This is an exciting first for the blog. Today I’m hosting the duo of Monica Shaughnessy and Mandy Broughton, both well-known authors in their own right, who are together launching an exciting new series under the pseudonym, Annie Basset. The debut, No Bones, released last week and kicks off the Dead and Buried series in criminal style! Not only were they happy to talk about the book, but they’re also giving away a free e-copy of the book in our contest (details below). When I asked Monica and Mandy about the series and the challenges of co-writing for the first time, here’s what they had to say.
 
KC: No Bones is the first in a series of crime books featuring sniffer dogs and colorful characters in small town Texas. How did you come up with the concept?
 
MB: It's funny because even coming up with the series was a joint effort. It all started with a missing woman in Montgomery County, Texas, Danielle Sleeper. http://www.bringdaniellehome.com
 
Through a series of events, I have been involved in helping search for Danielle. People who know that I'm an author suggested I write a True Crime story about Danielle's case. But I'm a fiction writer. I would never be able to tell the story the way it should be told. Danielle, her kids, and her parents need justice. I am not the writer that can do that. I pray for her recovery every day--dead or alive--her children and parents need to know what happened. The community she lives in needs to know. The person or persons responsible for her disappearance need to be held accountable.
 
As I joined in one of the searches, I came to admire Texas Equusearch http://www.texasequusearch.org and Klaas Kids http://www.klaaskidssar.org for their dedication to the lost and missing. The searchers donate their time, money, horses, and dogs to help find those who are lost. They do it because they care. They do it because it is the right thing to do--to help a family find answers and closure.
 
And from this great group of volunteers, I observed wonderful personalities, full of passion and dedication. 
 
I told Monica we needed a passionate main character who does Search and Recovery (SAR) on horses. Monica said she thought horses would be too difficult. She said she loves dogs and can write all day about them. What if we used SAR dogs? I said I love dogs too and off we went.
 
MS: My answer is a lot less fantastical than Mandy’s, so I’ll keep it short. I think we both naturally gravitated toward the small town Texas theme because we’ve both experienced that unique culture and are able to write about it authentically. As for dogs, yeah, I’m passionate about them. So it makes complete sense for me to write about them. Besides, I wanted to balance out my feline books (Cattarina Mysteries) with a little canine energy!

KC: You have both written in other genres, and in other pockets of the mystery genre. How did writing this book compare with the other genres you've tackled?
 
MB: I've had to keep my target audience in mind. This has been difficult because I like a wide variety of genres--sci-fi, cozy, thriller, horror, just to name a few. With a dog cozy, it SCREAMS cutesy. Puppy dog eyes! Silliness (okay, I am into silliness but Monica edits most of it out). With cutesy, silliness, and a barking good time firmly set in my brain, then I can write for dog mystery lovers.
 
MS: I tend to write about the bizarre: talking cats, blind dates with Satan, children from other worlds, and blood-thirsty jackalopes. So this is one of my few “mainstream” stories. And Mandy’s right about the audience. We tried to keep it firmly in mind when writing and not take any ‘off genre’ detours.

KC: This is your first time collaborating. How did you find the experience compared with writing as a sole author? How did you go about setting out who would do what in the drafting process?
 
MB: This is my first collaborative effort. Work divided itself very neatly along our strengths. Monica is a detailed plotter. She wrote a chapter by chapter outline. I think too much about crime so I always have an idea or thirty on a crime and its perpetrators. Monica is disciplined enough to keep herself and, more importantly, me, on track. I only veered off a couple of times. I'm the Tasmanian devil of writing first drafts. Monica can pick apart a first draft easier than a dog picking a bone clean. Monica has a great character sheet she created, full of arcs and ideas to carry us through a series. 
 
The fact that someone was expecting me to finish and publish has helped me in so many ways. I have three completed novels on my computer but they are not out because I'm currently "editing" them (editing = sit until they are magically perfect). I hate to let people down so having a writing duo made me hold to a deadline. My daughter had a moderate to serious accident during the second half of writing this book (she's doing better, just very slow recovery and still not 100%). Finishing this book has been one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Knowing that Monica was there waiting on me (and cracking the whip!) helped me push through when I felt like I couldn't write another word. 
 
