Writing essentially is a solitary field. I have always been fascinated by books which have been co-authored, and often wondered how the creative process works with two different voice, style and minds coming up with a final product.
I welcome author Devika Fernando, who has co-authored ‘Forbidden‘ with Mike Wells and request her to throw some light on the subject. But before that a quick introduction…
Devika Fernando is romance novel author and has published four novels, with a special mention to ‘Playing With Fire‘ which is a paranormal romance. Almost as soon as Devika Fernando could write, she imagined stories and poems. After finishing her education in Germany and returning to her roots in Sri Lanka, she got a chance to turn her passion into her profession. What she loves most about being an author is the chance to create new worlds and send her protagonists on a journey full of ups and downs that will leave them changed.
On to Devika…
First of all, thanks for having me on your great blog, Ruchi. And congratulations on the release of “Take 2”.
My latest release is “Forbidden”, a romantic thriller I coauthored with bestselling author Mike Wells. So talking about the fascination of coauthoring is a good idea. Instead of boring you with all the details, I thought I’d take a slightly different approach to this topic and take you through the fun and challenges of writing a book together with another author.
The fun While coauthoring “Forbidden” with Mike Wells, I realized how much fun teamwork can be. It’s fascinating to see how two people can view the same scene and make it better by contributing to it. It can be helpful to ask someone’s opinion, and there’s a lot you can learn from each other.
What also makes coauthoring interesting to me is that you can mix and match different styles and genres. Take some romance, take some thriller, and you have a gripping tale that will hopefully delight readers of both genres and even of other genres. Some authors team up because the other writer comes from a different (knowledge) background, lives in another country or is an expert in a certain topic.
On top of that, working with another author means that you’re never entirely sure where the journey will lead. There’s an outline and a goal, and both work towards that using their own strategies, sometimes traveling side by side. There’s always a surprise in store, and there are more possibilities. Plus, it’s motivating to know that someone else is involved in the whole process alongside you.
The challenges Generally speaking, coauthoring a book isn’t just fun but a lot of work too. You need to connect on some level so you can collaborate. The authors need to show dedication and respect for each other and the writing. It’s important that you communicate clearly and regularly, although I know that some authors mostly work on their own / do their part and then “meet” again at the end.
There are many ways in which coauthoring can be done, so it isn’t really fair to generalize. In some cases, payment or promotion after release may be divided unevenly. Both names might be mentioned separately or the team might choose to rely on a common pseudonym. There are also legal issues to be considered, depending on how the two authors decide to go ahead. ______________________________________________________________
This was really great, thank a ton Devika!
Catch Devika and know more about her other books on: