12.26.2012

Our Co-Writing Jouney, part 4 of 3 (stuff that makes us laugh)

Thanks so much to those of you who are reading the pages of The Text Message right now! We're so excited to this close to the query trenches again (no, that's not the part that makes us laugh. okay, maybe a little!)!

Go ahead. You know you want to watch it. We'll wait.


Over the past year, erica and christy have exchanged thousands of emails, mostly about our kids husbands food ms**. Here are a few taken completely out of context and meant for your enjoyment. Go ahead, laugh - we did! Oh, and we hope you had a great Christmas/Holiday season and we can't wait for the excitement 2013 brings!!

*erica's green*  *christy's blue*

ooh, boy and girl would be fun. i was thinking two girls, but boy and girl would be fun.

How do you not know what donkey basketball is?

3-4 chapters a week. that'd be about 2 months to write all 20 of my chapters and do some revising and editing, right? see? we'll be done by april!!!

Pretty soon I'm going to stand in the doorway and stare at them until they feel uncomfortable and leave.

titilating. is that a word?

I lost everything.. . Have fun with Castle. I'm letting Laptop sleep on it for the night. I'm sure it'll be back to itself in the morning. ;)

oh, and a medium-well steak that mooed at me.

My Amazon "suggested titles" list looks like a porno in the making.

[Son #3] is chewing through power cords.

Tons of bunnies here. A new crop just born this past week.

I'll think of something brilliant to say too!

This email brought to you by "Sentences that start with the word And." :)

Have you ever watched Regis and Kelly?

And finally, I bring you erica's famous last words: We can always fix it later.

**the moral of the story is - if these people can finish writing books, you can, too. :)

12.14.2012

Living for Today

As you know, we are both mothers, elementary-school teachers, and Christians. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those impacted by the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.

The shooter, the school, even perhaps the teachers, will be blamed over the next few weeks. We beg you to act kindly, our friends. Be the difference that changes things. Say hello to strangers on the street. Thank your child's teacher(s). Provide a pair of gloves to someone who is cold. . .be kind.

No one knows the difference one can make. We don't pretend that any of this will end all the problems of the world, but it could help, and that's the hope we cling to.

We - erica and christy - love our children, the children we teach, the families we work with, and all of you.

~erica and chrsity

12.11.2012

Our Co-writing Journey (Part three of three): The Query

Well, here it is.  The moment you have (admit it, you have!) been waiting for.  OUR PITCH (not exactly a query because this isn't the version we're prepared to give to agents nor does it have the "business" side of things - comps, etc.):

All seventeen-year-old Nea wanted was for her lazy slob of a younger brother, Derek, to leave her alone, but she didn't mean forever. Now he's missing with only a text message as a lead to his whereabouts. Now she’s committed to finding him. Known for stealing the spotlight, nobody believes she's received even that one clue. As a last resort, she enlists the help of Derek’s quirky best friend, Goon, who is the only one who hasn't turned his back on her. 

Corrupt cops and agents of all types swarm the teens to find out what they know and to steal the evidence they rack up. White vans with the license plate VIPER show up all over town. Derek texts that there is no sign of life in the bubble of land he’s trapped in. All signs point to a government cover up and a man-made world that seems to have swallowed Derek up. Nea and Goon follow the texts, blog comments, and occasional voice contacts Derek is able to send in order to figure out where he’s been entrapped. 

But when the time comes to rescue him or lose him forever, the way they choose to save him is blocked by adults involved in the corruption. Nea finds they can waste time sifting through who to trust, or find an entirely new way to Derek. The two split up and act fast because time in Derek's new world is ticking down to his last few seconds.

THE TEXT MESSAGE, a young adult lite-science fiction/mystery novel of 44,000 words, is an account of an abduction told from two points of view: the abducted and the sister he left behind.

(To see the previous parts of our journey, go here to learn about Christy's view and here to learn about Erica's.)

SO - we have a few things for our blog-world friends. First, like we said above, this isn't our final query. It would be awesome if you'd let us know what works/doesn't work for you in the comments, though! (and yes, we know lite-sci-fi-mystery isn't a REAL genre. we're working on it).

Second, we're looking for critique partners.

Well, not just looking for. We NEED critique partners. We just might need YOU. Leave a quick comment if you're interested (like, "hey, send me 30 pages" or, you know, "I MUST READ THIS SEND IT NOW" and it will go to each of our emails. you'll likely get a response in 4.2 seconds. maybe even 2 responses. ;) We PROMISE we'll reciprocate!!

