What do you think?
Rate this book
Closest to the Fire: A Writer's Guide to Law and Lawyers
Write about the law -- and get it right!
The world of law and lawyers, with its suspense, its moral quandaries, and its ripped-from-the-headlines subject matter, provides wonderful material for fiction. This guide will help writers explore these many story possibilities -- while avoiding the also-numerous pitfalls awaiting the unwary author.
Included throughout the book are ideas for stories or story elements based on the content and available for the readers' use.
Karen A. Wyle is an award-winning appellate attorney with more than thirty years' experience. A cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, she worked for law firms and the California Court of Appeal before establishing her solo practice in Bloomington, Indiana. Wyle has filed amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court and seven state supreme courts. She has also written and published five novels.
The world of law and lawyers, with its suspense, its moral quandaries, and its ripped-from-the-headlines subject matter, provides wonderful material for fiction. This guide will help writers explore these many story possibilities -- while avoiding the also-numerous pitfalls awaiting the unwary author.
Included throughout the book are ideas for stories or story elements based on the content and available for the readers' use.
Karen A. Wyle is an award-winning appellate attorney with more than thirty years' experience. A cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, she worked for law firms and the California Court of Appeal before establishing her solo practice in Bloomington, Indiana. Wyle has filed amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court and seven state supreme courts. She has also written and published five novels.
- GenresWriting
696 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 13, 2015
4 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Karen A. Wyle
26 books230 followersKaren A. Wyle is the author of multiple science fiction novels, including The Twin-Bred Series: Books 1-3; YA novel Water to Water; and near-future novels Division, Playback Effect, Who: a novel of the near future, and Donation. Her first novel outside the SF category was the afterlife fantasy/family drama Wander Home. She then turned to historical romance with her Cowbird Creek series, including What Heals the Heart, What Frees the Heart, What Shows the Heart, and What Wakes the Heart. She returned to fantasy with 2023's Far From Mortal Realms: A Novel of Humans and Fae. Her novel The Decision/A Novel of Germany is inspired by a crucial incident in her own family history.
Wyle has also published one nonfiction work, Closest to the Fire: A Writer's Guide to Law and Lawyers, a resource for authors or for anyone interested in understanding more about American law. An updated and slightly retitled edition came out at the end of July 2021.
Finally, Wyle has collaborated with illustrators on five picture books: You Can't Kiss A Bubble; When It's Winter; Wind, Ocean, Grass; Where Fireflies Sleep; and A Boy Who Made Music/The Extraordinary Life of Joaquin Rodrigo. There are more to come!
Wyle was born a Connecticut Yankee, but eventually settled in Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University. She now considers herself a Hoosier. Wyle's childhood ambition was to be the youngest ever published novelist. While writing her first novel at age ten, she was mortified to learn that some British upstart had beaten her to the goal at age nine.
Wyle is a retired appellate attorney, dormant photographer, and mother of two wildly creative adult offspring. Her voice is the product of almost five decades of reading both literary and genre fiction. It is no doubt also influenced, although she hopes not fatally tainted, by her years of law practice. Wyle's near-future novels and her upcoming fantasy novel draw on her legal experience in various respects.
Wyle's personal history has led her to focus on often-intertwined themes of family, communication, the impossibility of controlling events, and the persistence of unfinished business.
Wyle has also published one nonfiction work, Closest to the Fire: A Writer's Guide to Law and Lawyers, a resource for authors or for anyone interested in understanding more about American law. An updated and slightly retitled edition came out at the end of July 2021.
Finally, Wyle has collaborated with illustrators on five picture books: You Can't Kiss A Bubble; When It's Winter; Wind, Ocean, Grass; Where Fireflies Sleep; and A Boy Who Made Music/The Extraordinary Life of Joaquin Rodrigo. There are more to come!
Wyle was born a Connecticut Yankee, but eventually settled in Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University. She now considers herself a Hoosier. Wyle's childhood ambition was to be the youngest ever published novelist. While writing her first novel at age ten, she was mortified to learn that some British upstart had beaten her to the goal at age nine.
