On Characters and Collaboration

Naughty Little Christmas marks a first for me. Since people discovered we both wrote romance, my sister Dani Wade and I have been asked if we would cowrite a book. Until now, we hadn't really considered it seriously. And then the idea for Naughty Little Christmas came to me. I realized somewhere in the planning process that I had a hero who ran nightclubs, and a sister who wrote about a rock band in her Backstage Pass novels. "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if your band could appear at Damien's club?" And so Solar Uprising's visit to Damien's world began.

I'm not sure how collaboration works for actual writing teams. For Dani and I, it was a sort of organic process. Once the idea for the scene was fleshed out, I sent it to Dani, and she began brainstorming dialogue for her characters. Daniel Korvello, the lead singer of Solar Uprising, is the central character for the scene. Solar is participating in a charity concert at Damien's Colorado club, Twice, and Daniel gives Damien some very interesting advice regarding his relationship (or lack thereof) with Harley. :) We tweaked the scene back and forth until Dani was happy with Daniel's participation and I'd wrangled Damien into line, and then the scene went into the manuscript.

And our first collaboration was born. :)

For those of you who aren't familiar with Dani's Backstage Pass novellas, they are based on the members of the rock band Solar Uprising. Guitarist Michael Korvello appears in the first novella, Finding Her Rhythm, out now. This spring, Daniel's book will be released. He and sassy publicist Becca Buchanan are in for one wild ride! And later in the year, drummer Sean is having his own Irish adventure with a brand-new heroine -- woot! Can't wait! You can check out more at Dani's website.

So, want a taste? Here's just enough to whet your appetite. Daniel and Damien are discussing Harley as she works the other end of the room at a fan cocktail party.

"Dude, don’t pass up the opportunity to get some of that,” Daniel said.

“I plan to.” Damien's eyes rounded. Shit, did I say that out loud? Yes, he had, because Daniel was off on fits of laughter again.

“Oh, go to hell. Isn’t it about time for you guys to get warmed up?”

Chuckles continued to escape as Daniel checked his watch. “No, I’ve got a few minutes. Wanna invite her over?”

“No.”

Daniel smirked. “You know, I remember a conversation with my brother that sounded very similar to this one.”

You'll have to wait till December 24th to find out exactly what Daniel tells Damien about that conversation and its results!

Will Dani and I ever do this again? What about a full-length book? Honestly, I have no idea. Who knows what the future holds? And with a series in the works for Harley's band, Aftershock, the possibilities for rock-star interaction are endless. Guess we'll all just have to wait and see. ;)