đ¤ Adventures in co-writing
I chat with Percival Constantine about creating the Chaos Caretakers!
In this newsletterâŚ
đď¸ A conversation with a co-author!
⥠Another long-time collaborator has a new novel!
đŚ A wild variety of free books!
Yâall, I love collaborating.
Itâs my lifeblood. Itâs where my greatest triumphs come from. Solo works can be satisfying, but the new life that a co-created work takes on⌠itâs irreplaceable.
Thatâs why I prioritized collaboration in 2024.
I had the unbelievable privilege to join forces with several authors last year to create shared worlds. The first of these collaborations was with Paige Andrews and Percival Constantine, starting back in February 2024 (!!!). Together, we crafted an urban fantasy universe we call Mythborn Legacy, a version of our modern world where mythborn (a catch-all term for all creatures of legend) are slowly integrating into societyâand all of the ways humans would manage to screw that up.
Our first series set in this universe is called Chaos Caretakers, and itâs a trilogy following a little found family over the course of a decade, from a conspiracy-laden road trip to saving the world (all of the worlds, really). As Percival wryly quipped in our Slack chat, âThatâs basically every JRPG ever đâŚâ
If youâre an urban fantasy fan who enjoys found family, rising stakes, and grand plots told through the eyes of humble individuals, then Chaos Caretakers is going to be right up your dark, dangerous alley.
Book one of Chaos Caretakers, MONSTER SITTER, introduces Reece OâDell, a woman with a hard past and an even harder outlook on life. Youâll also meet Devon Duluth, her partner at Hunters, Inc. (a private mythborn management firm), and Maelie Wallace, a precocious seven-year-old with shocking powers. Together, theyâll drive all over the northeast of the U.S., chasing and chased by mysterious government agents, deadly mythborn, andâworst of allâthe truth about who Maelie is and where she came from.
Percival and I got together recently to chat about developing the Mythborn Legacy universe, the cast of MONSTER SITTER, and what our first collaboration was like. Here are a few highlights from the conversation!
AUGUST: First off, Iâm just curiousâhow did you like starting with Paigeâs idea, with someone elseâs idea? What were the pros and cons of kind of having to start with what someone else had come up with?
PERCIVAL: So, we had a bunch of different ideas that our publisher gave us and that Paige had done, and we could⌠see which one kind of spoke to us. None of them really hit exactly with me, which was kind of fun too. When we got to Monster Sitter, which is what the first book is called, it seemed a little bit more like something that would fit in my wheelhouse and also would challenge me in ways that I hadnât expected.
AUGUST: I was in the same boat. Iâve read urban fantasy along the road, but itâs not one of my genres I spend a lot of time in, so I didnât feel like I had a lot of experience with the things that people pitch as the basics of the genre. [Authorâs note: I read Moon Called among others while I was in research mode, so I did educate myself!] So it was like⌠well, okay, thisâll be a challenge!
It definitely combined some elements of sci-fi that Iâve always gravitated towardsâactions scenes, definitely a big thing, and the utilization of the environment to achieve whatever the goals are for the action scenes⌠thatâs a big deal in urban fantasy and for sure in science fiction.
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AUGUST: As far as the collaboration goes, was it motivating or intimidating to have someone reading along as youâve been writing? We decided to go that way when we started.
PERCIVAL: I thought it would be more intimidating than it was. Working with you and Paige has been great because you both come in with really great ideas. One of my weaknesses as a writer is sitting down and plotting stuff out in advance; Iâm very much a type B, âletâs just see what happensâ type of personânot only in my writing, but my lifestyle in general. Iâm the kind of guy who goes on a trip and Iâm like, âokay, so, weâre gonna come in on this day, weâre leaving on this day⌠what happens between then, weâll see how things go.â
Iâm not big on planning, so much, and thatâs been a weakness in my own work thatâs stalled me up sometimes. So having an outline there for me has been great, because I can just follow along. Every now and then thereâs been a day where Iâve been like, âI donât want to write this partâŚâ but that does still push me to think about how I can reinterpret it or take a different tack, which gets the creative juices flowing a bit more.
AUGUST: Itâs been a really interesting exercise to operate at a different altitude, almost. Iâm flying really high at that outline level, in terms of the grand mechanics, in terms of where we need to hit [the different acts], thatâs been very different than operating right at the ground level, thinking, âwhat is happening in this moment that will move the story from this point to this other point?â
Sometimes it just doesnât move the way you thought it would when you were at that high altitude, so itâs been cool to see you be only operating at that ground level, me only operating at that outline level, having that ability to move between the two address that together⌠thatâs been a cool collaboration.