Wyle is a retired appellate attorney, dormant photographer, and mother of two wildly creative adult offspring. Her voice is the product of almost five decades of reading both literary and genre fiction. It is no doubt also influenced, although she hopes not fatally tainted, by her years of law practice. Wyle's near-future novels and her upcoming fantasy novel draw on her legal experience in various respects.
Wyle's personal history has led her to focus on often-intertwined themes of family, communication, the impossibility of controlling events, and the persistence of unfinished business.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 28, 2015
As a writer, I thought this book would be useful in the event I delve into the legal sphere for a screenplay. As an individual who’s had some experience with the legal system, I thought it could provide some insight on the legal process in general. I have to say Karen Wyle did not disappoint on either count.
Any writer wishing to take on the legal system first needs to understand the who, what, where, why and how of the subject. Ms. Wyle has successfully provided that information in her book “Closest to the Fire” which is a massive undertaking. Just check out the table of contents.
While this book is a guide and the author encourages readers not to just go from A to Z, I decided to read the first four chapters straight through to get the feel for her style. Thereafter, I poked around at different chapters that caught my attention.
The author clearly explains numerous aspects of the law, civil and criminal, and the people associated with it and in so doing, offers up possible scenarios a writer may choose to incorporate into a story. In fact, just about everything in the book, if you look closely enough, will provide clues for a novel or film script. But the author specifically points out possibilities with her use of asterisks for plot points. The author also peppers her work with references to films with legal plots.
You’ll read historical references and explanations of how some laws changed and why. You’ll learn the distinctions of criminal acts surrounding rape, robbery and theft, perjury, various threats and so forth. All written in an easy to understand fashion.
The one thing made abundantly clear at the outset and at the end is that this book is to be used as a writers’ guide and readers should not rely upon it for legal advice. That being said, I found the book very useful in understanding aspects of the law and, if writing a scene or screenplay involving the legal system, this would definitely be a resource I would use. Well done, Ms. Wyle.
The version I read was the e-book.
Any writer wishing to take on the legal system first needs to understand the who, what, where, why and how of the subject. Ms. Wyle has successfully provided that information in her book “Closest to the Fire” which is a massive undertaking. Just check out the table of contents.
While this book is a guide and the author encourages readers not to just go from A to Z, I decided to read the first four chapters straight through to get the feel for her style. Thereafter, I poked around at different chapters that caught my attention.
The author clearly explains numerous aspects of the law, civil and criminal, and the people associated with it and in so doing, offers up possible scenarios a writer may choose to incorporate into a story. In fact, just about everything in the book, if you look closely enough, will provide clues for a novel or film script. But the author specifically points out possibilities with her use of asterisks for plot points. The author also peppers her work with references to films with legal plots.
You’ll read historical references and explanations of how some laws changed and why. You’ll learn the distinctions of criminal acts surrounding rape, robbery and theft, perjury, various threats and so forth. All written in an easy to understand fashion.
The one thing made abundantly clear at the outset and at the end is that this book is to be used as a writers’ guide and readers should not rely upon it for legal advice. That being said, I found the book very useful in understanding aspects of the law and, if writing a scene or screenplay involving the legal system, this would definitely be a resource I would use. Well done, Ms. Wyle.
The version I read was the e-book.
June 9, 2017
Closest to the Fire is positioned as a guide to help authors keep situations involving US law in their fiction reasonably credible. The author even throws out ideas and suggestions for how a particular legal principle might be used in a compelling story to good effect for readers who are inclined to take the idea and run with it. I spotted more than a few of those suggestions that I’d like to read. The only problem for me is that I’m not an author and odds of me ever writing a book that is fiction are worse than the odds of me winning the lottery (and I never buy lottery tickets).
