is very definitely “what’s next” for him. What his plans do NOT include is delivering Winn to Dover, then watching as Winn boards the wrong ship, and running after her, only to get hit on the head and be out to sea before he can understand that Winn did this on purpose. He most certainly did not count on joining her in this adventure.
Nor did he plan on falling for her… hook line and sinker.
Even though life doesn’t always go according to plan, sometimes it turns out better than expected. If I had shown any talent for the stage, I probably wouldn’t be writing novels right now. And I wouldn’t have been able to show Winn and Jason that when things go wrong, everything can turn out absolutely, perfect right.
What about you – can you name a time something went wrong but it turned out well? Let me know and you could win an autographed copy of FOLLOW MY LEAD! Just leave a comment below to enter!
Kate Noble is a critically acclaimed bestselling author. You can follow her on twitter at @katenoblewriter, friend her on facebook at www.facebook.com/katenoblewriter and visit her at her website at www.katenoble.com
Does having a horribly messy breakup with my boyfriend and then meeting the man of my dreams two weeks later count? I’m still married to him (the man of my dreams, not the ex boyfriend lol) 11 years later if that makes any difference lol 😉
I was going thru a divorce when I started seeing someone. Ended up pregnant with my 4th child. I am now married to him and we have a 5th child as well.
The most important time something went wrong that turned out so right happened about 25 years ago. I was living at home with my parents, and it was a Saturday night. I had NO plans to go out with any of my friends. I was soooo bored. My parents were going to a birthday party hosted by their friends. This party was for their son’s birthday. Mind you, I did not really know the son, just the parents. So I tagged along. It turned out to be a great party with a DJ, and open bar. A friend of the “birthday boy” asked me to dance. We started talking, and before we knew it, the party was over. He asked for my number, and the rest is history. I will be celebrating my 23rd anniversary with my wonderful husband next Sundayu!
I was fired from my first job out of college, so decided to go to grad school. While in school I also had a job as an Assistant Area Coordinator for the school’s Housing Office. The Housing staff has a picnic on the 4th of July and some of my staff brought along a guy who was sharing housing with them that summer. Let’s just say, we saw fireworks! And have been married almost 31 years.
Early in his career and BC (before children) my husband had the opportunity to interview with a big company for an important job. Theoretically, his entire career could have been spent at this company — lots of growth potential. The initial interviews went very well & because he had gotten such good feedback we talked about how if it all came together it would be a good time for us to start a family since his position would allow us to live on one income. Well, for whatever reason, he totally bombed the last big interview and he did not get the job. Very upsetting at the time and very strange for him; he said it was as if his brain had been kidnapped! (Luckily nothing like that has ever happened again.) But looking back I think it was meant to be b/c it wasn’t time for us to start a family. Our wonderful children were not ready to arrive until several years later.
I haven’t had anything go wrong that profoundly changed my life for the better. Most of my blunders involve getting lost and finding something good because of it. I have a habit of getting lost wherever I am. I’ve found myself at a great shop in Paris or a hidden cafe in Venice. Places I would never have found if I hadn’t been born without a sense of direction. LOL
I’m another with a bad news/good spouse scenario. I was doing so poorly in required math class in college that I had to resort to hiring a tutor or risk failing out. Eight years later I still thank my terrible grades for introducing me to my husband.
There’s not one big moment that was a disaster, just lots of little ones every day that by getting through make you stronger. Being able to constantly go uphill no matter the roadblock is very empowering.
I have read your 1st 2 books Love them!
I am a Military Wife and Mother of 2 little girls NOTHING goes as planned and all turns out well! My husband had been laid off work 4 times and myself 2, so we decided it was a good idea for him to enter the USAF. It was the best decision ever. We never wanted to leave our home town Portland Oregon but now I wouldn’t have it any other way!
I’m trying to make a career change for satisfying yet less demanding work and still waiting for that to turn out well, lol; meanwhile I’m still slaving away.
I remember when I was in high school I insisted I would never get married or have children but I ended up married with two children not even ten years later.