MS: As any writer knows, you might start strong - great plot, tons of character backstories, free time to craft - and then life gets in the way. This happened to both of us. Mandy mentioned her daughter. But I had my own turn around. I began working for a wonderful company full time in March, and while it’s a terrific boost to my career and bank account, writing temporarily took a back seat. So yes, yes, we divided work based on our strengths. Mandy’s great at first drafts, and I’m great at second drafts (and plotting). But where I truly think collaboration saved us was during these hard times. When Mandy’s daughter was ill, I gave her lots of encouragement and helped push us forward. When I got bogged down with a new job, Mandy began shouldering the final edits. So we each helped the other at different times. That’s a true partnership.
 
KC: Were there any major disagreements during the writing process?
 
MB: At one point in the writing, Monica and I disagreed on a clue/mystery point. It was about three days of going back and forth until we finally agreed on how to handle Cecil's truck. Looking back, I think it's pretty funny that we disagreed about such a minor point. No one would probably care when they read the book. We agreed on major plot points, characters, arcs, and all sorts of things but that silly truck gave us fits for a few days.
 
We still are at loggerheads about which dog is the smartest. Of course, a German Shepherd is the smartest dog. But, randomly, during the day, I get emails that said "Border Collie" but I would delete it because I'm sure Monica meant to type "German Shepherd.”
 
MS: I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. Border collies are the smartest, hands down. My grandfather had a border collie named Nipper that helped him work his sheep herd, and I grew up watching this special relationship. That dog not only knew my grandfather’s hand signals and different whistles (several dozen), but he read his body language, too, and kept the herd moving wherever they were supposed to go. Tragically, after my grandfather died and the sheep herd was sold, Nipper ran away and was never seen again. This broke my heart as a kid. I always wondered if the dog left to find another old shepherd in need of a companion.

KC:  It seems that the mystery genre (along with the romance genre) is blossoming in terms of self-publishing. Why do you think those particular genres have been so successful outside the traditional publishing model?

MB: I think that readers can't get enough of mystery or romance. From that love of reading, readers are willing to give self-pubbed authors a chance. They are very forgiving too because I believe they have a voracious appetite (I know--I'm one of them!). They want to read in their beloved genre. And I'm grateful for the opportunity to help satisfy that appetite. 
 
MS: I completely agree. Like romance readers, mystery readers (especially cozy readers) are voracious and can go through an entire series in just a few days. Indie publishing lends itself to this model. Buying traditional paperbacks at $6.99 is not only expensive, it clutters your house. I’m not talking about a lovely filled bookcase. I’m talking about stacks and stacks of books everywhere! And then there’s lugging them to the used bookstore. Low pricing and digital publishing make indie books the perfect choice for cozy readers. That’s why it’s taking off. Big time.

KC: How difficult is it to write a book where the main character shares so much page space with animal characters and where, in some ways, the animal characters are as major as the human characters in terms of character development? How do you go about writing rounded and believable animal characters like Sasha?
 
MB: This was mostly Monica. She is excellent at character development. I tended to get caught up in the action and would forget main characters while I laid clues and suspicion. But Monica was always there with her red pen, figuratively, to fix a scene. Or even the blurb. I wrote the first draft of the blurb and completely left out Sasha. I was totally in the doghouse for that faux pas.
 
I have watched about a thousand YouTube videos of different SAR dogs. Even through the computer, their personalities came through. I tried to combine or see the dogs and the characters in my head while I wrote. It was the best way to keep me grounded.
 
MS: I have a greater sense of empathy than the average person, and because of this, I am able to get inside heads and hearts more easily. Human or animal, doesn’t matter. As you can imagine, this makes every day living a little more difficult. But it’s a tailor made trait for a writer. I’m also keenly observant, eerily so. And if you need any more convincing, just read The Tell-Tail Heart, book one of my Cattarina Mysteries. Cat lovers everywhere have praised me for nailing her personality and thoughts and POV.

KC: When can we expect to see book 2? How often do you plan to release "Dead & Buried" mysteries?
 
MB: Book 2, Dog Gone, is deep into plotting. I sent Monica a rough "big 5 scenes" idea for book 2. True to her dedication to the series, she dropped everything and immediately provided feedback. Or maybe my ideas were so crazy that she felt I needed guidance. But either way, we tend to agree and build on each other's ideas that are thrown out there. I think it is truly a case of Proverbs 27:17 As iron is sharpened by iron; one person sharpens another.
 
The plan is for Dog Gone to be released later in 2016. And we'd love book 3 out in early 2017.
 