However, as I’ve said more than once in online discussions, I’m not a lawyer, but I often play one on the internet. The law and the legal system is something that’s always interested me. I’ve read more than my share of legal thrillers by Turow, Gresham, and Rebecca Forster, among many others. While I’m not sure most people want to dive in and read this from virtual cover to virtual cover like I did since it is designed more as a reference than an entertaining read, I suspect there are others out there beyond the target audience who might find this worth reading. If you think you might find it interesting, I’d bet you will.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
However, as I’ve said more than once in online discussions, I’m not a lawyer, but I often play one on the internet. The law and the legal system is something that’s always interested me. I’ve read more than my share of legal thrillers by Turow, Gresham, and Rebecca Forster, among many others. While I’m not sure most people want to dive in and read this from virtual cover to virtual cover like I did since it is designed more as a reference than an entertaining read, I suspect there are others out there beyond the target audience who might find this worth reading. If you think you might find it interesting, I’d bet you will.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
July 30, 2021
Very informative
Wyle pens a very informative book in Closest to the Fire: A Guide to American Law and Lawyers. I have read work from this author before, and I really enjoyed it. This book gives a lot of information about the law and legal system in America. It is written so it's not just a book written for lawyers, with a lot of jargon and phrases that only someone that works in the system can understand. It's a book written that even the layman, which is where I fall, can understand the system, and how it works. I could've used this book years ago, but I'm glad I read it now. Closest to the Fire: A Guide to American Law and Lawyers is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I look forward to reading many more titles by this author. Wyle writes well, very well, and is an author of different genres, and she definitely can draw in an audience no matter which genre she writes in.
Wyle pens a very informative book in Closest to the Fire: A Guide to American Law and Lawyers. I have read work from this author before, and I really enjoyed it. This book gives a lot of information about the law and legal system in America. It is written so it's not just a book written for lawyers, with a lot of jargon and phrases that only someone that works in the system can understand. It's a book written that even the layman, which is where I fall, can understand the system, and how it works. I could've used this book years ago, but I'm glad I read it now. Closest to the Fire: A Guide to American Law and Lawyers is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I look forward to reading many more titles by this author. Wyle writes well, very well, and is an author of different genres, and she definitely can draw in an audience no matter which genre she writes in.
October 28, 2021
This was a well-written, accessible book. I'd definitely recommend this for authors who want to write in legal/courtroom scenes into their books but aren't intimately familiar with it. This would also be great for any lay person who would like a peek into the system. I love how easy it is to find what you're looking for, the chapters are clearly labeled, and you can bounce around and read what you're looking for at the time. Both civil and criminal law is covered, and it's made very clear you shouldn't use this for legal advice. A great resource and insight, highly recommend.
October 27, 2015
The best book on the law I ever read was “Representing Your Client in Court.” A tiny book, with helpful suggestions on work-a-day criminal court work; like how to do a plea in mitigation for a recidivist shop lifter. A judge wrote it, and he filled it with really useful stuff that isn't covered in the weighty and learned tomes. A conversation of a book.
Wyle's “Closest to the Fire” is also a conversation of a book. And while there are other conversational legal books, like McElhaney's "Trial Notebook," Wyle's book isn't written for lawyers. Having said that, “Closest to the Fire” is a well considered book. A book I would have liked to have had as a law student. A book that would also be of value to writers of legal fiction. A book with story ideas instead of footnotes.
I appreciate that in writing fiction each author has to determine how embedded in the real world they want their fiction to be. “True Blood,” for instance, doesn't have to be particularly true. And nor particularly does “My Cousin Vinny.” If you write legal fiction then at some stage you need to decide if you want to be fanciful with your law, like “In the Name of the Father.” Or accurate with the law, like “My Cousin Vinny.” If you decide for accuracy then I can recommend Wyle's “Closest to the Fire” as an accessible, digestible, and useful guide. If you decide for fanciful then all you need to do is make it up as you go along – and throw in a few 'legal' sounding words every now and then.
For law students, I can recommend Wyle's “Closest to the Fire” as a conversation worth having. A conversation that will help to create a context for the law that schools tend to like to teach. An 'I get it now,' sort of book.
Wyle's “Closest to the Fire” is also a conversation of a book. And while there are other conversational legal books, like McElhaney's "Trial Notebook," Wyle's book isn't written for lawyers. Having said that, “Closest to the Fire” is a well considered book. A book I would have liked to have had as a law student. A book that would also be of value to writers of legal fiction. A book with story ideas instead of footnotes.
