A one-time flight attendant who conjured fictional nightmares during breaks on cross country red-eyes, at times scribbling plot notes on the back of napkins, has parlayed her time in the sky into a seven-figure deal for two novels – the first an aviation “horror story” called “Falling.”

Set to come out in July, the story involves a pilot whose family has been kidnapped and who must crash a crowded flight from Los Angeles to New York to save them.

Newman, who spent the past decade working for Virgin America and Alaska Airlines, came up with the idea during one work shift when the passengers were sleeping.

She says it was quiet and dark and it occurred to her at that moment how vulnerable the passengers were at the hands of the two men who were flying the plane.

Newman later described the plot of her book to one of the pilots and asked what he would do in that situation. When he didn’t have an answer, she says she knew right then she had to figure it out.

The 36-year-old Arizona resident has been writing stories for much of her life and had tried acting and bookselling before becoming a flight attendant 10 years ago, a profession shared with her sister and mother.

After completing a draft of her novel, she tried finding an agent but was turned down dozens of times before taken on by Shane Salerno of The Story Factory, where other writers include Don Winslow and Janet Evanovich.

The acquiring editor at Avid Reader, Jofie-Ferrari Adler, said he was impressed by the book’s “undeniable authenticity” and called it a “great escape in these difficult times.”

Newman has already begun the second novel, although she declined to offer details.

She used everything from an iPad to the backs of napkins while writing “Falling,” but should have a much easier time for the next book: Soon after her contract was finalized, she quit her job.