Region, faith play key roles in Norfolk lawyer's novels

NORFOLK

Randy Singer seems to capture all the juicy cases.

First he represented his sister, accused of murdering her abusive husband. Now he's defending a tough-talking reporter beset by visions of an "Avenger of Blood" who's been killing rapists and their lawyers. Police think she did it.

Not the typical fare for a partner at Willcox & Savage. And - though realists might raise objections - not part of Singer's actual caseload.

The murders happened only in his imagination. They form the foundation for his seventh legal thriller, "By Reason of Insanity," printed recently by Tyndale House Publishers, a Christian press based in Illinois.

The novel mixes prophetic visions, multiple personality disorder, the insanity defense and local flavor, including scenes at the Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club, Town Center, Regent

University and Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg.

Publishers Weekly gave it a positive verdict and said Singer "hooks readers from the opening courtroom scene of this tasty thriller." So does Singer's boss, Rob Dewey, the managing partner of the firm.

Singer researched and wrote the novel on his off-hours. It doesn't mention Willcox & Savage. (A good thing, since the most prominent lawyers in the book are not the most honorable). But any publicity that Singer draws can't hurt the firm, Dewey said.

More important, his fictional expertise will help improve the legal writing of his younger colleagues, said Dewey, who plans summer programs with Singer and the firm's associates and interns.

"One of the skills to be an effective attorney is to be a good writer," Dewey said. Sounding more like Clark Kent's editor than Perry Mason's boss, he added: "You need a hook; you need something that captures their attention."

Singer said he thinks his novels have made him a better lawyer, particularly in the legal brief department.

Too much legal writing is "stiff and mechanical," said Singer, 52, who returned to the firm last summer after a 10-year absence. But "if a judge has to fight to pay attention, it's not going to be very powerful."

These days Singer is trying to get deeper into the minds of his characters - er, clients. He's polished his use of dialogue. ("We call it testimony, but it's really dialogue.") And his briefs are, well, briefer.

That, too, has come from his publishing experience. Most of the first drafts of his novels weigh in at 150,000 words. They end up at 110,000. "They make me cut, cut, cut," he said of his editors.

Of the many facets that make up Singer - attorney, novelist, committed Christian - the calling to law came earliest. As a boy, he adored Atticus Finch, the fictional hero of Harper Lee's, "To Kill a Mockingbird," and relished the rough-and-tumble debates at home.

"It's friendly," he said, "but we know how to argue."

His teenage troubles, which got him kicked off the basketball team, brought him to Christ. "I still mess up all the time," Singer said, "but now I sense a power that comes through Christ. Randy is not in charge anymore."

Fiction-writing didn't begin until 2000, when Singer gave in to his craving to tell more stories.

After graduating from Houghton College in upstate New York in 1978, Singer took a series of teaching and coaching jobs, including at Alliance Christian School in Portsmouth. Then came law school at the College of William and Mary and a job in commercial litigation - his clients included The Virginian-Pilot - at Willcox & Savage.

He stayed with the firm, the first time, from 1986 to 1997. Singer left to become executive vice president of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention in Atlanta. The position, he thought, neatly blended his legal and religious interests. In 2004, Singer became president of the convention's FamilyNet television subsidiary, helping nurse it to financial solvency.

Last year he came back to law and Hampton Roads. He missed the courtroom and the area, which has served as the setting for most of his novels. Dewey quickly scooped him back up.

"He was a great litigator and trial lawyer," Dewey said. "He's great with client relationships. Randy's got a tremendous positive attitude. He's always someone who finds a way to say yes rather than no."

His religious faith, Singer said, has posed no conflicts with his legal practice. Lawyers don't have to be two-faced; Christians don't have to be patsies. "It ought to fit nicely because the Bible talks a lot about justice," he said.

Singer did, however, ask for a different specialty when he returned to Willcox & Savage - personal injury law. "I've always had a heart for the underdog, and I love representing clients who have gone through really tough challenges in their lives," he said.

Singer lives with his wife, Rhonda, an English teacher at Norfolk Christian Schools, in the Birdneck Point section of Virginia Beach. He fits his writing into the corners of his days: an hour when he gets up ("I feel like my creative tank gets filled up overnight"), an hour or two each evening, at least eight hours on the weekend.

His publishing schedule runs faster than some cases: about a book a year. The next, which will come out in 2009, will be about a "phony" lawyer who defends a pastor accused of abuse.

Publishers Weekly previously called him "the Christian John Grisham." Singer gently deflected the praise and said, "I don't think John Grisham would appreciate that."

Though his books are considered Christian legal thrillers, they aren't clogged with Scriptural citations. In "By Reason of Insanity," the reporter, Catherine O'Rourke, seems more interested in rollerblading than religion and for a long while resists the notion that God is sending her visions.

"I want to create multidimensional characters that have faith in their lives," Singer said. "I don't want it to feel heavy-handed. If people want to be preached at, they can show up in my church Sunday mornings."

That would be Trinity Church at the Oceanfront, where Singer serves as a teaching pastor, delivering Sunday sermons and occasionally officiating at funerals.

"He's brilliant, but at the same time he has such great people skills," said a church elder, Scott Rigell, president of Freedom Automotive. "I've seen him preside over two funerals. His message of hope and his ability to speak to families that are hurting - those were some of the best eulogies that I ever heard."

Rigell, who said he's received e-mails from Singer at 1 in the morning, wonders how much he sleeps.

Usually no more than five hours a night. "Sleep is overrated," Singer said.

Funny, that's also what his latest novel's main lawyer, Quinn Newberg, says - though Singer could hardly be confused with Newberg, who lives high on the hog in a plush penthouse in Las Vegas.

An introductory disclaimer in "By Reason of Insanity" proclaims any resemblance to real folks "entirely coincidental." Still, readers continue to try to uncover real-life models for his characters.

"People come up to me and say, 'I know who that character is' or 'I'm that person,' " Singer said. "I always tell them, 'Read the first page. You're not in this book.' "

Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com