Why I Collaborate
This is Tanya and I, working on plot.
There is no better feeling than announcing a book that readers have been waiting for. I’m so lucky to have a readership who looks forward to my next book. That’s why am working hard right now on Brooklynaire, which I’m publishing this winter.
But first I’ve gone and done it again — I’ve announced a new collaboration that you weren’t looking for. Why do I do that?
Well, there’s something that happens when you’ve written more than 20 romances. All of a sudden, innovating feels harder. You read a scene and you think— “Have I written a kiss like this before? Is this different enough from the last book?” You get a little sick of yourself.
It’s like sitting in a barrel hearing your own echo with every keystroke.
Yet something amazing happens when you’re forced to work with someone else’s quirks. The world gets bigger, and suddenly all your ruts are blown to bits by the gale force of someone else’s personality.
Sarah Mayberry made me hear a hot Aussie hero in my head. And she made me see our scene structure the way a TV writer plots the world.
And now Tanya Eby… Lean a little closer because I have to tell you this in confidence. Psst! Tanya Eby's sense of humor is totally bonkers. When I read the first chapter of Man Hands, I just sat there and howled. It was that funny, and I was only reading the first scene. My first reaction was — I don’t know if I can do justice to this bright and wonderful voice.
Spoiler alert — it turns out I could.
I rolled up my sleeves and dug in. And the result is something special. It’s because Tanya hasn’t written twenty romances that this story is so fresh and crazy. She doesn’t feel chained in by a dozen other first kisses and meet-cutes. Hell. I don’t think she feels chained in by anything. Man Hands is wild and unrestrained in its humor. And it’s glorious.
So I’m sorry if you were hoping to get Nate and Becca first. They’re coming soon. And someday maybe Benito. And just possibly Daphne, Kieran, Mae, Castro, Silas, Pepe…
I have more ideas than I could ever write. But when I step outside of my own comfort zones, that’s how I learn. That’s how I stay fresh. That’s how I challenge myself to do big things. And it’s a real gift to work with another terrific writer who looks at the world differently than I do.
Thank you for indulging me. And I hope you love the heck out of Man Hands. Because I really do!