PUSHING THE ENVELOPE

I’ve had writing partners before, and each time a different partner meant a different experience. Rebecca York and Ann Voss Peterson and I wrote several connected projects. Three books consisting of three novellas that had one suspense element, three romances and together told the whole story. And two projects that were author-generated mini-series. We created the world and characters of each project together and critiqued each other’s synopses before writing. Another partner and I plotted chapter by chapter together and each wrote half the book and the other person revised. And yet another partner and I plotted together, then he wrote all scenes from the hero’s and male villain’s points of view, while I wrote those from the heroine and female villain.

WRITTEN IN THE STARS

WRITTEN IN THE STARS was even more unusual. Another former Intrigue author Sherrill Bodine (aka Lynn Leslie) and I each wrote half, Sherrill the half set in Elizabethan England, me in contemporary Florida Keys at a dive site. How can we have such disparate parts of the same story? Sherrill’s characters – hero, heroine, villain – are all reincarnated in my half.Our original intention was to offer Entangled Suspense two connected novellas. Our editor loved what she called an epic story, and she encouraged us to expand our novellas to novel length. We wondered how readers would feel about what would essentially be two mini-novels with hero, heroine and villain who were all different...and yet the same since they were reincarnated characters.

While Sherrill and I had some say in each other’s novella, that was mainly creating threads to connect them. On deciding to expand the stories, however, we plotted together more closely to make sure the two halves worked as a whole novel. I hope we’ve succeeded to any readers’ satisfaction. Here’s the back cover copy:

In 1601, Lady Elizabeth York's star-shaped birthmark proclaims her a child of magic. When she arrives at Dunham Castle to marry Carlyle, heir to the Duke of Lennox, she finds enchantment in the eyes and touch of Will Grey, the Duke's bastard son. Bewitched by Elizabeth, Will defies all for their love, and his jilted half-brother places a curse on them both.

Searching for a treasure ship sunk long ago, present-day marine archeologist Cordelia Ward is pursued romantically by both salvager Innis Foley and treasure hunter Morgan Murphy. She is haunted by a murderous nightmare where one man is the killer and the other the victim. But which man is her enemy--which one her soul mate? Can a journal that belonged to her ancestress, Lady Elizabeth York show her the answers...in time to save her true love?

Chased by evil, two women discover their own magic to fight a villain's curse on the Posey rings that draw them to the men they are destined to love.

Sherrill and I will be talking about our stories on a challenging blog tour for the next few weeks. Catch up to us – we’ll be giving away a piece of vintage jewelry to one lucky winner at the end of the tour.

 

Blog Tour Schedule

In the meantime...how do you feel about books that push the envelope to give you a different reading experience, and can that envelope be pushed too far?