The Accidental Writer: What happens when you Co-Author with your Teenage Daughter?
Wind Catcher: A Chosen Novel is a collaboration between me and my daughter Erynn. Since I get asked about the experience so frequently, I thought I’d write a column about it.
I don’t remember who had the idea to write a book together. It’s possible we both had the idea at the same time. Almost three years ago we were on vacation in Arizona. The sun beat down on us, and we started to dream up characters and plots. Inspired by the red rock formations and Native American culture, we began weaving together what would end up becoming Wind Catcher. It was a total blast. Erynn came up with one great creative idea after another. It’s a good thing I had “notes” on my Iphone to record her ramblings.
Most of my experiences working with Erynn have been wonderful. I even get a kick at the glee in her eyes when she explains why something I wrote is absolutely and totally no good. It’s payback glee – a you’ve made me do chores for 16 years and now I’m getting back at you glee.
Erynn devours first person young adult novels, so she is far more of an expert in this genre than I am. Of course, being sixteen she also has the advantage of knowing what sounds authentic in a first person novel about a sixteen-year-old girl. That’s why our story has such a realistic voice readers really appreciate.
Probably our most difficult trial came right before we started to write the story. I realized that the story arc we fell in love with on vacation was too grand for one book. It would take a minimum of 600 pages to tell that story, but that was our story. So after much gnashing of teeth, we decided to break-up the story into thirds and write a trilogy – The Chosen Series was born!
My favorite times during our collaboration have nothing to do with writing. On rare occasions, our writing sessions morph into other things we would never have talked about. Maybe we start out talking about Juliet, but we end up talking about life in general. I wouldn’t trade those moments for anything.
Collaboration can be tough and super rewarding. Here’s my list of favorite and not so favorite aspects of my collaboration with my daughter.
Not so Favorite Things!
- “I need to think about it.” Erynn’s code phrase for “stop bugging me about some plot point or character issue.” Usually three days later she’d have an answer, but by then I’d already pulled out some of my remaining hair. And I don’t have a lot of hair left!
- The glee in Erynn’s eyes when she explained why something I wrote was absolutely and totally no good. It was payback glee – a you’ve made me do chores for 15 years and now I’m getting back at you glee. It didn’t make it any better that she was almost always right!
- At times Erynn can be mule like stubborn. I’m not surewhere she gets it. Two stubborn people working on a book can create road blocks. Our stubbornness caused some head banging against a wall moments, but the resolutions were usually awesome!
Favorite Things!
- Erynn’s amazing creativity and honesty. She has no problem explaining why a chapter wasn’t up to her standards (which was a bit annoying), but she also offered ways to make a chapter ten times better. So creative and so helpful. Wind Catcher is a much better book than I could have written without her.
- Erynn’s wry sense of humor and facial expressions. One look from her and she can have me rolling on the floor with tears raining down my eyes.
- The time we spent working on the book that morphed into discussions about other things we would never have talked about. Maybe we started working on Juliet, but we ended up talking about life in general. I wouldn’t trade those moments for anything.
We are very proud of Wind Catcher. It’s a great contemporary YA fantasy/thriller and has already won the 2015 Beverly Hills Book Award for Best YA Fiction and a Mom’s Choice Award.
One of my favorite review quotes comes from Judy Murphy, the librarian at the Masters School. “A page turning thrill a minute, Wind Catcher kept me guessing until it’s final pages. Age appropriate YA literature at its best. Don’t miss it!”
You can learn more about Wind Catcher here – http://amzn.to/1G601J8
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