Please tell us a little about yourself.
We are high school sweethearts who
have been together for three times as long as we've been apart. During this
time we've lived in several states and have had 16 different addresses. We like
movies, traveling, antiquing, and, of course, writing love stories.
I love firsts, so tell me about the moment when you found you’d made
your first sale.
Catherine got the “email” call
while at the eye doctor. She’s sitting in the waiting room with dilated eyes,
tromboning her cell phone so she can read the small print, when she sees the
email from Soul Mate Publishing. She reads the email and squeals, startling the
other patients. Then she blurts out “I’m a published author.” The eye doctor,
his assistant, and about six other people knew before Donald did.
Love the phrase tromboning her cell phone. I do that a lot. What a great moment.
Love the phrase tromboning her cell phone. I do that a lot. What a great moment.
How about the first
time you kissed your true love?
This occurred right after Donald
asked Catherine to go steady. We were sitting in his Chevy II convertible with
red interior, at our favorite park.
 |
| Donald found me a picture of the Chevy. How awesome is that? |
You are the first husband/wife writing partners I've ever interviewed. How does your writing process work?
We are pretty much
plotters. We think you have to be when you are co-authors in order to keep on
track. But we don’t discount the power of the muse in the process.
We lay out the
story arc together for each book. Most of our plotting has been done in the car
or at restaurants. Then we do a plot skeleton where we have scenes by character
POV. Often times the scenes are out of order. Once we think we have enough
scenes, Donald orders them into a chart, then gives the chart to Catherine.
Catherine sits down and writes the first draft, which is often mostly dialogue.
After each day’s work she gives the pages to Donald who edits them and gives
them back. Each of us often has a surprise during the process mentioned since
we have a tendency to let the muse lead us on occasion. Catherine will come in
and say to Donald, “I don’t remember talking about this,” pointing to the scene
chart. Donald often says “We didn’t plot this,” while reading the dailies. We
have to mutually agree that anything the muse does works or it gets scrapped.
This has sometimes required changing future scenes in the book or upcoming
books in the series.
Once the first
draft is finished we take it into Donald’s office, where we have a dual screen
set up so we each can see what’s written. This is the point where we make sure
the senses, tension, setting, dual plot lines and dual love stories, and the
rest of the nuts and bolts of the writing craft is added to the story.
Then we read it
again and again and again going over our weasel word list until we think it’s
okay to send to the editor, or we run up against the deadline. We have been
known to burn the midnight oil on first drafts and revisions. When Catherine
hits the last hundred pages of the first draft, she will not stop writing.
Throughout this process Donald has final say on all male POV and actions,
Catherine the female.
When the edits come
back, we are back in the office editing with the dual monitors where Donald has
control of the key board, much to Catherine’s frustration since he cant (CAN’T
with an apostrophe Catherine says!) spell and doesn’t always type what she
wants.
That was fascinating. Thank you. I am one of the world's worst typists which slows my input tremendously.
What is your favorite pastime, other than writing?
Going to the movies. We’ve a
standing date with our best friends every week to go to dinner and a movie.
Best movie we’ve seen this year is The
Hundred Foot Journey. It had a double love story, which is something we try
to do in our books.
What’s your snack of choice while writing?
Nuts and water. No crumbs to get
in keyboard or in Donald’s office.
Got a recipe you want to share?
You should really try roasted
Brussel sprouts. Cut them in half, toss with some olive oil, salt, pepper and
garlic powder. Place, cut side down, on a baking sheet that has been lightly
oiled and bake at 375 degrees for about twenty minutes or until browned on the
bottom. Even teenagers who say they hate Brussel sprouts will eat these.
My son, Chris makes them that way and I can bear witness to their wonderfulness.
My son, Chris makes them that way and I can bear witness to their wonderfulness.
Any advice for new writers just starting out?
Make sure your social media is in
place and you know how to use the various aspects. Trying to learn social media
after you sell your book gets quite hairy.
What genre or genres do you write?
We’re currently writing paranormal
romance, but we have a couple of time travel/time slip romance books on the
back burners.
Time travel? Yes!
Time travel? Yes!
