Sisters
Are Doin' It For Themselves
The
Unconventional Writing Process of the Sister-Duo Writing Team That Make Up
Melanie Shawn
I
know. The idea of a “writing team” doesn't seem to make much sense at first
blush. After all, everyone always talks about what a solitary pursuit writing
is. In fact, after the old, “If you want to be a writer, then write,” trope,
the solitary existence of a writer is probably the most oft-referenced part of
the writing life.
So
what made us decide to tackle this traditionally solitary pursuit in tandem?
Well,
much like Aretha and Annie in that catchy 80s anthem from the title, it sprang
from a decision to take our future into our own hands. We wanted to define what
our lives would look like moving forward, and we knew that – no matter what –
we wanted to approach it together. When we took a look at our strength and
talents, we realized that we'd actually been “writing together” as part of the
business we own for quite some time – articles, proposals, emails...and blog
posts, much like this one!
Once
we realized that we already had a natural writing rhythm together, it was a
short leap to deciding that we wanted to tackle fiction writing together, as
well.
We
have always passionately loved stories. We saw Good Will Hunting together 14
times, for Heaven's sake...and that was just in the theater! We love to examine
the motivations behind various characters' words and actions. We can discuss
one scene in a book or movie for hours on end.
It
wasn't a difficult transition, then, for us to move on to creating our OWN
worlds, along with the people who live in them.
Many
people wonder what the process of “writing together” looks like. Do we actually
open up a blank document together and craft every sentence collaboratively,
while sitting there side by side?
Good
GOD, No! Not only would that be far too slow, it would probably be pretty
frustrating, as well.
Rather,
we do the work in “passes” - Shawna takes a pass, Melanie takes a pass, Shawna
takes another pass, and so on. With each subsequent pass at the manuscript, the
plot becomes tightened and the language more refined. By the final pass, we
both love it!
Writing
collaboratively is great for us because we both bring strengths to the table.
For instance, Shawna is the “romantic gesture” nut and thinks of all the
beautiful and highly romantic scenarios in the books. Pretty much anything in
any of the stories that has made you go, “Awwww....I love it!” came straight
from Shawna's brain!
Melanie,
on the other hand, is the “word nerd” and comes up with the lion's share of the
descriptions, metaphors, similes...all of the linguistic ornamentation that
makes the book sparkle. Also, she's the sarcastic and sassy one, so the
majority of the quips and jokes come from her snarky sensibilities.
By
working together, we wind up with an end product that is far better than
anything either of us could have produced on her own – and we have a HELL of a
lot of fun getting there!
Writing
as part of a team may not be for everybody. But it is definitely for us!
Bio:
Melanie Shawn is the writing team of sister duo Melanie
and Shawna. Originally from Northern California, they both migrated south and
now call So Cal their home.
Growing up, Melanie constantly had her head in a book and
was always working on short stories, manuscripts, plays and poetry. After
graduating magna cum laude from Pepperdine University, she went on to teach
grades 2nd through 8th for five years. She now spends her
days writing and taking care of her furry baby, a Lhasa Apso named Hercules. In
her free time, her favorite activity is to curl up on the couch with that
stubborn, funny mutt and binge-watch cable TV shows on DVD (preferably of at
least eight seasons in length - a girl's gotta have her standards!).
Shawna always loved romance in any form - movie, song or
literary. If it was a love story with a happy ending, Shawna was all about it!
She proudly acknowledges that she is a romanceaholic. Her days are jam-packed
with writing, being a wife, mom aka referee of two teens, and indulging in her
second passion (dance!) as a Zumba instructor. In the little free time
she has, she joins Melanie in marathon-watching DVDs of their favorite TV
programs.
They have joined forces to create a world where True Love
and Happily Ever After always has a Sexy Twist!
Book
Description:
Jason Sloan is known as Harper’s Crossing’s resident Romeo, and
he’s never had to work too hard to live up to that nickname. With his easygoing
charm, whiskey-colored brown eyes, and sinfully sexy half smile, women just
seem to fall all over themselves when he’s around.
Well...most women, anyway. Katie Lawson’s the one woman who isn't putty in his
hands, and she's the only one he’s ever wanted in his arms.
