Team writing. In bars.
When I heard about these girlz, and their unique book and writing style, I had to invite them here. Have a seat and enjoy a virtual margarita while we visit with Joan Rylen.
Vivian Taylor's dreams drowned the night she found her husband, father
of their four young children, in the pool with another woman. Days from finalizing
divorce and in need of resuscitation, Vivian's three closest friends
whisk her off to exotic Playa del Carmen, Mexico, where she meets sexy
Canadian soap star, Jon Tournay. Their electrifying night on the dance
floor ignites into an inferno of passion during a moonlit stroll along
the beach. Hours later, the girls are awakened by the bang! bang! bang!
of policia at their door. Jon has been murdered, and the lead detective
targets his prime suspect: Vivian. Leery of local authorities, the
Getaway Girlz — vivacious Vivian, unwavering Wendy, impulsive Lucy and
brainiac Kate — embark on a journey of justice to prevent Vivian from
being a broad, locked up abroad.
Texas gals and lifelong friends, Johnell Kelley and Robbyn Hill, a.k.a.
Joan Rylen, can be found vacationing across the globe with their
favorite Getaway Girlz, then writing about it!
How long have you been
friends?
J: Thirty-three years, since kindergarten.
R: Yep, we were Teague Tigers.
J: We grew up five streets from each other in Pasadena,
Texas, and were in all the same stuff: Brownies, dance, band.
R: We even waited tables together our first year of college
and then stayed in touch after Johnell went to UT. She later landed in Fort
Worth and I moved up there for my husband’s job almost six years ago.
What made you start
writing?
J: Robbyn made me.
R: I had to! It was an epiphany! I couldn’t write the story
without her. The idea popped into my head and her voice was pertinent to the
story.
What was the
inspiration behind Getaway Girlz?
J: Our girls’ trips. My friends rescued me after a really
crappy, very unexpected divorce.
R: A big group of us whisked her off to San Antonio for a
birthday/divorce party. It was so much fun, we started taking annual trips
after that.
J: We’ve had as many as 11 girlz on the trips, but always
the ‘core four.’ Angie, Robbyn, Lea and myself. In fact, that’s how we came up
with our pen name, Joan Rylen. Two letters from each name.
 |
| Joan Rylen at Chuy's |
How do the two of you
write together?
J: In bars.
Seriously.
R: We’ll meet at one of our favorite restaurants or bars,
set up the laptop, connect the external keyboard and start at it. We’ll pass
the keyboard back and forth. One types while the other makes commentary. We
share a book brain.
J: I’ll admit, there’s usually a bucket of beer or
margaritas nearby. Sometimes, by the end of the night, our stories get a little
wacky. We have to re-read the next day.
R: “Where did that come from?” is a common occurrence after
a night like that. There’s laughing involved.
How long does it take
you to write a book?
R: It took us a year and a half to write the first one,
mostly because we had no outline. It was very much a “what would we do next if
we were on vacation and in this situation?” Halfway through, we stopped and
plotted out the rest of the story.
J: For book two and then going forward, we knew in order to
stay on deadline, we’d need a general outline. We usually write it right after
our trips. In fact, it’s become a custom to write on airplane barf bags.
R: Unused.
So you’ve launched the
first book. What’s next?
R: We’re halfway through with book two, Rocky Mountain Mayhem.
J: It’ll be released in December. Then we’ll release Big Easy X-capade in June 2013.
R: That’s a fun one! We’ll have a signing in New Orleans,
for sure!
J: Then we have Upstate
Uproar coming out in December 2013. Whew, I’m tired already.
What are the top three
lessons you’ve learned throughout your publishing journey?
R: First, trust your instinct. We knew we had a good thing,
but it felt damn good when three out of four editors with the Big Six requested
partials at a conference in New York.
J: There was some screaming in Central Park after that. We
scared some people from Oklahoma, but then after we told them why, they told us
to do it again.
R: We did. Even louder.
J: Second, I’d say we’ve learned to treat this as a
business. The creative part is fun, but the fact is that one day we’d both like
to quit our day jobs and do this full time.
R: We maintain a writing schedule with serious deadlines,
created a corporation, got a crash course in accounting (thanks Dad), pay sales
taxes quarterly and count inventory, all that fun stuff.
R: I guess the third thing we’ve learned is that we can’t do
it all on our own. We need beta readers because we don’t always catch the
little things.
J: Extra eyeballs are important, for instance, I just caught
one of Robbyn’s typos.
R: Yeah, yeah. We need helperz at bookstore signings to help
create buzz and wrangle the customers.
J: We always try to have a few friends stay during the
entire time to pass out cards, direct people to our table and show them the
book.
R: It has made all the difference.
J: We also need friends to help spread the word. Our friends
have been great about reposting our news on Facebook and telling everyone they
know. They rock.
 |
| Johnell Kelley & Robbyn Hill, writing as Joan Rydell |
Do you have a
destination for book five?
R: You know it! A dude ranch in Bandera, Texas.
J and R: Yeeeehawwww!
You can find Joan Rylen:
Thank you ladiez, er, girlz, for sharing your unique story about writing as a team and your vacation-fueled stories. *sips margarita* That was tasty.
Questions, comments?
Have you ever tried writing with a partner?
What made it work - or not work?
What made it work - or not work?