@Pam Pellini-I would love to make a career change myself but I’m scared. I’ve been at this job straight out of college and its now 10 years…
I did however always say, I’m going to wait till I have a career before I get married. Reality-I didn’t wait got married right away. I always said, we are going to wait till we’ve been married for a while before having kids. Reality-We had two kids within 5 years. My motto-Never put anything in stone!!! 😀 😀
I got married and it went sour. We did not hate each other and when we got divorced we used the same lawyer, and it was very amicable. Now we are still divorced, but we are very close and good friends. We lost a marriage but gained a relationship!
We took a wrong turn and ended up on this back road with all these cool shopping places 🙂
Nothing too major, but due to my friend’s tardiness, we both missed our appointments but found an excellent place to eat!
Marriage was a rush job and kind of sloppy, Fiance was taking a job across the country so we got married before he left. But I have to say, the marriage turned out very well indeed~
Congratulations on the new release. I can’t think of anything right now.
Well, I lost my job and thought it was going to be fairly easy to get another one. Wrong! It took me six months of worry, feeling like I’d never find anything, and that I might have to take something at a much lower salary. But it turned out really well though, because I got a better job with much better benefits and better pay.
Follow My Lead sounds delightful, and I’m looking forward to reading it.
I can’t really think of anything that would fall into this catagory.
I’ve been hearing great things about this book, and recommendations for it are rampant in my circles! In case that was too subtle, *jumping up and down, hands raised* I WANT IT!! 😀
As far as something that didn’t go as planned: my doctoral program. I was all set to finish my training as a psychologist, never quite realizing my heart wasn’t into doing therapy. I failed the competency exams and was basically dismissed from the program. Sure, I was upset, but when I walked out of the building, the breeze hit my face and I felt calm…like I was free for the first time in five years. I took that moment to just enjoy nature, with nothing else holding me back, no stress cluttering my mind. In that moment, I knew it was the right thing–I couldn’t have admitted I hated doing therapy, because that would have been quitting. Instead, the school did it for me, and the dismissal gave me the opportunity to pursue teaching psychology (I still love the academic side, just not the practical application, and I had my Master’s degree already). I went back and earned my doctorate in Education, instead and have never looked back!
When I was dating my husband, it seemed that all of our friends and family interfered with ourt relationship which made it difficult. It got so bad that we broke up and I ran away into the Navy. We starting talking on the phone after I got out of boot camp, and when I came home on leave 8 months later we got married. We are still married 23 years later.
I met my hubby through a mix up. My BIL would not introduce thought he was too immature for me. We meet in a parking lot by accident.
Interesting post, but I can’t think of anything that happened to me like this, I’m sure some things did, but at the moment I’m a blank! I enjoyed reading everyone else’s posts!
FOLLOW MY LEAD looks like such a a great book! Pretty cover too!
I missed out on a job opportunity as a children’s librarian. I wasn’t actively looking for a job and didn’t realize that one was available. I was at the library talking with the director when she mentioned she had just filled the position. I expressed my regrets in not knowing about the job and said I would have applied. About 5 months later, she called me and asked me to come in for an interview. The husband of the woman she hired had become seriously ill and she needed to quit to take care of him. I got the job and loved every minute of it.
I can’t think of anything in Jason’s league. But, I’m a parent, so I’ve lived through countless times of things turning out okay after seeming to be disastrous!
I love your books, Kate, and am looking forward to reading Follow My Lead. Thanks for visiting today.
Hi everyone! Thanks Beverly, for having me here today.
You all seem to have had such wonderful things come out of unexpected circumstances. I especially love the stories of how you met your significant others, seemingly by accident (but hey, we all know it was meant to be). 🙂
I can’t think of a specific instance but I know I have been in situations that went wrong but turned out to be a good thing.
In the kitchen I’ve had a few things that turned out different but still tasted great. A pudding which didn’t set, but tasted like a delicious custard for example. Or a veg filled omelette, which was more of a stir fry.
In life (and love) I’m still waiting for all that went/did go wrong to turn out to be a good thing…
My twin sister and I changed dates one time when we were in college. The dates never knew the difference until I told my date. After he got over being mad, we dated for awhile and became good friends. We are still friends so something good came out of it.
I can’t think of anything specfic. Sounds like a great book.
My father was ill while I was in college which led me to change my major to something more lucrative. I started my career abroad and though I didn’t stick to the career. That first job led me to find the love of my life. We have been together for nearly 2 decades now.
