New projects are always exciting. I love meeting my characters, learning their stories, plotting them into and out of messes and despair (the pit of despair is one of my favorite places to start them off). I REALLY love discovering who the bad guy is (when there is a bad guy) and tying bits together from early in the book to later in the book.
The thing is, I love doing all this on my own. So Blue Silver is quite a challenge for me.
My publisher, Amber Quill Press, puts out collections called AmberPaxes. These are sets of five stories that are generally unconnected, but fit a theme. My story Elemental Passion in Bewitched, Bothered, and Beguiled was one of five different takes on magic. My upcoming story A Matter of Choice is in the Prying Eyes AmberPax, which is all about spies. I've done several of these now, and it's a lot of fun making my story fit the theme. But except for that one element, the story is all mine.
Now I'm part of something much more ambitious. Megan Hart, Jacki King, Penny Dawn, Ellie Marvel, and I are writing a collection that all centers around one band and two nights--the one in the past when our character's dreams were yanked out of their reach, and the one now where they get a second chance at capturing it. The stories all intertwine, with multiple characters participating in all the stories.
We've just gotten started (the collection and individual stories will be available in July 2006) and I'm having so much FUN. The brainstorming has been excellent, the worldbuilding falling nicely into place, and my fellow writers are all so good, it's a pleasure to read their character sketches, never mind their drafts.
I know collaborations don't always go smoothly, and I'm a huge control freak, so I'm really pleased with our progress and excited about the end results.
Stay tuned!
3 comments:
Natalie can control me anytime.
(aka Ellie M.)
And believe me, I try. :)
...I just let her have her way with me. It's easier that way.
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