In Real Estate, Truth in Fiction
Agents say the business provides the perfect plot lines 
By Sanette Tanaka
The Wall Street Journal, February 22, 2013

One real-estate agent busted an illegal adoption ring. Another agent caught her co-worker's killer. And a third uncovered a con artist posing as a wealthy countess.

For a number of current and former brokers, real estate offers the perfect plot lines for murder, mystery and romance novels. They're drawn to writing for the same reasons as real estate: flexible hours and the potential to sign a million-dollar deal.

A "ghastly" experience in real life inspired former real-estate agent Madge Walls about 17 years ago. Ms. Walls got involved in a deal with a for-sale-by-owner home in Maui, Hawaii, where the owner's roommate tried to "sabotage the sale in every possible way," Ms. Walls says. On one occasion, the roommate even threatened to kill Ms. Walls and her clients. On the day of closing, the roommate removed all the appliances, tore up the landscaping and uprooted a tree with her truck.

"I remember closing that file and thinking, 'You've always wanted to write a novel. Now here's your plot'," says Ms. Walls, who now lives in Wilsonville, Ore. Within a few weeks, she began writing her debut novel "Paying the Price," featuring Maui agent Laura McDaniel, a 40-something divorcée. Since then she says she has sold roughly 4,000 copies and this month released the sequel "Buyers Are Liars" ....

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