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AUGUST: When I got the original pitch from Paige, it was like, I really like everything in here, and⌠it has a lot of potential to become this action-but-with-feelings sort of thing. But then when I got into it, it was clear that the heart of it was definitely the relationships. So that was clear from writing Sitter and then getting into Trainer and Mentor, the only thing that continues to be consistent is the relationships between them. The world and the problems just get bigger as they go; we didnât really stick with the same scale as we did with Monster Sitter.
PERCIVAL: That was one of those examples of a change we had. The ending in the outline of the first book [in the original pitch] was supposed to be a little different from what we went with. When we got to that point in the outline, I was like, âThis just feels too big for this book. We need something smaller.â We cut off the climax from the outline and made it much more personal, and I thought that worked really well.
AUGUST: Me too, and I like how the scale of each book gets progressively, exponentially bigger. I was reading the last batch of chapters you sent me for the third book, and it was so interesting to see that these are the exact same characters we followed on a road trip not ten years ago! The scope and the scale of it got really interesting, and I think we played with that in a really interesting way. Iâm curious how readers will react, of course.
As a reader of a book that I outlined for the first timeâwhat a wild thing that is, by the wayâthat was pretty cool and felt like it followed the way the characters were growing in an authentic way. At first they were selfish and small and self-contained, and then as they are expanding their ability to care about others, their ability to be leaders and to take that role, the way we opened up the plot feels authentic to that.
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AUGUST: What kinds of books, movies, games, shows⌠what would be a similar profile of those kinds of things for someone who would like Chaos Caretakers?
PERCIVAL: I think Buffy is definitely a guiding star for thatâa bit more grown-up version of Buffy. Supernatural, as wellâin fact, there are references to that in the first book. If you like urban fantasy where characters are kicking ass but they also have these moments of vulnerability (not so much romance, we have a bit of stuff hinting at that, but itâs not overdone)âitâs action first, character first, romance⌠not even secondary.
AUGUST: Tertiary.
PERCIVAL: There you go.
So⌠there you go! A taste of (part of) the collaboration that spawned the Chaos Caretakers. Watch this space for a cover reveal in the coming weeks⌠because MONSTER SITTER is almost here! đââŹđşđŞ
Are you excited for the Chaos Caretakers series? Hit reply and let me know, and Iâll make sure you get early access!
Letâs keep things on the urban fantasy theme, shall we? Because my long-time collaborator Jill Corddry is about to release Book 3 of her fantasy series Almost Like Magic, Wild Spirit. Itâs available for preorder now, and launches June 17 of this year!
Jump back into the world of Eight-Fold Acres and Dr. Stella Pike, a perfect fit for fans of Supernatural, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, and smart, stabby heroinesâŚ
The dust has barely settled around Sage Creek after the attempted Wild Hunt at Yule, and the locals have once again brushed it off as nothing more than a âwinter storm for the books.â
I know better, though. And I know how much those events changed me.
When an unexpected tracker shows up at Eight-Fold Acresâsomeone I didnât expect to see againâhe unlocks a spectral mystery unlike anything our community has seen for decades, unearthing secrets the Pikes will do anything to keep buried.
My friends are ready to help at any cost, and look to me for leadership. My own family has warned me to leave it be, and the consequences of disobeying could revoke my status as guardian of my beloved home.
Cole always teases that Iâm not a tracker⌠Not a witch⌠But as I fight to save my home, Iâm not so sure any of thatâs true anymore.
But wait! If you havenât yet joined this rich, creature-filled world, you can embark on the road trip from hell with Book 1, Bad Company. Or pick up where that one left off with Book 2, Against the Wind, where wild magic bites back!
The Free-zer
Itâs another installment of THE FREE-ZERâthe section where youâll find something that will cost you zero monies. (Thatâs no dollars, cents, pounds, pesos, Republic credits, Monopoly money, latinum, or dubloons.)
đ Ghost whisperer Alix prefers to study history by day and hang out with dead revolutionaries by night⌠but when she finds herself in the Parsian tombs, surrounded by danger and intrigue, sheâll have to use her wits to survive. Get your free copy of Parisian Ghosts by Janna Ruth todayâitâs urban fantasy with a French twist!
đ Iâve added SPELLBREAKERS to the BOOKS SPRING ETERNAL bundle on Bookfunnel, and youâll find a little of everything in this bundle:
The Outrunners, a nostalgia-drenched trip to San Jose in the 80s⌠đšď¸đ
Moncton, where the crew of a supply run ship encounters a technologically-advanced alien race⌠đ˝đ¸
Dutyâs Edge, which follows grieving Captain Sarah Miller down a new path⌠đđ
Until next time,
August
Itâs been so cool to see whatâs come of your collaboration forward 2024! More to come? đđ
I cannot wait to read Chaos Caretakers!!! It is 100% my kinda jam!!
And thank you so much for the shout out!!!