MS: Yes, I’d agree with early Christmas of 2016 for Dog Gone. I know, I know, that’s six months away. You might be thinking, “Hey, other cozy writers are penning a book a month!” But ask yourself this, how is it possible to publish a 200 page book, complete with editing, in only 30 days? It’s not. That’s why some unscrupulous authors are outsourcing their writing to other countries or to starving college students or to anyone willing to churn out content for pennies. Whenever you read a review, and it says, “This book reads like it was written by a kid,” it just might be true. Sorry, self-publishing content mills are a big pet peeve of mine, especially when Mandy and I have worked so hard to create a quality book. So while our publishing schedule may not rival some cozy authors', you can count on a quality product authentically written by two Texas women. Who love dogs. 

 
Thanks so much for sharing your time and thoughts, gals. Now for the contest ...

I’m very excited to bring readers this interview with YA author Mindy McGinnis, both because she just won the Edgar Award (YA Category) for her new novel, A Madness So Discreet and also because she's the first person to make a THIRD guest appearance on this blog. Mindy was generous enough to answer some questions about the book shortly after winning the award. Here’s what she had to say …

KC:  A Madness so Discreet is a huge departure from your previous young adult novels. What inspired you to delve into the world of 19th century mental institutions for this one?
 
MM: I never know what's going to spark a novel. In this case it was the stack of my current reading on the nightstand. I had a history of insane asylum treatments (the good and the bad), a biography of a famous lobotomist, a history of serial killers, and a collection of Sherlock Holmes shorts. I was looking at these spines and thought, "Wouldn't it be really interesting to combine all those things in one book?"
 
KC: Unlike the protagonists in your Not a Drop to Drink duology (Lynn and Lucy), the protagonist in this book (Grace Mae) starts out as apparently powerless in the face of a horrible situation. Was it more challenging to write a protagonist who is literally trapped by the system as opposed to characters with more apparent freedom?
 
MM: I don't think it was more challenging, but it required a different approach. Lynn and Lucy are both strong characters - Lynn physically and emotionally, Lucy through her resiliency and humor. There are so many different kinds of strength, and when people use that (now hated) phrase "strong female character" it needs to embrace all those different meanings. Grace's strength is in her mind, her obstinacy, her intelligence, and her refusal to give in to the darkness that surrounds her - even if she may succumb occasionally. She could exhibit strength within the system, and ultimately escape it.
 
KC: The details in the book on mental illness and how it was treated in the 19th century are incredibly realistic. How did you go about researching the book?
 
MM: I researched for 18 months before writing this book, and at times I knew *too* much. I read nearly two thousand pages about the frontal lobe, lobotomies, and Phineas Gage, only to use the information in about two paragraphs. However, the background knowledge I acquired emanates from the book as a whole, in ways that aren't intentional but the reader is aware of.
 
KC: The story is extremely dark and some of the opening chapters in particular depict hospital activities that are quite harrowing. How hard was it to make this material accessible to a younger audience? Did you ever consider writing the story as a book for an older readership?
 
MM: There are always qualms about content when you're dealing with disturbing situations and a younger readership, but as a librarian I've found that teens are good at self-censoring. If they are reading something that is too much for them, they will voluntarily put it down. When it comes to gatekeepers - parents, teachers, fellow librarians - when I'm asked why I would write a book for teens about a girl who is sexually abused by her father, my answer is - "Because that's who it happens to."
 
KC: The book just won the Edgar Allan Poe Award in the YA category - CONGRATS!  Are you a fan of Poe's work? Who are some of your favorite authors in the mystery/horror genres?
 
MM: I do like Poe, and read quite a bit in my formative years. Although I think "Annabel Lee" is probably my frontrunner over "The Raven." I'm also a huge fan of Stephen King, and in the YA arena Kate Karyus Quinn is a fantastic, under-appreciated author of dark fiction.
 
KC: Can you tell us what's up next for you?
 
MM: Yes! THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES will be releasing on September 20. It's my first contemporary, a rape-revenge vigilante justice novel that takes a hard look at rape culture. It was recently picked by Publishers Weekly as a Buzz Book for the Fall / Winter 2016 season, and the first four chapters can be read for free in the Buzz Book catalog, along with 19 other up-and-coming titles.
 
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Mindy. Congrats again on the Edgar!
 

