Playing well with others!

by M. L. Buchman

I feel as if this should be a constant theme in my life: playing well with others.

A writer's world is a strange and solitary one...I'm paid to sit in a corner, by myself, and fantasize for a living (a kinder way to say: I sit in a corner and make shit up for a living). I fantasize about what it would be like to fly a helicopter, to destroy a bad guy, to fall in love... Well, I don't have to fantasize about that one, because I did--twenty years ago and still besotted. But I have to think about how it would feel for others, both male and female, from a wide variety of backgrounds.

But occasionally I'm forced to emerge from the depths of the world in my head and interact with those around me. Sometimes just enough, sometimes way too much.

A few weeks ago I attended and assisted at a week-long short-story anthology workshop. Fifty writers, a dozen hours a day for 7 days. OMG! It was fantastically wondrously intensely and deeply fun. (It was also a little mortifying, my inner introvert is still in deep shock.) For 7 days we talked almost nothing except the craft, marketing, and business of short fiction. I did my best to be thoughtful, supportive, and curious. I've spoke to almost no one except my wife in the weeks following. Even at a weekly lunch of local writers (all of whom I've known for years), I still had little to say and am only now returning to normal.

But there is another way that I've been playing with others. In a prior post I discussed doing a world collaboration project with fellow military romantic suspense writer Cristin Harber. This month I've discovered the joys of writing a collaboration project with one of Regency romance's top authors: Grace Burrowes.

Okay, there's the catch...Regency.

Years ago, back when I was a much younger writer (in every sense of the word), I wrote a historical. I was very proud of that book and sent it off and about. A top editor from Mills & Boon sent me back a very kind note: "Thank you for submitting this for my consideration. I'll pass on this manuscript, but absolutely send me your next contemporary title for consideration." A couple of things here: 1) This was a top editor, who was willing to look at my next title. Back in those days this was just one step down from a sale. Fantastically cheering feedback on my level of writing at that time. 2) This was a top historical editor who asked for my next contemporary (and I wasn't the one who added the emphasis, she was). Hmmm...

Wind forward a couple of years, I'm taking a class. One of the assignments was to write a historical short story. The teacher handed it back and said, "Is this your best period?" It was. "Try again." I did. When the teacher, who is always very careful to never give career advice for fear of inhibiting a writer, returned the second draft it was with the whispered words, "Never try to write a historical again." I now understand that I don't have a single historical bone in my writing body.

But I like Grace (and love her writing, I read a fair amount of Regency) and we wanted to do a project together.

Now it was her turn. "Military romantic suspense? Really?"

So, we moved on to other topics, including our own plans for future series, until I said, "I'm about to launch a contemporary series set on a Montana ranch. Two of my key heroes, Emily Beale and Mark Henderson, are finally retiring from the military and from firefighting. They're going to settle on Mark's family horse ranch and mentor a whole new set of love stories."

"Oh! That's good. I have an idea for that."

The result?

So, as unlikely as it seems, a Regency author and a military romantic suspense author found common ground beneath Montana's Big Sky! (If you prefer print, they're available separately.)

We've had a great time going back and forth on this. They are two separate novels (except for a reader cookie here and there), but we were very surprised at all of the similarities in our voices. Maybe that's why I enjoy reading her books so much, because we're so similar in use of dialog, humor, even pacing.

On the collaboration I mentioned above with Cristin Harber, it was a challenge of finding a common voice between two very different sets of military romantic suspense characters. Here it was discovering an easy joy in each other's words.

I'm very proud of both, but for different reasons. The collaboration between my Night Stalkers and Cristin's Team Titan in Target of Mine is a kick-ass tale. Big Sky Ever After is a warm contemporary to get all wrapped up in during a chill Montana night.

Having now done two collaboration projects of this scale, I'm definitely looking forward to whatever next comes my way. Because whatever it is, it's gonna be FUN! And that is the real measure of what project to do next.

M.L. Buchman started the first of over 50 novels while flying from South Korea to ride his bicycle across the Australian Outback. Part of a solo around the world trip that ultimately launched his writing career.

