Why I Collaborate

I'm an independent person. I need to spend time alone every day. I like to do things my own way, and when it comes to my writing, my first drafts are stories I tell for me. Writing is an incredibly personal thing.

And yet, my favorite writing project to date, is this one of which I'm collaborating.

It's a hard project sometimes, especially when we're stressed, or when we're passionate about an idea that doesn't work for the other two, or when I'm passionate about an idea that doesn't work and then get frustrated because it doesn't work. Darn ideas. Or worse, when I change my mind about something that has major ripples across the course of several books, and Melanie and Sabrina had to adjust their plans, and then I switch my opinion again. It's the kind of thing in my own writing would be just a regular Thursday, but when you collaborate, it's a major catastrophe. I can't even imagine how difficult it must be for Melanie and Sabrina to work with me. 

I'm so grateful that they do though. I've learned so much from the way they work, and from having an audience as I do something as private as writing. And above the work, they have both been amazing friends to me. They've been there when my life went crazy. They've been there to talk with on days I can't get out of bed. They've been there to cheer with me on days I have something to celebrate. And together, we've created something that makes me want to yell from rooftops.

I guess the easiest way to explain why I collaborate is, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." It's not a fast way to write, and it's not a slim book producing way to write. But I hope when you read it, (and I hope you do read it) that you see the love and the growth that we've had while working on these books. I hope the story breaks your heart, as it has broken mine. I hope that it makes you smile and laugh, and then close the book while wondering what happens next. That these characters of ours will keep living on in your imagination. I hope it haunts you, the way it has haunted us.

I do have more books on their way that I've written on my own. And I'm really thrilled to work on them again, to create worlds and stories completely of my own making, and share them with you.

But until then, I'm just grateful for the kismet that happened when we started this project. I'm grateful for my friend's patience and brilliance. I'm grateful for the nos. 

I hope it makes you fist bump the stars and say, "Yes!"

~Sheena

Tagged: My Writing Process (aka Writing A Collaborative Novel Part 3)

Author Kristen Smith tagged me in a blog tour.  I'm to share my method for generating ideas, mapping out those ideas and eventually writing those ideas down. Today, I mostly focus on the "writing those ideas down" piece.

Kristen writes contemporary romance. We "met" during the A-Z Challenge, and hit it off immediately. I'm waiting impatiently for the publication of her first book,Letting Go, which is the story of a young mother struggling to raise her four small children after the death of her husband. You can find out more about Kristen and follow the blog tour here.

My Writing Process:

What am I working on now?

As most of you know, Sheena Boekweg, Sabrina West, and I started a crazy collaborative project that has grown completely out of control. I created a nice, normal character named Ana, Sheena created a lady's man named Sam and Sabrina created grumpy Juliette. Then we set them loose at a school for students who have been infected with a magical virus. The first book, Alchemy, was released in October of 2013, and we've been working nonstop on the sequel,Pyromancy. It is SO MUCH FUN. I can't even tell you. We're at the not fun major editing phase right now, and even that is SO MUCH FUN.

By the way, Alchemy has been nominated for a spot on the list of 50 Self-Published Novels Worth Reading and  you can vote right here!   (pretty please?)

How does my book differ from others within its genre?

First of all, there aren't many books written by three authors, where each author is completely in control of the actions of one character. We got the idea from Sorcery and Cecilia by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, so it has been done before, though they only had two authors, not three. Many reviewers said that they thought they would hate skipping from character to character and were shocked because that turned out to be their favorite part of the book.

Second, the idea that magic is a deadly virus is pretty unique. If you survive the infection and recover from the resultant insanity, magic can be pretty fun, but magic is dangerous enough that mages are quarantined and shunned by society. The conversations we've had to create this amazing world have been priceless. I don't know how I'll ever go back to world building all by myself.

Oh, and third...I might be a little biased, but I think we just wrote the most believable romance in the history of the world. Believable yet steamy. Steamy yet clean. I hope the world loves it as much as I do.


Why do I write what I do?

Because I love romance and kissing and all of that fun stuff. If it wasn't for my incredible co-writers, I would forget all about the plot and the magic. It's just filler to get to the kissing. Oh, gosh, Sheena and Sabrina are going to die when they read that. Sorry my friends!

How does my writing process work?

I have two different writing processes now. One with collaborators and one by myself. The one where I write by myself is pretty rusty, so here's how I write with collaborators. 

You can read about the process of collaboration in Alchemy here and here.

The writing process has changed quite a bit in Pyromancy, so I have new things to say. In Alchemy, I was terrified to write scenes with Juliette or Sam in them, because those characters belonged to Sabrina and Sheena. I still did it, but it was awkward. 

In Pyromancy however, Ana, Sam and Juliette are best friends, and there is no avoiding scenes with all of them in it. It's scary stuff, writing fiction with characters that don't belong to you. But we're all getting pretty good at it. This is what happens.

