Meet Susan Mary Malone

Please welcome Susan Malone to It's Not All Gravy as today's Wednesday's Guest. Susan is an author, editor and a regular guest at The Blood Red Pencil.  I am so happy to have her here today as she shares a bit about family and writing with a family member.

Thank you for inviting me to be your guest, Maryann. I’m both an author and an editor, with five traditionally published books (one novel and four works of co-authored non-fiction) to my credit.  Mainly I write literary fiction, but of course, have to eat! I’ve also had a litany of short stories published. As a freelance editor, over forty books I’ve edited have been sold to Traditional publishers, with two more coming out this year. 

 Q. Two of the books you have written have been collaborations with your brother. How did that come about?

  Fifteen years ago, I was sitting with my sister-in-law at their kitchen table, bemoaning how difficult men were. My brother (a psychiatrist) sauntered through and said, “Men are easy to understand. If you just know these five things, you can not only understand them, but learn to predict their behavior.” I said, “We should write a book!” 

Q. Is it harder to work with a family member, then perhaps working with someone you don't know as well? Pros and Cons?

Not for us.  Gary and I have been close since we were little kids, and this is actually our third business venture. When very young, we made and sold potholders. Gary was the biz guy and I was the cute little-girl front person! Then of course I’d ask him for change or something and he’d have to come out of his hiding place. Through our teenage years, we had a swim school. I’ve actually found it easier working with him than any of my other co-authors.  

Q. In reading this latest book, I had a hard time trying to discern which parts were written by you and which were written by your brother. Describe how the writing process worked.

 A couple of reasons exist why folks are having trouble discerning who wrote what.  First off, Gary dictated his theories, and I got a big sprawling amoeba of stuff to work with, mostly in jargon and clinical-ese.  I rewrote (and translated) everything he gave me, tossed away a ton when he rambled into the ozone, and identified huge holes that weren’t discussed at all, or glossed over, including adding chapters and organizing everything.  Gary actually writes very well, however, when I can get him out of psychiatrist mode, and he wrote his personal vignettes, and many of the others as well.  I did very little to those except clean up the grammar and spelling, etc.

The second part is a bit more nebulous.  I’ve co-authored enough that I learned a very long time ago to write in the other person’s voice.  It’s really weird (and somewhat schizophrenic!), but a gift of mine.  That truly helps me in editing as well—once I get into a manuscript, I edit in the other person’s voice. 

Q. Are there plans for more books together?

 Yes.  We have a list of ideas, and haven’t had time to narrow that down yet!

Q. Would you ever collaborate with anyone else?

 No.  That part of my life is done.  

Q. In addition to writing, you offer editing and coaching services. How do you balance your time between the various jobs?

 God alone knows!  I work a lot. More than I should. Sometimes I take the time to just write. Sometimes I write in the mornings and edit the rest of the day. Sometimes I just edit. 

Q. Now, just for fun, what is your family's favorite story to tell on you?

 Once my elementary-school friend and I climbed the big oak trees at the farm and hid, and when we were found we told this long tale about how the deer chased us up there and wouldn’t let us come down.  Everyone still calls that grove of oaks "Susan’s Trees". I started telling stories early J

Q.  What did it say about you in your high school yearbook?

 I honestly don’t remember! 

Q.  If you weren't a writer and editor, what job would you be doing?

 Investigative journalist. That was my original training, and I was editor of my university newspaper. I still miss it!

Book Blurb

Family.  We all have one.  And with the many gifts they bring, along come at least a few lumps of coal—from some friction to downright anger and dysfunction.What’s a healthy family anyway?  What’s a toxic one?  Where is the middle ground? And how do you navigate your own family relationships to negotiate conflict resolution? 

What’s Wrong With My Family explores the problems stemming from even the healthiest to the most destructive ones.  Most important, it teaches what issues within you may arise from your own family of origin, and how you can heal from the wounds.  A book of hope, it shows that no matter where you came from, you can live your best life anyway.  

Visit Susan on her Website  * Blog  *  Twitter  * Facebook 

Guest Blog- Evelyn David on Writing as a Team

Writing Duets?

We're going to go out on a limb here. We're going to advise you to go against conventional wisdom about writing a book. Here's our suggestion: Find a co-author on the Internet and write 2 books and countless short stories together without ever meeting in person.

What? That sounds crazy.

We know. And we still recommend it because that's exactly what we've done and it has worked perfectly.

