Posted on December 26, 2014 at 12:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

For authors who are married, creating the ideal environment to be productive and creative can be a challenge. Writing for a lot of people is not as simple as turning on the tap and letting the words pour out. There are peak moments of productivity and then there are times when it may seem impossible to write anything remotely intelligent or clever.

So imagine a household where BOTH spouses are authors. How do they make it work? I asked that question of Katherine and Christopher Greyson. He primarily writes thrillers while she writes romantic mysteries. Oh, and they have two children, too.

JEFFREY: Finding time to write is often a challenge, even with one writer in the house. How do you make it work with two? Did you set some ground rules so you always have the time to work on your novels?
 
CHRISTOPHER: We don’t sleep — ever. I’m a morning person so I’m up at 4:30 with headphones on, rocking out. Kathy usually takes the evening shift. We’ve always been a close team. It’s a dance but since we both love to write, it’s a dance we love to do together. Of course, we sometimes step on each other’s toes. I’ll be in the middle of a crazy scene and someone needs something, but Kathy’s smack-dab in the middle of writing too so we both resort to a quick beg-yell-plead situation and whoever is more convincing keeps going. That was my long way of saying that I stop. 
 
KATHERINE: Christopher is an excellent dancer. I write in the bedroom. He has an office in the living room. He’s a morning writer, so I give him as much space as possible before 10 am and I never go near him before he’s had his cup of coffee.
 
JEFFREY: I noticed that Katherine edits Christopher's novels. So to Katherine: How does Chris react to your suggestions? And to Chris: How tough is Katherine on your writing? And do you edit her novels?
 
CHRISTOPHER: How tough is Kathy? What would you get if you mixed a drill instructor with an English professor? Just kidding. Seriously, she’s tough. I need that though. I want to put my best work out there and not only do you need to sift your work, but you need to put it through the fire. She doesn’t break out a little red pen; it’s a chainsaw. We’re also constantly creating. I’m no shrinking violet so things can get pretty loud in the discussion room but between us I think were closing in to the double digits of books we’ve worked on together so we must be doing something right!
 
I love Kathy’s writing style and when I edit her work, it is more trying to keep her voice and nudge here and there. It’s a little tough to explain but I guess I’m more of the one who tries to focus on the emotions in the story. It’s like listening to the rhythm of a song and keeping that flowing clearly.  I get the best end of that deal. I write fast and hard like Mario Andretti. The result is, I clip the wall a lot and my pit crew has to clean up the mess! Kathy is so meticulous with her writing all I have to do is smooth out a couple of bumps.
 
KATHERINE: When we first started, we had no clue what we were doing. (i.e. he didn’t react too well to my suggestions, and of course, I didn’t back down.) Now, it’s wonderful. We’ve worked out an ideal system; he helps me with the action scenes and I help him with the romance. Put another way, he’s James Bond and I’m Jane Austen. It’s the perfect mix. Christopher’s gift for storytelling has grown so much as he hones his craft. He loves writing! I love seeing him happy. He’s so encouraged every time someone emails and lets him know how much his books have touched them. We are so thankful for our fans out there. They are the best! 


You can read more about Katherine and Christopher at his and her websites.

Categories: Author Interview

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