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While some aspects of her book "Flying Wires," were fictional, such as the female ultralight pilot who falls for her instructor, Laurel resident Carol Plotnick didn't have to take liberties in other aspects of her own real life experiences, such as crashing on a solo flight.

"The crash on the solo flight, that's almost word for word," she said, reflecting on how lucky she was no bones were broken when her left leg became stuck under part of the plane's frame.

After writing for three years, Plotnick, 59, decided to self-publish her book, Flying Wires, in digital-only format last December because of the economic recession. In March, the book was released in Amazon Kindle format — a software and hardware platform for reading electronic books.

Plotnick first learned about the ultralight, a small, single-seat aircraft, at an air show in Wisconsin in 2000. Depending on the type, it can appear like normal plane or a go-kart with wings. Although they fly about 1,500 feet above the ground, ultralights are not classified by the Federal Aviation Administration as an aircraft but as a vehicle. Therefore pilots do not have to register the aircraft or have any certification and cannot fly them near major or minor airports. The average speed of the plan is 50 mph.

Plotnick said she and her husband, Mike, immersed themselves in the activity of flying these planes. Shortly after learning to fly ultralights, she started writing a novel about it, in addition to nearly 20 articles.

"Flying Wires" is about a woman named Lee Owen who begins flying ultralight planes and overcomes the adversity of being one of the few women involved with the sport and eventually falls in love with her flight instructor, Jim Tezak.

Gary Budzier, currently a Herndon, Va., resident and Plotnick's flight instructor, said in his 10 years of instructing he never had a student write a book.

"Folks will occasionally write articles about flying but very seldom do I hear of one being turned into a book," he said.

Mike Plotnick, 62, said he was surprised his wife was devoted to the book for so long.

"What surprised me more than her wanting to write the book was her actually finishing it. She just kept after it night after night," he said.

For five years Mike and Carol trekked to Shrewsbury, Pa., to fly because the lack of major airports nearby offered flyable airspace. Yet the long travel and occasional inclement weather at the fly site finally made them sell their planes in 2006.

She added although flying planes may seem like a hobby for younger men and women, it's actually an older generation that's doing it.

Selling 10 PDF copies and four copies on Amazon Kindle, Plotnick said sales of her book have been slower than she thought. But she added she has had several requests for a hard copy release and is considering publishing the book in a hardcopy format.

"A lot of people still want to hold that book in their hand," she said.