I had the best fun this week reading this book and getting to ask the author questions about it. In The McVentures of Me, Morgan McFactoid: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow, new author (but long-time storyteller)  Mark S. Waxman has produced a highly accessible, hilarious and unique look at middle grade life through the eyes of a boy who's a bit dorky, a budding inventor, and a general factoid machine. While it's undoubtedly fun, the book also reinforces a very positive message about standing up for yourself and being true to who you are. Mark not only answered all my questions about the book, but has also offered to give away three copies of the book to readers of this blog who enter our contest (details at the end of the post)

When I asked Mark what inspired him to write the book and how he went about it, here's what he had to say ...

KC: You've spent most of your career creating television for children. What made you decide to turn to books at this point? Was it difficult making the transition from TV to books?
 
MW: I still enjoy working in television. In fact, I’ve just created a new show, The Big Bubble, for the preschooler network, Nick Jr. However, a long-treasured belief of mine – that a child’s funny bone is the shortest distance between their heart and mind – has always kept me awake at night. My dear friend, Lin Oliver (Co-Founder and Executive Director of SCBWI) urged me to put my passion between the covers of a kid’s book.
 
I have written a half-hour television episode overnight. The formula is rather clear and the deadline (an air date) makes the work somewhat urgent but relatively effortless. A TV script generally bypasses the internal narrative found in literature. Character, plot and dialogue are on the scripted page. But description of scenes and expression of feelings are left to the director and actors to realize. My experience in TV certainly informed my book writing, but the processes are distinctly different. Also, a television script is subject to constant change, as the various filters (network executives, studio brass, production company heads, lawyers, the director and cast) weigh in. Whereas, other than my editor, nobody imposed upon me mandatory notes. The gift of time and autonomy makes the lonely hours of a novelist almost tolerable. Comparing the two forms, I found that writing a novel was far more challenging and painstaking… and soulfully more rewarding than writing yet another hurry-up episode for television.   
 
KC: What inspired you to write the The McVentures of Me, Morgan McFactoid?

MW: Images. Images that bombard children, day and night. Body images that young people strive to measure up to. With the ubiquitous nature of television, movies, tabloids and social media, I was increasingly concerned that children couldn’t avoid messages that negatively affected their self-esteem. I wanted to write a book about one’s physical looks… as they relate to self-acceptance. I wanted to introduce the notion that, while it’s sometimes difficult to see past one’s appearance, we should focus on a person’s contents, rather than their container. I wanted the reader to contemplate the value and nobility of our inner beauty and “character.”
 
I was also inspired by the fact that kids love facts, especially eccentric facts. And that’s a fact! I integrated a vast amount of purposeful, not random tidbits that would organically arise from the main character’s immediate predicament and serve to embellish the action.
 
KC: In Morgan, you've created a middle grade hero who so many of us can relate to: a guy who's smart, dorky, and resourceful, and has a good heart. How did you come up with Morgan's character? How much is based on you, or people you know?
 
MW: Morgan was/is my inner self. He’s how I observe and comprehend life. Growing up, I was a bit of an outsider. I was bashful, awkward, anxious. I used my sense of humor to navigate the world. Making people laugh was my passport to the “popular table.” As a well-honed survival skill, it also provided me, in later life, with a career in comedy.
 
KC: Morgan loves his factoids. The book is filled with them. How on earth did you come up with all of them? Do you have a secret McFactoid website somewhere? What's your favorite factoid?
 
MW: The Internet made my book possible. I suppose I could have camped out in the library for a few years, but I chose to do my fact-finding from the comfort of my keyboard. I needed to research facts that best fit the moment in the novel. Sometimes, I would start with a wonderful factoid and create a place to insert it. Other times, I would simply write the story with an eye towards spots that demanded an appropriate and juicy fact. It was a fun exercise, an unapologetic gimmick that I hoped kids would enjoy. I’m a committed proponent of “edutainment.”
 
Ask anyone, “How many ridges are there around the edge of a dime?” Not many will guess the correct amount: 118! (I love that one…)

KC: Along with his fondness for factoids, Morgan is also an unbridled inventor. Will we be seeing any more inventions from Morgan in the future? If you were a crazy inventor, what would you invent?

MW: I hope Morgan will invent many more things, meaning I hope the book will sell well enough to warrant a sequel and perhaps a franchise.
 
What would I invent? I suppose that would be the new book I’m working on right now. It’s a YA that will require the stars to, once again, align so that I may share my fiction, my humor and my messages with those who are willing to dream along with me... starting with the publisher and ending with the consumer.

Thanks so much for sharing your time and thoughts, Mark. Now for the contest ...