Tell us about your latest release.
The second book in our Turning
Stone Chronicles series, Blood Brothers,
has just been released. It is a Paranormal Romance with suspense. Here is a
blurb and excerpt for the book:
When Delaney Ramsey is enlisted to help train
two of the most powerful shape shifters the Turning Stone Society has seen in
thousands of years, she suspects one of them is responsible for the
disappearance of her daughter. To complicate matters, the man has a secret that
could destroy them all. Bound by honor to protect the suspect, Delaney must
prove his guilt without losing her life to his terrible powers or revealing to
the police captain she’s falling for that she’s a shape shifter with more than
one agenda.
The minute Captain Williams lays eyes on
Delaney Ramsey, he knows she’s trouble. Uncooperative, secretive, and sexy, he
can’t get her out of his mind. When he discovers she has a personal agenda for
sifting through all the criminal records in his precinct, and secretly
investigating his best detective, he can’t let her out of his sight. He must
find out what she’s looking for before she does something illegal. If she steps
over the line, he’s not certain he can look the other way for the sake of love.
This excerpt from the book is where the hero
and heroine meet for the first time:
Harry
Williams paused at the entrance to Alexi’s ER room, hand hovering over the
doorknob, uncertain when he heard the voices inside. Did she have company? He
peeked in through a crack in the window curtain. The only people he recognized
were Alexi and Rhys. He moved from the door, planning to return later.
“Captain,”
Rhys called as he opened the door. “Come in.”
“I’m
not intruding?”
“No.
Alexi will be glad to see you.”
Harry
stepped into the room. Going immediately to her bedside, he set the small vase
of flowers he’d brought on the nightstand. “Didn’t know what kind you liked.”
Retrieving
the vase, she held the flowers to her nose and inhaled. “These are gorgeous,
Captain. Thank you.”
Tubes
stuck into his favorite homicide detective’s arms. She seemed so helpless
hooked to the equipment. Not at all like the fearless woman he knew. “You going
to be okay?”
“I’ve
got to stay in for a few days, but then I should be fine.”
He
glared at Rhys. “How did you let her get mauled by a panther?”
“She
ran in ahead of me ... like she always does.”
“Headstrong
woman,” Harry said to Alexi.
“That’s
what makes me so good,” she replied with a smile that lit her drawn face. Alexi
directed his attention toward the older man. “This is Eli McCraigen, an old friend
of Baron’s, and this,” she said, pointing to the woman, “is Delaney Ramsey. Our
boss, Captain Harry Williams.”
Giving
Eli a cursory nod, Harry then turned toward Delaney. A pair of turquoise eyes
shown out of a china doll face, with the slightest hint of a middle age crease
around her cupid bow mouth. A minute past before he found his voice. “Ms.
Delaney, nice to meet you,” he said with a squeak. He hadn’t jumped octaves
like that since his teenage acne cleared.
Smiling,
her face lit. Amused, no doubt, by him. His gaze swept over her. She had a body
a man could lose himself in. When she caught him enjoying the view, she blushed
and returned the favor.
The
once-over caused him to respond faster than he thought possible. A woman had
not made him react like that in a long time. Women were a distraction. One he’d
only dallied with occasionally since his wife left him. They all ran the minute
they heard he was a career cop.
What’s your current WIP?
Our current work in process is the
third book in the series entitled Son of
The Moonless Night. We are working on first round edits for this book. When
that’s done we’re on to book four of The Turning Stone Chronicles series.
And finally, where can we find you?
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorCDHersh
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Excellent interview! Enjoyed The Promised One and look forward to reading Blood Brothers. Best of luck with sales :)
ReplyDeleteJoanne - glad you enjoyed The Promised One. We think you will like Blood Brothers even more. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteLoved the interview! Your co-writing process is inspiring. I write, and my husband has ambitions to write, but doing it together? Uh-uh! Pretty sure that would end in divorce for us.
ReplyDeleteThanks Samanthe. We think our "what's said in the office, stays in the office" mentality is part of what helps our co-writing partnership from spilling over into the living room. Thanks for commenting. Don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway.
Delete