I want to write a scene. I might send my idea via facebook to Sabrina or Sheena to make sure they are on board. But sometimes I'm really brave, and I just write it. When it's done, I'll send it to Sheena to "Samify" or to Sabrina to "Juliette-ify" it. They'll tell me what Sam and Juliette would actually do, fix up their reactions and their dialogue. If I'm way off, then we'll talk, and if it's a tricky scene we might even get on google docs and write it together. We're doing so much more writing together now, but we're super careful of each other's voice.

Here is one example out of many:

Weeks ago, Sabrina wrote a scene with all three of our characters (plus Zach and Seb) in it. When I read it, I immediately said, "Stop! Ana wouldn't do that. She absolutely wouldn't do that." Over the months we've become comfortable saying things like that to each other, because we know that it is quite possibly the most important thing we can do to make the book good. 

The trouble was, having Ana act that way imparted a lot of important information seamlessly, and both Sabrina and Sheena liked it. It was such a small scene, you might have thought I would let it go, but that's not the way any of us work. Neither of them would want me to betray Ana like that.

So I wracked my brain for a way to create a situation where Ana might act that way, but it just didn't exist. Instead I wrote an alternative scene, several pages earlier (still in Juliette's POV. I am so gutsy!!!)  that I thought might take its place. Eventually, my alternative was accepted. But if it hadn't worked for Sabrina, then we would have kept hammering it out. We're getting pretty good at writing each other's characters, but even better at changing things. I love it though, because the finished product is so darn lovable.

I hope when I eventually go back to writing on my own that I can incorporate this into my process. It will be time consuming to get into every character's head in every scene, and it may eventually drive me insane. But boy, it really makes the characters shine. 

What's your writing process like?


Continue following the Process of Writing Tour and see how others hammer out their stories.


NEXT UP ON TOUR:

Connie Keller, Bryce Moore, and Sheena Boekweg

Sequel update!

You know how, when you're so involved in a particular writing project, it takes over your mind to such an extent that you can't think of anything else? Yeah, that's me and the sequel to Alchemy right now. On the way to work today, I kept trying to think of a blog post idea, but my mind kept drifting back to the next chapter I was supposed to be writing. So I talked to Sheena and Melanie, and they graciously said I could talk about what's happening with Pyromancy in my blog, as long as I didn't give away any spoilers.*

So! The sequel. In a way, it's been easier to write, because we all know our characters so well by now. But it's also harder, because there are so many opportunities and storylines to explore, and so many possible character interactions. We won't talk about how many words we're at right now, when we're - hopefully - at the halfway point of the novel. And none of us have been committed to an insane asylum yet, so that's a plus.

The really strange thing has been to have the book set in Carlsbad, California. The selection of the location was actually a random pick by Melanie, and so I got to say, "You know I work in Carlsbad, right?" I suppose that in my head, I consider fantasy books to be set in magic, romantic places.... not the annoying suburb-choked city that I associate with too-early mornings and endless fog. But hey, sometimes fantasy is about finding magic in the most ordinary of things.

Here are some exciting things that the sequel currently contains:

-magic, army style

-surfing

-fabulous hairstyles

-an international criminal consortium

-sledding

-spies

-awesome jazz

-pelicans

-eggs

-more angst than you can shake a stick at

-exploding jello

And, of course, some of this:

Photo courtesy of wikimedia commons. Taken by John McColgan, employed as a fire behavior analyst at the Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

We can't wait to share it with you. 

*Soylent green is PEOPLE!!!!

Yet more evidence that collaborations are amazing

By now, you've probably heard that Sheena, Melanie, and I have a book coming out. You're probably tired of hearing us talk about it at this point. Oh, what's that? You're probably just saying that to be nice, but I'm going to take advantage of your niceness. Look at our cover again!

Fun game for new authors: walk down a busy street and "accidentally" drop your book*. When some kind stranger picks it up and tries to give it back to you, you can be all, "Why thank you, kind sir/ma'am! This is a very important book - look there, that's my name on the cover! It's a very excellent book available at all major retailers!"

My personal issues aside, the other thing you might be tired of hearing us talk about is collaboration. We've blogged about it once or twice. But now, only three weeks away from the publication of Alchemy, I couldn't help but share this post about a wonderfully inventive and imaginative collaboration (h/t to The Bloggess for the link):.

Collaborating with a four-year-old

Now,  if you do nothing else today, at least go read that link. Seriously, if you're low on time, ignore the rest of my post and at least go look at the pictures that the mom and her four-year-old created. They're beyond amazing and wonderful, and I sincerely hope the mom does go forward with her plan to create a story with all those creatures.

I think their end product, and the post the mother wrote illustrate some of the most important tips for creating a successful collaborative project.

1. The more different the collaborators, the more amazing the finished product can be.

2. Don't let preconceived expectations of where you think the project should go stifle creativity. Be flexible and open to new ideas.