All three of his military romantic suspense series—The Night Stalkers, Firehawks, and Delta Force—have had a title named “Top 10 Romance of the Year” by the American Library Association’s Booklist. NPR and Barnes & Noble have named other titles “Top 5 Romance of the Year.” In 2016 he was a finalist for Romance Writers of America prestigious RITA award. He also writes: contemporary romance, thrillers, and fantasy.

Past lives include: years as a project manager, rebuilding and single-handing a fifty-foot sailboat, both flying and jumping out of airplanes, and he has designed and built two houses. He is now making his living as a full-time writer on the Oregon Coast with his beloved wife and is constantly amazed at what you can do with a degree in Geophysics. You may keep up with his writing and receive a free starter e-library by subscribing to his newsletter at: www.mlbuchman.com

Writing Collaboration: Author and Cover Designer

by Christy Carlyle

When I heard this month’s Romancing the Genres theme is writing collaborations, I immediately knew I wanted to talk about a special kind of collaboration. I have never co-written a story with anyone, so I can’t speak to that experience. However, I am a full-time book cover designer as Gilded Heart Design when I am not writing, so I’m extremely familiar with the collaboration that occurs between author and graphic designer in order to give birth to a beautiful cover design.

The cover design process is a joint venture between writer and artist and, when it works well, can result in an image that will give a hint of the story inside, capture attention, draw a potential reader’s eye, and, hopefully, result in fantastic book sales for the author. Haven’t you been drawn to consider a certain book because of its fabulous cover while browsing Amazon or Kobo online or even wandering the aisles of Barnes and Noble? I know I have. I recently discovered a new author and am starting on his first book, simply because I was drawn in by his covers, then hooked by his blurb, and finally sucked into the fantastic story he’d written.

This is the actual size of the small row of "Customers Also Bought..." covers on Amazon. My title is barely readable, but my large single couple implies a romance cover.

As with any process, there are ways to make the whole journey easier and more successful. After two years as a cover artist, there are two principles that stand out for me as essential for making the process more satisfying for both author and designer. Since I am a writer and a designer, I try to see the experience from both sides, and I've found that paying attention to the following topics assist me as a designer but can also assist writers who need a cover and want the design process to result in the best possible image to represent and sell their story.

Realistic Expectations – This is probably the most intangible and yet one of the most important

These are the first three covers of a series
I'm working on for author Judith Ashley.
We are going for consistency across
the series.

aspects of any collaboration. One person’s vision is never going to match another’s, as we all come at the world from our own perspective. This is where communication is key, but knowledge and prep-work can also assist with expectations.

Unless you have hired an illustrator to design your cover, be aware that book cover designers are constrained by what is available in terms of stock images. So while it’s tempting to want to represent a very specific scene from your book or your unique-looking character on the cover, it may not be feasible. Not everything can be “photoshopped.” I’ve been asked to do things like change the expression on a stock model’s face. That’s just not feasible.

Also, while there may be an appeal to the notion of including multiple elements from your story or a detailed scene—“My frightened purple-haired heroine is running with her one-eared dog along a road with a cemetery on one side and a construction zone on the other, while a helicopter hovers overhead”—be aware that such complex scenes don’t usually make for a compelling cover. Their details tend to get lost in thumbnail and may confuse a reader. Larger (and fewer) images, broad strokes, beauty that catches the eye but doesn't convey too much detail, a cover that signals your genre and gives a big picture impression (I sometimes ask authors to think of their covers as impressionistic paintings) of the story inside are elements that tend to be most eye-catching.  

Knowing Your Market/Genre - As a designer, I try to keep an eye on what’s typical, popular, and works well for covers in each genre that I design for. I know that readers expect certain elements in a paranormal romance cover versus a contemporary romance cover.

I created these two covers for a publisher for the same author.
Can you tell they are for two different romance subgenres?