Kate, Follow My Lead sounds musty (must have). I love to read books with humor in them.
There have been many things that have gone wrong in my life, but the main one I can think of is when my friends got married 39 years ago. Doug’s best man couldn’t make it, so his older brother stepped in. The first time we saw each other, we stared and stared at each other. All I could think of was that I didn’t like the way he was looking at me, and I had another boyfriend that was bad for me at the time. He was thinking I was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. All of his relatives were talking about it for months afterward. We started dating as friends on their wedding day, and one day about 6 months later, realized we were in love. Funny, because everyone kept telling us we would end up married and neither of us believed them. We just had our 38th anniversary in April, and are still going strong.
The only thing I can think of is that I flubbed my first job interview by repeating something my dad told me to say when asked what I would do if I didn’t get the job. I said I would go on for more schooling. At the time when I didn’t get the job, I was devasted but in hindsight getting more education can only be a good thing and I had no problem getting a job when I graduated.
I had a “female issue” when I was in my early 20’s and had been told it was unlikely I would be able to get pregnant. My husband and I were not really financially ready to have children anyway so it wasn’t the end of the world. Obviously, I stopped using birth control since there was no need for it anyway.
Thankfully, those doctors were WRONG:I became pregnant within a few months of discontinuing the pill. And, I can’t help but think that if we hadn’t stopped when we did, we wouldn’t have ended up with our wonderful son–it would have been a different baby altogether!
I guess with me it would have to be loosing a job I had for 21 years that I had to drive about 35 miles to get to. I ended up getting a job closer to home which was much better. I also lost that job after about a year due to plant closings again. Then I went to school for a while for medical office, didn’t like the job much though. Now I am more or less a stay at home person other then keeping my father in law a couple days a week. I have found that I have more then enough to keep me busy at home with the lawn work and all. Just don’t have as much money.
I wanted to be a historical romance author from the time I was nine years old and read Pride and Prejudice. That same year I sang in a school talent contest because first prize was a huge book of British History and I wanted that book. (We were stationed in England at the time.) I won the contest, got the book, but my teacher saw a different future for me. He called my parents in and told them I had musical talent and should start music lessons right away. I took piano lessons at the London College of Music for the three years we lived in England. I studied the clarinet and bassoon when I was in junior high and high school. I started taking voice lessons at the age of sixteen and after doing degrees in music, opera performance and music history I ended up auditioning to study opera at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. The rest is history. I had a great career singing opera in Europe and got to see places I might never have seen.
And now I’ve come full circle back to historical romance. Music was definitely a detour, but I sure enjoyed the ride!
My husband didn’t get into the law school that he wanted to go to, but if he had, we never would have been able to marry.
THE SUMMER OF YOU is on my keeper shelf, and this new book sounds wonderful!
When I graduated from high school in 1966 my parents wouldn’t help me pay for college unless I went to the school of their choice. I lived in upstate New York but decided to follow my dream and to go to school in Arizona. I didn’t realize the difficulties I would encounter. The girls I planned to rent an apartment with would stay up all night partying while I was working full time and going to school at night. I ended up moving out into a small efficiency apartment.
Some of my family had moved to Florida in the meantime and after two years I decided to join them there. I was able to get a great job and continued to go to school at night. That is when I met my wonderful husband who was serving in the Navy during Vietnam. We married 8 months after we met and celebrated our 41st anniversary this year. I finally had to give up working on my degree after the birth of our first son but even though I gave up my initial “dream” I found one even better.
I think that life if full of times in our life when we come to a place on our path where we make critical decisions. I’m glad that I made the right one for me.
Follow My Lead sounds wonderful and I think that w will all find something in it to reflect back on our own lives.
I planned to go for one year to England as an au-pair. But the agency offerd me a job in Scotland. At first, I didn’t really wanted to go but I gave it a try and I’m so glad I did! I’ve met so many great people and have found a second family in my guest family. Even though I staid at their home years ago we are still nearly every week in contact.
I was sick, when I interviewed for a job and coughed a lot of the time. I was sure that I didn’t get the job. Fortunately, I was hired.
For some reason I can’t think of anything bad happening to me that led to a good thing..hmmm
Hi Kate,
Thanks so much for blogging with us. My one great thing that came out of a bad experience is my son. 🙂