We know there are problems with collaboration. We've heard them all, and actually, most of them make sense…except not always. Herewith are the problems and how we've avoided them. Maybe collaboration can work for you too.

1. The creative process is by definition a solitary one and writing together only leads to a jumble of ideas.

We're not sure where the concept of the lonely artist stuck in an unheated garret pursuing his talent first was proposed as fact, but it's only half true. Yes, each of us brings to the table our own concepts and ideas. But that's a plus, not a drawback. It means we've each got someone to bat ideas off; someone to say "you've hit a homerun" or alternatively, "no offense, but that makes no sense at all." You're less likely to go off on a tangent if someone else is there to either remind you where you were supposed to be headed – or to listen if you truly believe that the new idea will only strengthen the storyline. Since it's a collaboration, where neither party has veto rights, you've got to be able to defend your choices, which can only make you plan and write more clearly.

2. You don't want to mix plaids and stripes together, or in other words, how can you combine two distinct writing styles?

That's a little tougher, but practice makes perfect. It works because of the first rule of any writing project, whether it's a third grade book report or a New York Times bestseller: Revise, Revise, Revise.

As each scene goes back and forth between us, it gets smoothed out. We both write all characters so it's less likely that the hero sounds like someone from Oklahoma (where Rhonda lives), while the heroine sounds like a New Yorker (where Marian lives). We work hard to make our characters distinct, but the overall voice of each book is Evelyn David, neither Rhonda or Marian.

3. The work load will never be equally distributed between the two collaborators.

Probably true at different points in the writing process. But like any good partnership, you each go in with honest intentions, work hard, and figure it all evens out in the end. No question that Rhonda is the tech genius of this collaboration so she handles all web site issues, including design. Marian tends to handle the business side of being an author (agent contact, bookstore relationships, publisher issues, and planning). We both do the writing, editing, and promotion. Over time we've learned each other's strengths and preferences - we shift tasks accordingly. Rhonda is the keeper of lists and files. Marian is the final word on punctuation and grammar. Rhonda likes working with photos and covers. Marian is wonderful at interviews. Neither of us is good at mingling at receptions and making small talk, but we do it anyway and commiserate with each other later. The bottom line is that we work together to achieve a common goal. Here's a clue - if you're keeping close track of the hours you spend or the tasks you handle versus what your co-author does, then you probably haven't found a partner who you trust enough to write with.

We've given a lot of thought to why we think our collaboration works and believe there are three important ingredients.

1. Neither of us has a big ego, so there are never any diva moments.

2. We share a similar work ethic. Do what needs to be done and don't worry about the credit.

3. And probably most important of all – we share a similar (maybe warped) sense of humor. When life is dark and gloomy, when we are sure we could never compose a shopping list, let alone a book, we tend to crack a joke and laugh. Writing is a tough profession, full of frequent disappointments and frustrations. Laughter is essential.

Collaboration may not be for everyone, but for Evelyn David, it's been remarkable easy and fun for us. Try it. You might like it.

Good Luck!
Evelyn David

__________

 

The Sullivan Investigation Series
Murder Drops the Ball (Spring 2011)
Murder Takes the Cake - Paperback - Kindle
Murder Off the Books - Paperback - Kindle
Riley Come Home - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Autographed Copies and other e-book formats available through Wolfmont Press at
The Digital_Bookshop - http://tinyurl.com/DigitalBookshop

Brianna Sullivan Mysteries - e-book series
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah
- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah
- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries
- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

The authors of The Brianna Sullivan Mysteries, Murder Off the Books, Murder Takes the Cake, and the short story Riley Come Home, Evelyn David is the pseudonym for Marian Edelman Borden and Rhonda Dossett.

Marian lives in New York and is the author of 11 nonfiction books on a wide variety of topics ranging from veterans benefits to playgroups for toddlers! For more information on Marian's books, please visit her web site at http://www.marianedelmanborden.com 

Rhonda lives in Muskogee, Oklahoma, is the director of the coal program for the state, and in her spare time enjoys imagining and writing funny, scary mysteries. Marian and Rhonda write their mystery series via the Internet. While many fans who attend mystery conventions have now chatted with both halves of Evelyn David, Marian and Rhonda have yet to meet in person. 

Please check out Evelyn's website at http://www.evelyndavid.com and their blog – The Stiletto Gang - http://www.thestilettogang.blogspot.com/ for information about Evelyn David's appearance schedule and writing projects.