I appreciate that in writing fiction each author has to determine how embedded in the real world they want their fiction to be. “True Blood,” for instance, doesn't have to be particularly true. And nor particularly does “My Cousin Vinny.” If you write legal fiction then at some stage you need to decide if you want to be fanciful with your law, like “In the Name of the Father.” Or accurate with the law, like “My Cousin Vinny.” If you decide for accuracy then I can recommend Wyle's “Closest to the Fire” as an accessible, digestible, and useful guide. If you decide for fanciful then all you need to do is make it up as you go along – and throw in a few 'legal' sounding words every now and then.
For law students, I can recommend Wyle's “Closest to the Fire” as a conversation worth having. A conversation that will help to create a context for the law that schools tend to like to teach. An 'I get it now,' sort of book.
January 27, 2016
Closest to the Fire: A Writer's Guide to Law and Lawyers has several purposes. It clarifies what lawyers actually do, gives warnings to writers, provides first-year law students and those contemplating a career in law an overview of the legal system, and serves as a reference and backbone for writing good literature.
Although this volume deals with 'The Law', author, Karen A. Wyle, explains a host of topics in an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand style. For instance, she describes class action suits, plea bargains, statutes of limitations, and more. Further, she clarifies terminology such as the difference between arbitration and mediation, stealing and embezzlement, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, a petition and a motion, business and hobby tax write offs, to mention just a few. Additional topics of interest include: What is a promissory estoppel and how can you sue for it?; Why trespassing is not limited to walking, running, or driving on a property?, What are the differences among chapter 7, 9, 11, 12, and 13 bankruptcies?, How do trials work?, How does the 'Stand your ground' law stand against the 'duty to retreat' principle?
Karen A. Wyle is currently licensed in the state of Illinois. Yet her book contains other specific data, and to boot, the differences in some laws from one state to another state. Supporting material include a list of legal terms and their definitions, suggestions of books similar to Closest to the Fire, and a plethora of plot ideas for the author looking to write legal fiction.
I recommend Closest to the Fire: A Writer's Guide to Law and Lawyers for any adult living in the United States.
To read more reviews, visit http://www.McNeilsReviews.com
Although this volume deals with 'The Law', author, Karen A. Wyle, explains a host of topics in an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand style. For instance, she describes class action suits, plea bargains, statutes of limitations, and more. Further, she clarifies terminology such as the difference between arbitration and mediation, stealing and embezzlement, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, a petition and a motion, business and hobby tax write offs, to mention just a few. Additional topics of interest include: What is a promissory estoppel and how can you sue for it?; Why trespassing is not limited to walking, running, or driving on a property?, What are the differences among chapter 7, 9, 11, 12, and 13 bankruptcies?, How do trials work?, How does the 'Stand your ground' law stand against the 'duty to retreat' principle?
Karen A. Wyle is currently licensed in the state of Illinois. Yet her book contains other specific data, and to boot, the differences in some laws from one state to another state. Supporting material include a list of legal terms and their definitions, suggestions of books similar to Closest to the Fire, and a plethora of plot ideas for the author looking to write legal fiction.
I recommend Closest to the Fire: A Writer's Guide to Law and Lawyers for any adult living in the United States.
To read more reviews, visit http://www.McNeilsReviews.com
December 6, 2015
Fellow attorney and author, Karen A. Wyle, has written the definitive legal reference book for authors, Closest to the Fire A Writer's Guide to Law and Lawyers available at Amazon.com. Whether you are writing the next best selling legal thriller or only have a minor legal component to your story, it is critical you get it right. Utilizing Karen A. Wyle's book will insure that your writing is authentic. As we all know, authenticity can make all the difference in how well your book is received by readers. I urge you to pick up a copy for your reference library.
December 31, 2015
The is more of a reference manual than a narrative story, but it's extremely thorough and written in a lively manner. An excellent resource for writers planning to tackle legal or courtroom-set novels. Excellent as a Kindle book because you can easily do searches for relevant topics.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews