Most writers can imagine collaborating with someone. How does it work?
Believe it or not, it is not at all hard for us. In the early days of our career together, we had to do outlines for the publisher, so we would just brainstorm until we had the basic plot and characters figured out. It gave us a roadmap to follow, plus or more often, deviate from. But now we go to contract based only on short concepts, so our creative process is more freewheeling and scary. We start with an idea and usually a “what if” or a moment in a character’s life, and then we talk talk talk until it starts to take shape as a story. From there, we literally take assignments for chapters or scenes based on which of us has a better feel for the work to be done. It used to break down pretty clearly: Kelly taking the technical action scenes, Kris taking the narrative, inner character dialogs and descriptions. But now we equally share all writing duties as both of us become stronger writers. Because we live in different states, we are in phone contact every day. But we work separately
