Another new trend in the Great World of Books: author partnerships.
Examples: James Patterson/Howard Roughan
Janet Evanovich/Lee Goldberg
Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child
Al and JoAnna Lacy
I wouldn't have thought that James Patterson, he of roughly a billion best sellers would find the writing of books so difficult he would need help. I'm tempted to be cynical and say it has to do with more money and faster money. In compliance with my new policy of charity and positive thinking, let's assume it's more about a desire to work with another author long admired, the feeding frenzy of productivity and creativity that comes of brainstorming and cold pizza at three in the morning.
So, who's for it? I've got ideas aplenty for the next great novel, I just need a partner to help me eat the pizza.
I'm a huge fan of the Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child duo though they are not actually part of a real *new* trend. They've co-authored for quite a few years.
ReplyDeleteAh...Mr. Patterson. I loved his Alex Cross series. What I loved the most about it is that I read almost the whole book before I realized that Cross was a black man. It was so well written and so engrossing that the main character could have been Tibetan and it wouldn't have mattered one whit. The story line is what mattered to Mr. Preston without pandering to any race.
Okay. As far as co-writing a novel with you Tess we do need to discuss something very important before one word is typed. Whose name will come first on the cover?
I can eat pizza. I was tempted to order one tonight, in fact. (After eating dinner.) Humph.
ReplyDeleteOh, and your name can go first. ;o)
Writing a novel with you would be interesting, although how much help I'd be might depend upon what sort of story it was. And I'd have to have what I wrote translated into Canadian... (you know, all those extra letters in words like color/colour).
ReplyDeleteIt would have to be a virtual pizza for me.
Hmm, Bobby, I think it would depend on which of our many noms de plume we use to write our collaborative masterpiece. We could combine to be one unique, slightly schizophrenic person.
ReplyDeleteI agree about Alex Cross. Despite the Paula Dean debacle, why should it be an issue?
My question: what would we write? Something erudite and deeply theological?
Miss Carly, pizza anytime. And our book should be Up a tree with Carly and Tess.
KR, no worries, Canadians really are bilingual: most of us are fluent in American as well as Canadian.
Virtual pizza? Egads,man!
If you're trying for something erudite and deeply theological, I may be in over my head already...
ReplyDeleteBut you did say you had some ideas in mind - romance, mystery, coming-of-age, fantasy, young adult?
BTW, some U.S citizens can speak more than one language, too. One of them is vaguely like English, the other is the unintelligible text they send to each other on their cell phones. I had three years of French many years ago in high school. Came in handy while ordering from a McDonald's by the shore of Lake Memphremagog about 30 years ago (that's about 150k east of Montreal).
So, I guess I can help a little!
K, I have an idea for a fantasy story... probably geared to children. I've posted the beginning here (a second version of it, the first of which I preferred but have since lost) It's called Gamel, with a fiction label.
ReplyDelete