Q. How do you and Merry Stahel go about collaborating on a book? Do you both share the writing tasks, or is it more a matter of brainstorming the plot together with one of the other doing the majority of the actual writing?
A. Merry and I joined writing forces when we were asked by an editor friend of mine (who also is an author) to write a mystery that could be turned into a series. That was great, but by the time the first mystery was finished that editor had quit the publishing house and so we decided to publish the mystery POD (print on demand). We also were well underway with the second book and that is how our mysery series began.
You asked how we plotted and decided who did what. The first thing we did was take a notebook and make a list of characters, come up with the setting and the background. Merry named Cyrinda and Jerusha and I named Alton, Trevor and a few others. I think Merry named the two cats, as she always liked those names. The plotting---well I have to say Merry took the romance aspects of the plotting and characters and I did the mystery parts. Merry is a wonderful editor and she did most of the edits and I am a great plotter, especially since at that time I had teens at home and was ready to plot in more ways than one. I might add that Merry and I wrote the first book without meeting and did not meet until the second book. We wrote all three books by email. I would write my chapters and email them to her.
Q. How did you get started even thinking of a collaboration?
A. We had known each other for at least two years working on "Calico Trails Western Magazine" and we talked and plotted by telephone when we ran across a problem. We Instant Messaged as well.
I will also say that now days I will be penning the series alone, as Merry has gone back to her love and that is writing romances. Merry and I are close friends and we are there for each other. She hold the series dear, but she had to follow her heart where writing is concerned. As for me, I've always said, "I can't kiss them, but I can kill them!" [very big grin].
I would also like to add that Merry and her husband did the first cover, "A Match Made for Murder." Free Page Publishing did the next two. Merry did tell them what she wanted on the covers, however. The book was a joint adventure every step of the way and we loved every minute of it.
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