The 12-Year Conversation
A while back, I promised to introduce you to Ruth Virkus, the co-creator of Tyme (the series I’m writing). It’s hard to be brief; there’s a lot to say. So we’ve decided to break this introduction up into a series of short posts, mostly to give ourselves the pleasure of digging back into our friendship and writing about it.
I’ve often heard writing described as a lonely process, but it hasn’t been for me. I met Ruth in 2001, and we struck up an endless AIM-chat conversation about stories. Harry Potter fanfiction stories – at first.
The fanfic conversation spilled over. We started dreaming up stories of our own. One day, Ruth asked me to write a fairy tale. The result of that request is my debut novel.
Our debut novel, actually.
Ruth and I have talked about this story, and this series, for more hours and days and weeks than I can count. If I stacked up the time, I’d probably have whole months. Our collaborative process is simple. We talk, I go away and write, she reads, we talk, repeat. The conversation has been rolling for years. We often have a shared vision, but often enough we debate and see things from different perspectives. It’s good.
Ruth and I have rarely met in person. The first time we did is a story worth telling. So Ruth – whose storytelling I love – will tell it in the next post.
10/13/2013 at 7:35 am
I’m so proud of you both. I can’t wait to see your first novel in print!