(The black text is Mary. The blue text is Lindsay.)
Even though LP and I have only been writing since May, it seems like we’ve been writing forever. Strange, I know?! I was lucky enough to actually meet LP, in person, last Saturday and it was amazing! She’s an incredible person and real! After we parted ways, I started thinking about how this whole whirlwind started and I thought that LP and I would share the story with you.
I have been a blogger for almost 3 years and have been involved with the Indie Community since day one. Through that, I met LP. I met her when another blogger suggested I read her book, Sweetness. I loved that book, to this day! Jake and Emily are amazing characters. Once I did my reviews of all the books that were out (at that time), I found LP on Twitter. It was there I found out she was a hockey fan and I began to stalk her (don’t judge I only stalk the best *wink*). It was during the lock-out, this past season, that we grew closer and then I ended up writing my book, Melting Away the Ice. I asked LP to read it and was extremely shocked when she said yes. I mean, come on … this is Lindsay Paige! She is one of my faves! (I may have fan-girl scream when she said yes to read it). Anyway, one thing lead to another and I was at my day job when she sent me a message via Twitter, saying she was sending me an email. Well, of course I was refreshing my email like mad to figure out what she wanted. Finally, the email came and she asked me to co-author with her. First, I screamed (yes, literally) and second, I may have fainted (slightly) and third, my co-workers really figured out that I was a loon. Nonetheless, I sent an email back, as fast as my fingers could type “YES”. LP’s response was, “Wanna think about it?” and I said “NO”. I’m a person of few words, when I’m excited!
That is definitely true. When I emailed Mary and she responded, I was overwhelmed by her excitement and willingness. She said yes while only knowing the genre of the books. For a second, I was skeptical that she was agreeing so fast. I kept thinking, “She’s going to hear the full idea and change her mind.” Or “Maybe she’s really busy at work and misread something.” I don’t know what exactly I was thinking, but cowriting was something I have been wanting to do for the longest time and I couldn’t believe that it was actually going to happen. Through the whirlwind of emails that were sent that day, I kept waiting for the ball to drop. But then Mary’s excitement never stopped and it was contagious and I was like, “OMG! IT’S HAPPENING!”
We hashed out my original idea and molded it to make it our idea. Something we both could see where we wanted to go with the story. We talked about every aspect from the actual writing part to what would happen after we finished. Once we got everything in order, we started writing. Two weeks, people! Two weeks was all it took for us to write the first draft. I was amazed, but hooked on the story and writing with Mary flowed so easily. We talked constantly and when an issue arose, we tackled it in an hour tops.
I know that it sounds very strange that we wrote a book in two weeks, but it’s true! We wrote every chance we got. We wrote until wee hours in the morning and even if I had to get up early for work, I didn’t care. This story consumed LP and me from the moment we typed our first sentence. We worked through every detail … together! Never have I been apart of a project that went so smoothly. Now, August 15 is just around the corner!
Exactly! Then we started working on the originally planned book two and it was a struggle. We talked it over and changed the plan. You can read more about that in the update post from last week. Working on the second book got Mary and I thinking about how we were already halfway through our project. It’s weird because we think so much alike that’s it’s scary and super freaky. We were thinking the same thing before we even mentioned it to one another. I think Mary was the first to say something about how she would miss working together when the trilogy was over. I may have laughed, but only because I was literally just thinking the same thing. Working on this trilogy with Mary made working on my solo projects hard. I would get to a hard scene and think, “This would be so much easier if I was writing with Mary. She could help me out or just take over.” I love working with her and it definitely helps that we think so alike or in those moments when we don’t, we’re able to think of something together that we’re both happy with.
I don’t remember who said what, but we definitely came to the conclusion that we wouldn’t mind working together on more projects after this one was finished. Nothing is planned, but the option is there. Plus, we have a lot of stuff planned individually as well that we are working on.
LP is telling you the truth. I was a little emotional thinking that we already halfway through book two and book three would be knocking on our door to be written and then...well, it would be over. I have the same problem with my solo projects. I’m always wondering what LP would do (might need to put that on a tshirt W.W.L.P.D?) But, I’m glad that we talked about it and have the option to write more. LP’s talent has no bounds and even though I still hate commas, my writing is improving! I have her to thank for that! Thanks LP!
Oh, Mary gives me too much credit, but there you go! That’s our story on how we got to this point. We’re very excited about this project and hopefully, in the future, we’ll bring you more books from the both of us.
