HarperTeen Books: Your World. Your Books.: Stefan Petrucha: How do you do that thing you do?

One question we're often asked about Wicked Dead is how on earth do you collaborate on a novel? Most people have a hard enough time writing one on their own, so it seems impossible to even imagine opening up that eccentric, solitary process to someone else's strangeness.

Experience helps. In high school, we'd pass the keyboard back and forth, each adding a new sentence. While that can be lots of yucks, it seldom produces literary masterworks.

Having respect for the other person's talent is major plus. We knew, read and enjoyed each other's work long before we thought about doing anything as a team. We'd also met at a writer's crit group, so we were very used to receiving criticism from each other.

Using an outline also helps. It's a lot easier to talk out the basic beats of a story in general terms than to add to existing prose. Lastly, establishing spheres of influence can help resolve potential conflicts. If one partner is stronger on dialogue, let them have the final say over what gets said, for instance.

In the end, if all else fails, sometimes you just have to grit your teeth, sigh and kill the other person. Just be careful where you hide the body.

Hey, there's another Wicked Dead plot already...

Anyone else out there ever try a creative collaboration? Yearbook? Newspaper? Website? How'd it go? What worked for you? What didn't? Where did you hide the body? And do come visit at www.wickeddead.com.

Stefan Petrucha & Thomas Pendleton
Authors of theWicked Dead series