Killer Workout by Cindy Martin

Fitness is in my DNA. I’ve been a runner since I was fourteen, so my feet have been pounding the pavement for forty-six years. (You do the math because I’m a journalism major who can’t balance her checkbook). 

I’m also a writer, starting out at my high school and college newspapers, then moving over to broadcast radio, until landing in television. For twenty years, I was a TV Producer for “America’s Most Wanted.” I wrote script after script, hundreds of them, and traveled the globe to interview victims’ families, law enforcement, and criminals.

Now that I’m retired, I am fortunate enough to do both of the things I love.

About six years ago, I worked hard to get my first certification in Spin. I was offered a job at a local gym, and the group exercise manager encouraged me to pursue other formats. It became an addiction. Now, I hold several certifications: Spin, Barre, BodyPump, Pilates, Silver Sneakers, and HIIT. Being an outgoing person, I enjoy being in front of forty gym members teaching tough classes. My motto at the gym is: “You didn’t come for easy.”

Try going on vacation with me. You’re not going to get much rest. My husband asked me where I wanted to go for my sixtieth birthday. I chose the Grand Canyon. Last month, he endured a twenty-one-mile bike ride on the Canyon’s rim (extreme hills for two Floridians), a six-mile hike into the Grand Canyon, and ten miles of kayaking on the Colorado River. The fourth day we rewarded ourselves by sitting in a wine bar in Sedona.

I like a challenge. At this moment, I am definitely on a hilly ride tackling my debut 80,000-word novel, Relentless.

As I polish my first draft, I realize how similar my two passions are. Fitness and writing require:

• Commitment: You have to want it. A healthy heart and a toned body. A finished novel.
  
  
• Practice: Hours of practicing workout routines goes into teaching a one-hour class so that form is accurate and the program flows. In writing, you have to get your butt in the chair and tap those fingers on the keyboard. (The mantra of my mentor, Martha Reed).
  
  
• Schedule: Fitness requires repetition and planning with a goal of working out three to five times a week at a minimum of forty-five minutes each time. To be successful in writing, one needs to stick to a word count target such as a thousand words each session. In both, you might consider logging your workout and your word count in an app or notebook.
  
  
• Research: Staying on top of fitness trends for an instructor and keeping certifications active takes time. When writing, going down rabbit holes to get the information you need is a necessary evil and often educational.
  
  
• Community: I enjoy networking with physical fitness gurus and learning something new. With my author’s hat on, I am grateful to the writer friends I have made through my memberships to Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and the International Thriller Writers. Webinars, workshops, critique groups, and conferences offer craft tips and constructive feedback.
  
  
• Sweat: No doubt if you work out with me, you’ll sweat, feel great, and see results. In writing, I sweat especially if I’m outside on a steamy South Florida day. As a rookie in the novelist world, I sweat the plot, the characters, the structure, and wonder, “Does anyone really want to read this?” The little voice continues to answer, “Yes.”

I’m honored to be among accomplished writers as I exercise my fingers daily, getting closer each day to a finished manuscript. I see the arc of the balloons at the marathon finish line. My fitness advice to you is to keep on running, walking, swimming, lunging, squatting, and pumping your healthy heart.

 What advice do you have to debut authors trying to write their first novel?

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Cindy Martin

For 20 years, as a producer for the America’s Most Wanted TV show, Cindy Martin traveled the world chasing down fugitives and interviewing law enforcement and victims’ families. Her short stories include “Malice Challenge” [Paradise is Deadly (2023)], “Grave News” [Notorious in North Texas Anthology (2024)], “Key to the Past” [Crimes in the Old Dominion Anthology (2024)], and “Salt, Sand, Slay [Guppies: Gone Fishing (2025)]. Cindy is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and the International Thriller Writers. When Cindy isn’t writing her debut thriller, she’s teaching killer fitness classes. She lives in South Florida with her husband, three daughters, two cats and two dogs.