The old mining town is nestled in Clear Creek Canyon, boxed in by the mountains with no room to grow. With Denver in the east and a scattering of posh ski resorts in the west, Idaho Springs is perfect. It's not a city, not a resort and no longer a mining hub. Crafting Steven Taylor’s character, it made sense to begin in such a place. While this theme doesn’t apply to every Eldarni character, creature, city or village, it is the lens through which we tried to view the story every time we stepped back to ask, ‘How are we doing?’
Q: I have a hard enough time dealing with myself when writing, how did you work with two people? Did one create a scenario, another write it and then the two of you critique it, or is it the old five word story game where you start and finish each other's sentences, but here the key is to make comprehensible? What was the process?
When we started, neither Jay nor I knew anything about the publishing industry. We’d never written a query letter; we didn’t know how or where to find credible agents, and apart from visiting Stephen King’s house on Halloween (well, the street in front of his house, anyway), neither of us had spent much time with writers. We kidded one another about it, but we didn’t truly expect that we would get the manuscript read, never mind edited and in print. I was living in Denver at the time; so, I would write a chapter, email it to Jay and then wait for his notes, questions and critiques. That system worked well until Jay’s ALS progressed to the point where he was unable to type. He had lost much of the dexterity in his hands; so, we tapped his knowledge and ideas in marathon planning and research sessions. Jay was in a wheelchair at the time, and I think he welcomed opportunities to get out of the house, especially to the library or the diner where we’d sit all day, making notes and discussing characters.
Our initial goal was to write the story and to keep it going until Jay passed away (thus the size of the damned thing). He was telling the tale of Hannah Sorensen and the Pragan Resistance, while I worked with Steven Taylor and the crew from Rona. The story lines rarely overlapped; so, early on, there was a great deal of planning but not many disagreements about what happened and to whom. When it became apparent that we would be sending bits and chapters out for consideration, we had to figure a way to turn two writing styles into one.
Article comments
1 - pam holby
I was wondering if you could give me the e mail of Robert Scott the author of Like Father Like Son This is in regards to the crystal stedman murder. Thank you very much
2 - Margaret
Good review. Good interview. Thank you. I am waiting in impatient anticipation of Lessek's Key and the Larion Senators. The Hickory Staff I read over a week-end; could not put it down.
Thanks for your review.