Sometimes writers write alone.
Let me set the scene for our readers.
MAUREEN:Thats true.
Credit: Courtesy of Sarah Rees Brennan; Heather Weston
So, Sarah, books?
SARAH:Ive heard of them!
(WORD PICTURE.)
We also go to foreign lands that we might work upon said books in company.
What book are you currently despairing about, I mean working on?
MAUREEN:I just want to say that a lot of times I write at home.
SARAH:I dont know what shes talking about.
I dont have a dog or a home.
Our processes are wildly different.
But of course Maureen, you are free at any time to wear no pants among friends.
#nopantsamnesty
MAUREEN:Take a better look over the top of your system.
STILL MAUREEN:But to answer your question, I am working on book two of the newTruly Deviousseries.
(That may not be the series name.
Right now, only book one exists and it is out in January.)
SARAH:takes a better look over the top of her computer Oh my.
Then a small hiccup occurred and I had to go live with my parents for eight months.
Who knows where I live.
But I am always writing.
I like to have the company of my friends: people frown on dogs living out of suitcases.
MAUREEN:By hiccup, do you mean how you had cancer?
I think that is the hiccup you mean.
SARAH:This has been a weird year for all of us!
MAUREEN:ITS A GOOD THING WE HAVE BOOKS.
How about you tell us aboutIn Other Lands?
SARAH:Friend, I will.
I wroteIn Other Landslong before all of these fiery shenanigans.
It was meant to be a short story for my blog.
Since it is now a book, you may suspise it ran long, and you suspise correctly.
This meant there was no deadline.
Indeed writing it was a weird thing I was doing!
I think there is a deep need for that kind of joy right now.
But also, RIGHT NOW.
And two, how we in particular function as a group of writer friends.
A lot of people seem to be curious how that works.
Because writing is such a lonesome (not lonely, necessarily) activity.
Literally, right now, there are five us sitting in a circle each doing our own thing.
We can look up and ask questions, get help, just complain.
This is such a good way to keep going.
Again, especially in 2017.
I think this is a good year to remember to connect with others.
MAUREEN AGAIN:But also, your book.
Can you give a little summary?
Or a long summary?
Or something in between?
Listen, the key word here is summary.
Or just read it to me.
SARAH:For some reason, this makes me think of another important friend functionyour friends chase you around!
I have an example of this literary process.
Youre my hero, Maureen).
You rented this extremely crazy house.
There was a hall of dragon statues?
The heating didnt work.
Perhaps you would enjoy to talk about that feeling.
Did it perhaps seem like you were being hunted by a pterodactyl while your hair was on fire?
MAUREEN:Its true that I tried to evade capture.
I was struggling with that and everyone sat on me until it was worked out.
I went to Romance School.
No one let me move on without working it through.
You were there dispensing wisdom and dropping romance plots all over the room.
Someday we will find the romance novel you havent read and we will put it in a museum.
I had some strange middle of the night moments there.
SARAH:The strange middle of the night moments are when novels are born.
Also let me read that romance novel before you put it in the museum.
Im like, I will find a model for this.
Have you read Frances Hodgson Burnetts least well-known book for children?
All right, let me tell you about it, glad you asked.
And they will return: I didnt ask.
I would never ask.
MAUREEN:Your recreation of novels are genuinely one of the great joys of my life.
Sarah can re-create any book she has ever read, which is every book.
Sarah gets right to the truth of it.
SARAH:A classic!
I cant say Ive never misled you guys.
The next morning at breakfast, everyone was super angry with me and wouldnt pass me thepain chocolat.
I had added a gay spy?
MAUREEN:The books you describe are always the true books.
Youll say something like, Oh, [name of book]!
And well say, What?
Sometimes these recitations end with you falling into a pool.
SARAH:This may be how we clashed on your romance plot.
I am a somewhat high-key person.
As Maureen has mentioned, even my voice is pretty high.
My very sneeze sounds like a hamster caught in a door.
Whereas Maureen, you remain calm.
You make the wry joke.
You employ the soothing and mellifluous tone.
And everyone else said, Well, maybe not that, maybe this… Everyone has a different expertise.
But everyone is DEEPLY engaged.
MAUREEN, ONCE MORE:You never did give us that summary ofIn Other Lands.
MAUREEN INTENSIFIES:Sarah, what is it about tell everyone what it is about.
SARAH:I do love the engagement.
I loved theLord of the Rings.
All these chances to visit magical worlds, which is of course just another way of talking about reading.
Except the people in these magical worlds often were not like me.
For one, they were ATHLETES.
Shedloads of proficiency with swords.
Harry Potter is a total jock.
Trying to talk to mermaids and not drown.
SARAH:Speaking OF the books we love, you wroteTruly Deviousbecause of your deep love of mysteries.
I have never met anyone who has watched as many obscure British crime shows as you.
We have shouted a great deal about Agatha Christie together.
How was it to construct your very own intricate mystery?
MAUREEN:Do you like screaming at whiteboards?
If so, I have some good news!
No one could stop me.
I was reading textbooks on forensics.
I was living my best life.
I will solve a murder someday, Sarah, I will.
SARAH:I know you will.
I will impede the solving of that murder by committing many incidental crimes.
Your dedication to working out mysteries is part of what makes you a truly formidable critique partner.
But what is going on, Sarah?
Who can know such things?
MAUREEN:Ive never murdered anyone.
MAUREEN, INNOCENTLY:Never never.
SARAH:I think I may have incidentally solved a murder?
TOO SARAH, TOO FURIOUS:I have faith that together we can solve anything.
Which I think is beautiful.
NOTE BY SRB:We are now hissing THANKSSSS at each other over a friend of ours.
He is looking puzzled and concerned.
NOTE BY MJ:Were being quiet.
Should we go, Sarah?
