Playing –And Writing—Well With Others

I want to welcome Tawny Weber, one of my favorite Blaze authors, to Over Coffee. She writes some wonderful stories and may I add, they're hot enough to sizzle bacon. Her characters are fun, quirky, and realistic.

Today her topic about writing with others and in particular with the new four part Mini-Series launched by Blaze, Dressed To Thrill.

Writing is, by nature, a solitary pursuit. We spin tales and weave make believe in our minds, then carefully craft them into stories with pen or keyboard. For some, that’s done in a quiet space, others in a cacophonous crowd. But it’s generally done alone.

At least it is in my little world. I’m a major lone-writer. I’ve tried doing the writing-group thing, where a bunch of people sit with laptops and tip-tap on keyboards together. But a part of my writing process is the up and down, the talking to myself, the humming along with music that tends to be a distraction (ie: irritating pain) to others. So that doesn’t work well for me *g*. I do brainstorm with my critique partner, the amazing Beth Andrews, and revise with my editor. But the story writing itself is an isolated process. At least, it was until my latest book. FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME is part of the Dressed to Thrill mini-series, which ties together a giddy-falling-in-love costume shop clerk and her costume mix-ups through four different stories. Mine kicks it off this month, with Samantha Hunter’s story out in October, Karen Foley’s out in November and Lisa Renee Jones winding it up on December. Together, the four of us brainstormed the costume shop plot, then shared and bounced back and forth on the actual prologues and epilogues that showed that story in each of our books.

I had no idea it could be so much fun to write with others like that. The give and take, the shifting of ideas, the group mind kind of thing. It was a fun change from my hermity writing ways. It also, I think, pushed me outside my comfort zone, which is always a great learning tool. And even better, instead of angsting alone as my book is released, I have three other people to angst with me. Of course, I get to share their angst for the next few months, too, so that’s a fun thing LOL.

But best of all was writing the connected stories. I’m a huge fan of getting to know characters in one book and following them through multiple others. It’s like revisiting and hanging out with friends I haven’t seen for awhile.

How about you?



If you’re a writer, do you write alone or do you have a group you work with? As a reader, are you a fan of connected stories? When you find one you like, do you go in search of the other authors stories to see how they all play together?

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Tawny Weber is usually found dreaming up stories in her California home, surrounded by dogs, cats and kids. When she’s not writing hot, spicy stories for Harlequin Blaze, she’s shopping for the perfect pair of boots or drooling over Johnny Depp pictures (when her husband isn’t looking, of course).




Come by and visit her on the web at www.tawnyweber.com
http://blazeauthors.com/blog/



Be sure to pick up the next in the Dressed To Thrill series:


Caught in the Act
Available in October 2009