Third, if there's anything you'd like to know about our co-blogging/co-writing journey, we'd be happy to share.

Lastly, thanks for sticking with us through this process (and all along). We love you all!

12.07.2012

Our Co-Writing Journey (Part Two of Three)

erica and christy co-wrote a YA light sci-fi/mystery about a boy who disappears and the sister who does whatever it takes to try to find him, including teaming up with his quirky best friend.

The Text Message
When all seventeen-year-old Nea wanted was for her lazy slob of a brother, Derek, to leave her alone, she didn’t expect to find him missing with only a text message from a mysterious phone as a lead to his whereabouts.

We'd like to share the journey we took to get from initiation to typing The End. Today are christy's answers.

(Sorry.  Christy meant to post her answers by Tues or Thurs, but she ended up having an unexpectedly bad week.  Her mom had to be hospitalized and she's pretty drained physically and emotionally.)

(Soon-ish we'll post the pitch and beg you to beta read it for us! We'll reciprocate. Just think: You can get two readers for the price of one!)

How did you two decide to co-write a novel?

CHRISTY:  I think I may have pestered erica into finally agreeing to humor me and write with me.  We were both in between projects and procrastinating from re-writing or re-vamping old manuscripts, so we decided it would be an adventurous and fun deviation from what we were obviously not accomplishing.
 
When did you begin?  And what did the beginning consist of?  Did you just start typing the story one day or was there more planning involved?

CHRISTY:  We comitted to the project in the beginning of this year.  We threw around a bunch of ideas.  Our brainstorming included references to The  Lake House and Labyrinth. In fact, I think erica may have emailed me links of clips for each of these movies....  Um, I don't think our finished product, or even any portion of it, ever resembled either of these movies.  I have no idea what happened to that.  It's hard to remember way back then.  Erica has some of the email threads saved, so she may remember more of our crazy ideas.  Maybe she'll entertain you with some of them in the next few days!

How do you two predominantly communicate?  Do you ever discuss your writing in person/via skype over the phone?  Does this form of communiatino lend itself well to co-writing?  Did you find anything to be helpful along the way that you could pass along to others who'd like to give co-writing a go?

CHRISTY:  Email.  Many, many, many emails.  Daily, hourly, minutely.  My husband has stopped making cracks about me having an online affair.  Somewhere along the way over these past (three?) years he gave up and came to terms with the fact that a part of every day includes me updating erica on my life and writing. 

Email works well for us.  Also, erica introduced me to Acrobat.com.  I LOVE buzzwords (I think that's what it's called. ?)  Anyways, it's a place to share documents so we can both go into the same document, make comments in the margin (hers are orange, mine are yellow), make changes and save it all online.  We just started using it for editing our completed ms.  For the entirety of the project we emailed chapters back and forth, each saving it and changing things in our own separate documents.  I always worried we would end up with two completely different versions in the end with no way of knowing which one to use!  We'll definitely write book number two using the online document.  That way we can always see what the other person is (or isn't, ha!) doing.

Do you plan to co-write more in the future?  If so, what would you like to change to make the next round go smoother?  What went well that you'd like to continue?

CHRISTY:  DEFINITELY!  I loved every second of it!  We have plans for a sequel.  And even if number one doesn't go anywhere, which I doubt (again, ha!), I want to write it.  It's a way for two people with a bad case of writer's block to keep writing.  For me it was a way to let go of whatever fears keep me from starting a new project, or going back to fix an old one.  I can jump in and take a risk with erica.  I've been struggling on my own.  It's so much fun to see where the other person will take the next chapter and then move on from there. Plus, it's easier, and less stressful, knowing half the book is being written without any work on my part.  Half the time, half the work!  I don't know how anyone would co-write without taking on two distinct characters and voices though.  I think that part of it was a ton of fun. I am very much in love with our characters.  They are more real to me than any I've ever written on my own.

Do you prefer co-writing or writing solo?  What are the pros and cons of each?

CHRISTY:  I love, love co-writing for all the reasons I listed above.  I think writing independently is important too, though, to develop our individual writing styles and to be able to carry a full-length plot through on our own.  I'm in a slump right now and haven't been able to write on my own.  However, when we were in the midst of drafting, my creative juices were flowing and I was actually better able to work on my own writing on the side, while I waited for chapters from erica.  I work best when I have two contradictory projects going on at once.  I feel bad for erica right now.  I'm the one who is gung ho about drafting and now I'm dragging my feet on the editing/revising bit.  She's the opposite.  Another reason we were destined to write together!

Plus, our main character is named after our domain name.  Initally that was to be my pen name.  Now, she's going to make us famous authors.  It was meant to be.  ;)

DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR CHRISTY?  PLEASE ASK IN THE COMMENTS AND WE'LL ANSWER THEM IN OUR NEXT POST!

12.03.2012

Our Co-Writing Journey (Part One of Three)


erica and christy co-wrote a YA light sci-fi/mystery about a boy who disappears and the sister who does whatever it takes to try to find him, including teaming up with his quirky best friend.

The Text Message
When all seventeen-year-old Nea wanted was for her lazy slob of a brother, Derek, to leave her alone, she didn’t expect to find him missing with only a text message from a mysterious phone as a lead to his whereabouts.

We'd like to share the journey we took to get from initiation to typing The End. Today is erica's answers and tomorrow-(ish) will be christy's.

(And then we'll post the pitch and beg you to beta read it for us! We'll reciprocate. Just think: You can get two readers for the price of one!)

How did you two decide to co-write a novel?

ERICA: Honestly, I can't remember! I think we first thought of it when we "met" and decided to co-blog, but this past winter we were both between projects and it evolved from there. We had also read some co-authored books back then (Liar Society, Getting Caught, and Will Grayson/Will Grayson come to mind for me) that got us excited about it.


When did you begin?  And what did the beginning consist of?  Did you just start typing the story one day or was there more planning involved?

ERICA: I was thinking that we started in April, but I went back to my emails and discovered we started at the end of January and our plan was to get it out to betas in April. Of 2012. Whoops.


How do you two predominantly communicate?  Do you ever discuss your writing in person/via skype over the phone?  Does this form of communiatino lend itself well to co-writing?  Did you find anything to be helpful along the way that you could pass along to others who'd like to give co-writing a go?

ERICA: We email each other anywhere from 1 to 25 times a day. Not kidding or exaggerating one tiny bit. I still don't have a cell phone (also not kidding with that!) but the plan is I'll get one soon and then I'll be able to text and the number will rise exponentially. We haven't tried Skype yet, but we've planned on it. Have I mentioned that between us, our lives are shared by two husbands and five sons AND we're both full-time elementary school teachers? Email works because we can leave and come back to the conversation whenever we need to. Also, if we're drinking wine, it's easier to giggle and email than giggle and talk. :)

We split up the writing duties by doing alternating chapters - I was 2 characters and christy was all the others (I know, I know. She wrote like 75% of the book and still lets me share credit!). I think it was an excellent way to dip our toes in the water, so to say. If we each had to part of one chapter, we'd probably only be halfway through the book almost a year later. We're just not on the same type of schedules most of the time.


Do you plan to co-write more in the future?  If so, what would you like to change to make the next round go smoother?  What went well that you'd like to continue?

ERICA: This book ends with the possibility of another book based on one of the secondary characters. We're definitely keeping our options open on that one. As for having it go more smoothly, I think time is always a factor for us. On my side of things, my kids are older (currently 6 and 11), so it's time for me to make a time commitment to my writing - for example, do my "writing minutes" similarly to them doing their reading (or band) minutes for school. There were days and days and days christy was waiting for my chapters and that wasn't fair to her or the book.

I think what went well was our respect for each other as writers. Christy took the book in a completely different direction (incolving a super-high-tech communication system) than I would have at one point, but I was able to adapt and go with it. Similarly, there was an element to our original idea (time-travel/jumping) that would have needed to be developed in my chapters and I didn't do it - but christy was able to let that go (I think. christy?) :)


Do you prefer co-writing or writing solo?  What are the pros and cons of each?

ERICA: Hmm, prefer? Co-writing keeps me on my toes, that's for sure! I have lots of book ideas that I've started and stalled on for one reason or another. It's a lot harder to tell your partner "never mind, I'm not going to finish it" than to just give up on yourself. The con for me right now is in editing. I don't want to give christy too many pointers (or vice versa) and have our separate voices/characters start to sound too similar. That's why we need betas so desperately!

DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR ERICA?  PLEASE ASK IN THE COMMENTS AND WE'LL ANSWER THEM IN OUR NEXT POST!

12.02.2012

This Christmas

Photo
Christy and the fam in front of this year's Christmas tree.
 
Photo
 
The baby looking up in awe at the Christmas tree.  He'll be one just a few days before Christmas.  I'm not at all sure where this past year went. 
 
(And in seeing how I sent a full manuscript from my hospital room the night he was born...and I haven't heard from the agent yet...it's probably a no, huh?)
 
Photo
 
I think the ornaments toward the bottom could be in trouble.