I'm featuring an interview with my good friends Paula Moldenhauer and Kathy Kovach. They wrote a book together and talk about their writing process in today's interview.
1.
I know that this is a collaboration. How did this story
come about?
Kathy
and I discovered we shared a fascination with the RMS Titanic. We kicked around some ideas and shared them with our
critique group. Everyone was so enthusiastic, and we loved the story idea so
much we decided we had to write it. We actually hid out at a writer’s
conference, skipped a few sessions, and birthed it.
We
originally released this as an e-book. The e-book thing came about when the
manager of the Barnes & Noble spoke at one of our local chapter ACFW
meetings. He talked about the Nook and how their brick and mortar stores were
dealing with this new way of buying books. Since the 100 year anniversary of
the Titanic was coming up pretty
quickly, we knew e-book would have to be the only way to go, and his talk gave
us the encouragement we needed. Eventually we did release the book in
paperback.
2.
Did you find it easy to work together on it?
The
story brought out our strengths. Kathy loves to plot while I tend to do a
really rough skeleton and fly by the seat of my pants. We plotted carefully at
first. I learned a lot, though I kept teasing Kathy saying, “Can we start
writing now?” But our writing styles
and personalities blend very well. We’re both pretty easy going and have
similar passions, so most of the time we found collaboration only strengthened
our original thoughts.
I
wouldn’t write with just anybody. But Paula exudes so much grace that I knew if
we had any misunderstandings they would be resolved quickly. Titanic: Legacy of Betrayal is a
contemporary story with a historical frame. She started writing the
contemporary heroine’s point of view and developed her while I worked on the
hero. But she was also researching the historical. When that storyline started
to become more than we had originally planned, she asked me to take over the
contemporary so she could concentrate on the historical. We essentially wrote
two different stories, and I like that better.
3.
How did collaborating with this team impact you?
I
think it strengthened my understanding of story structure and plotting. It also
gave me some good “friend” time with someone I already adored.
And I
could say the same thing. (Hugs to Paula!)
4.
What is the hardest thing about writing as a team?
I
think there were two issues that were hard. Waiting on the other person to
write the scenes they were responsible for sometimes interrupted the creative
flow. Also, at first we each took a character from the romance thread. I felt
it stymied romantic tension and eventually Kathy took both the hero and heroine
in our contemporary thread—so when you read Ember’s story you’re actually
reading a character written by two people. I was pleased with how seamless this
was. I’d interject here and there on little things to keep Ember true to the
way she was first written, but Kathy picked her up and made her blossom.
I
agree with Paula. When you’re used to just sitting down and writing, it’s hard
to realize that you can’t go on until your partner writes about such and such.
But, when life gets in the way, that’s to be expected. Once we started writing
two different stories, it was much easier.
5.
How was the collaborative writing experience for you?
The
story brought out our strengths. Kathy loves to plot while I tend to do a
really rough skeleton and fly by the seat of my pants. We plotted carefully at
first. I learned a lot, though I kept teasing Kathy saying, “Can we start
writing now?” But our writing styles
and personalities blend very well. We’re both pretty easy going and have
similar passions, so most of the time we found collaboration only strengthened
our original thoughts. I think it strengthened my understanding of story
structure and plotting. It also gave me some good “friend” time with someone I
already adored.
And I
could say the same thing. (Hugs to Paula!) I wouldn’t write with just anybody.
But Paula exudes so much grace that I knew if we had any misunderstandings they
would be resolved quickly. Titanic:
Legacy of Betrayal is a contemporary story with a historical frame. She
started writing the contemporary heroine’s point of view and developed her
while I worked on the hero. But she was also researching the historical. When
that storyline started to become more than we had originally planned, she asked
me to take over the contemporary so she could concentrate on the historical. We
essentially wrote two different stories, and I like that better.
6.
Would you want to work on another book together?
We’re
already talking about it! Charles, one of our historical characters who was on
the Titanic, won Kathy’s heart, and
we can’t help but dream of giving him his own book.
Oh,
Charles. How I love the bad boys. I don’t know why, but he came alive to me
through a photo I found of a young man of that era.
Donna
Thanks, Donna! Paula and I really enjoyed working together, and doing this interview just brought it all back.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kathy.
ReplyDelete