Katie Lawson left Harper's Crossing in the middle of the night ten years ago,
immediately after her high school boyfriend Nick's funeral. She left behind all
memories of Nick, and she left behind her life-long best friend, Jason Sloan.
Now she's on the fast track to junior partner at one of San Francisco's top law
firms. She's made a life for herself that's all about maintaining order and
sticking to the rules. Rule #1 is keeping herself WAY too busy to think about
all that she ran away from. If she can do that, after all, she can keep
everything under control.
But that rule is about to be broken. She’s headed back home to be the maid of
honor in Nick’s little sister’s wedding. It's time to face the truth she's been
avoiding all these years, the same one that sent her running ten years ago -
that maybe she didn't lose her first love the summer after high school. Maybe
her first love has been waiting for her all this time, at home in Harper's
Crossing.
Excerpt:
Katie opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came
out. She snapped it shut. She tried again. Same result. She imagined she looked
like a trout on the banks of a river, flapping her mouth open and shut for no
apparent reason.
The realization of how silly she must look gave
her just the extra edge of courage she needed to jump off the cliff.
“Jason, I...I wanted to...I wanted to tell you
that...” she steeled herself for what she knew her physical reaction would be
as she forced herself to look up into those gorgeous brown eyes, which
resembled nothing so much as pools of warm and melty milk chocolate...
The expression on Jason's face when she raised her
eyes brought her up short. She narrowed her eyes.
“Why do you look so smug?” she asked suspiciously.
Rather than answering, he smirked and bent down,
putting his mouth right next to her ear. His hot breath assailed her neck and
she began to feel light-headed again.
Wait...was this....OH NO! Panic attack #2 might be
on the horizon.
Not in front of Jason, PLEASE, not in front of
Jason, Katie begged the Universe. It
seemed like the Universe must have more important things on its mind, however
because - oh, lord. Now the shallow breathing was starting.
Jason's breath on her neck, however, was anything
but shallow. It was deep. And heavy. And warm. And full of desire. And...oh,
man, that lightheadedness was just getting worse and worse.
Jason had her pinned up against the trunk of her
car. Her mind was screaming at her to push him away and RUN as fast and as far
as she could. Hey, it had worked in the past. Her body, however, was sending
her some very different signals.
“I'm not smug, Kit Kat,” Jason informed her, his
deep voice rumbling in his chest.
“Wha...huh...?” Katie mumbled.
Jason laughed lightly, “I was just saying that I'm
not smug. Just happy to know that I still get under your skin.”
Katie didn't respond. She didn't even really hear
what he said, she'd stopped trying to pay attention to the words. Stupid words.
They just got in the way of listening to his voice...that silky, deep voice.
Jason traced his thumb down the back of Katie's
neck slowly, sensuously, and then continued across her shoulder and down her
arm. When he reached her waist, he slipped his hand around her easily,
spreading his fingers slowly and firmly, grasping her back with a familiarity
that felt as dangerous as it did comforting.
His thumb began to gently massage the small of her
back, sending sharp zings of electricity ping-ponging off of her nerve endings.
She wanted to stop those little zings of pleasure in their tracks. She wanted
to ignore, suppress, deny...anything!
She needed to push him away and get some distance
is what she needed to do. Her knees began to buckle. Any time now, a little
voice in the back of her head whispered. Any time you want to get a jump on
creating that distance would be perfect.
That was, however, not what Katie did. No matter
how hard her lizard brain screamed at her to push him away...step away...jump
away...DANCE away, even...all Katie found herself doing was looking up into his
chocolate brown eyes as she melted into his embrace.
Katie heard a low moan escape from Jason's throat
and was suddenly hyper-aware of how close their lips were to each other. A
shiver ran through her as she contemplated the nearness of those delicious,
sexy lips.
Katie's breathing became more labored, but not in
an out-of-control, panic-attacky kind of way. No, it was more of a
body-coming-alive-for-the-first-time-in-years kind of way.
She vaguely wondered what was going to happen next,
but couldn't make herself focus too much on the future. Not when the present
was this flipping interesting!
Her brain might be telling her to get out of this
situation, to think about the consequences – but her body was perfectly content
to ride this little scene out and see where it went thankyouverymuch.
Why did it seem that she was utterly incapable of
listening to her brain in any situation where Jason Sloan was involved?
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