Frequently Asked Questions
Why did you become authors?
Being raised in “anything but ordinary” surrounded us with the most fantastical stories. Our father was larger than life, and he raised us in the extreme. Extreme living. Extreme dreaming. Extreme magic. Every day was an adventure. We witnessed the power of his words, and we were enchanted. Though we tried to be more pragmatic about our career choices, ultimately that magic is what drew us in. For both of us, there was never a time when we didn’t carry a story within, have a character who wanted to come out, or hold a belief that needed to be expressed. Writing is not so much a choice as it is a necessity.
How do you collaborate?
We always start with an extensive outline. We then break up the chapters. Each of us writes a first draft before handing off the chapter to the other sister so she can clean it up. Some patterns have emerged during our collaborations. A writing partnership is like a marriage: as long as you both don’t fall out of love at the same time, you’re okay. Inevitably, there comes a time during the writing process where one of us hates the book and is convinced that we’re both hacks, that we must immediately destroy the manuscript and seek professional help for our delusions. Thankfully, the other one is still un-medicated and firmly entrenched in the fantasy of being an author. Hence, the novel is born.
What is your favorite part of writing?
There is a place in every story when the characters become real. They simply walk off the page and do something completely unexpected. We both have found ourselves stunned when this happens. At times, they have veered sharply off the course we have carefully detailed for them and refuse to return. No matter how hard we try and force them back to the fold, they simply won’t listen. It is then that we realize the story is no longer ours. It belongs to the characters, and we must allow them to tell it.