When an author comes to me for a cover and knows some of these same genre expectations, it makes collaboration easier. I sometimes ask authors to browse other covers in their genre or look at the covers of bestselling authors who write the kind of books they do. The goal isn't to copy anyone else’s design but to know what reader expectations are for that kind of book. And, sure, sometimes breaking the rules can be cutting edge and exciting, but in terms of cover design, I’ve found that if book covers are too “off” from what readers find on other covers in the same genre, those books with unique covers may get lost in the mix.

It’s important to remember most readers buying books online will be viewing your book in thumbnail, so color, contrast, and simplicity of design are key.  For a series, consistency of design will link your covers in for reader’s eye and might immediately identify your brand or style, so that someone who liked your first book will pick up your next. A readable font, even if it’s not as pretty, might also be important, especially if you have a hot keyword in your title that will draw readers.

As with any collaboration, there are other essential elements, including being open and receptive to ideas and

options, flexibility, and clear, open communication. However, I’ve found that realistic expectations and coming into the process with a solid understanding of what readers like to see on a cover for your given genre can also help enhance the adventure of book cover design collaboration between author and artist.

If you're a designer or author who has contracted a book cover artist, do you have any tips for the cover design process?

WRITING COLLABORATIONS: Serial Killing with Critique Partners

By Robin Weaver


There’s a crazy quote that goes:
A friend will help you move, but a real friend will help you move a dead body.

I’ve put my own spin on this adage:  
A critique partner will check your grammar and ensure there are no plot holes. My critique partners check for a pulse and dig the hole for the body.

Not literally, of course (at least not yet J). We did, however, spend an entire Saturday afternoon devising the twenty most unusual places to discover a corpse. We certainly got strange looks in the restaurant. While the ladies at the next table discussed gardening, the latest diet, and Ryan Gosling, we talked about growing herbs that double as poisons, the feasibility of a plot where all the skinny bitches turn up dead, and Ryan Gosling (hey, we might be morbid, but we’re not stupid).

Still, nothing unusual about mystery writers talking about murder and mayhem, right? What is unusual, though, is how extraordinarily nice these woman are when they’re not penning rising body counts and techniques for collecting on life insurance without raising suspicion.

One of my lovely critique partners is a vegan who runs a non-profit organization, volunteers in her community, makes bucket-loads of candy for her friends, and drops everything to proofread a manuscript because one of us stupidly forgot a blog was due. If you looked up the word nice in the dictionary, her picture would be there.  But do you know what she does when she gets her fingers on a keyboard????

 She kills people with fire ants, boils men in defective hot tubs, and runs over perfectly nice ex-FBI agents with motorcycles.

My other partner has a generosity that never peters out. Remember that song, I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke? That’s her, buying the world a GMO-free drink (NOTE: In case you don't know, GMO is genetically modified organisms). She’s a spiritual person with a heart of pure gold who tirelessly donates her time and energy to volunteer organizations, endlessly champions the underdog (be it individual or group), promotes other authors tirelessly (often at the expense of her own books), and offers words of encouragement to anyone who needs a little pick-me-up. In her books, the victims don’t die in scary, scary ways. Nope, what she does in a manuscript is worse.

She kills off nice people.  Yep, innocent yoga instructors, the person who just dropped in for a massage, and the groom (on the day of his wedding). Oh, did I mention she might hang the body in an orchid conservatory?

My third critique partner is like a drink of cold water on a hot day. She is so sweet bluebirds sit on her shoulder. When we went to the Moonlight and Magnolia’s Conference, the mice made her a ball gown—okay, not really, but I suspect they would if she asked.  Still, her name is synonymous with kindness.  When she writes…

Eh… she creates contemporary stories of hope and inspiration. Now that I think about it, she might be the scariest one of us.

I love these ladies, but you know what? I’m going to do my utmost to never, ever tick them off. How do such wonderful human beings write such gruesome stories?

The answer is simple, they have vivid imaginations. They entertain themselves, and you, by making up stories. Maybe if more people expunged their dark sides ONLY in their heads, we really could achieve world peace.