Mr. and Mrs. Author

Today's drawing is for Echoes of Titanic, which I co-wrote with my husband, John. Thought y'all might enjoy some photos of the whole process...

John has always been a huge help with my books, but this was his first time as a full-fledged co-author. A lifelong Titanic buff, he was the perfect partner for this project.

We started with research, which really helps to garner story ideas.

John studies an actual deck chair from Titanic

Here he is with our daughter Emily in New York City, at the entrance to the commuter footbridge
our heroine used each day when walking to her Wall Street office.

The Molly Brown House in Denver, CO

A Titanic restaurant on board the Celebrity Millennium

We started brainstorming in earnest on a cross-country train trip from Oregon to Pennsylvania.

Once home, we plotted out the whole story.  After that, the actual writing began...

...with more than a little help from the dog.

 We worked around the clock, even when a big snowstorm blew in.

Though later, when the sun came out, we did take a break to play.

Then it was back to work, until the manuscript was finished.

 Months later, the book arrived!

 We had a wonderful book release party.

  Did signings...

and interviews... 

 ...and even ended up on the bestseller list.

The whole process was thrilling, exhausting, hilarious, exasperating, enlightening, enriching, and so much more. Bottom line: It was tremendous fun, and we can't wait to collaborate on another one!

To learn more, read the article I wrote about our experience, "Collaborating While Cohabitating: A Survivor's Guide".