3. Every once and a while, say yes to an unusual idea. It's very hard to give up full creative control, but it can be worth it.**


What are your favorite unusual or unexpected collaborations?








*Not recommended with e-readers.
**I'm still working on this. It really is hard!

Some Grumbling About Chaos Theory And More Advice About How To Get It All Done

First things first: P.S. I just started a facebook page for this new book. There isn't much on it yet, but if you want to watch it grow from the ground up, this is your chance!

For some reason, I had it in my head that Sheena, Sabrina and I were supposed to be finished with editing by this Wednesday, though it turns out our actual deadline isn't until Sunday. In one way, that has turned out marvelously. I got my edits done by Wednesday. But Sheena and Sabrina are still going strong, which means I didn't really finish editing on Wednesday.

Having three people edit a novel simultaneously from three different spots across the country (literally) is no easy task. We are each editing our own sections, but each section is tied to all the others, so sometimes it feels like our characters can't even take an extra breath without causing a tidal wave throughout the rest of the story. We have to check endlessly that what we are writing isn't going to affect anybody else. It usually does. (We are an experiment in Chaos Theory.)

I'm soooooooooo ready to be done with it. My children have unlocked levels of Mario Super Brothers that they never dreamed they'd see, and you don't even want to know how dirty my kitchen floor was before I finally cleaned it on Wednesday. Editing is beginning to feel like the movie Groundhog Day. I think I'm done, but the next day it starts over. Grumble, grumble, grumble.

On the other hand, I feel honored to be writing with these amazing women. This is the hard part, where we could be seeing each other at our worst, but it isn't like that at all. We're still managing to joke and to find nice things to say to each other. Plus they are insanely talented. I am very blessed.

My point, if I have one, is that I could have used Susan's Pomodoro post a few weeks ago. I'd never heard of that method, and simple as it is, I can't wait to try it, and to teach it to my children, who really need to learn not to stop doing homework every time a text or instant message comes through.

This post about Joss Whedon and his advice on how to be prolific has come in handy for me the past few days. Joss Whedon seems able to think outside the box in a way that few successful people in the entertainment industry are able to do.  As a bonus you can watch the trailer for Much Ado About Nothing, which is in select theaters, none of which are in Maine.

Here's another timely article from the same site: How To Be Successful At Everything

Which led me to this one about note taking and success. I'm usually a failure at taking notes, but Sheena, Sabrina and I have had to take meticulous notes about what we are doing, or it would have ended badly. Crossing my fingers that this particular habit will last past Sunday.

How To Co-Author A Novel--the Less Glamorous Version

It's not every day that I wake up to find myself a topic for discussion on the internet, so it was really cool to open Sheena's blog and find a post in which I was featured rather prominently. 

Incredibly, Sheena Sabrina and I have been creating our "letter games" story for over a year now. It was in March of 2012 that Sabrina wrote the post thatstarted it all , and by August of 2012 I felt I knew enough to write a post about how to begin a successful writing collaboration.  I still think it is solid advice, but so far removed from where we are now that I'm glad I wrote it when I had the chance.

We're nearing the finish line--almost ready to send the completed work out to the beta readers. We finally came up with a title we all like and are chomping at the bit to begin working on the sequel.

It has not all been a bed of roses. But mostly, I find myself looking around at the beautiful thing we've created and thinking to myself, "Wow. That was a lot easier than it could have been." In spite of the naïve and haphazard way we all stumbled into this project, everyone has been professional and hardworking, our vision has remained unified, no one has morphed into a prima donna, and we've all managed to stay enthusiastic. The fabulousness of what we've done blows me away.

That said, here are 

5 things I've learned since the last time 

I wrote about collaborating:

1. Bureaucracies move more slowly than dictatorships.

This wasn't immediately apparent. Of course, there were the inevitable times when someone was too busy to write or got writer's block, but still, the course of writing that first draft ran pretty smoothly. Editing is a different beast altogether. Major edits often require major discussion. I'm a digging-my-heels-in-the-sand kind of person. Especially here in the last third of the book, I don't want to change things that are going to cause ripples through the whole story. Sheena is a transformative kind of person. She's not afraid of experimenting with changes that might force us to start over. She wants this book to be the best it can be. Often, after causing my heart rate to skyrocket, she decides that our original idea was the best anyway, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Or we all realize the idea is amazing, and then the work to add it in doesn't seem quite so tedious. Writing with Sheena has taught me that turning everything on its ear can be awesome.

2. How to use each other's characters.

In our first draft, we really didn't use each other's characters. It ended up being an exaggerated form of "telling, not showing". It is pretty natural to shy away from using a character we didn't own and that we didn't know extremely well yet. We've completely fixed that in this second version, and the results are breath-taking. I think it is pretty rare to find three such distinct voices in one book. But we've had to learn to accept ownership of the character we've created, and to not be afraid to ask each other to change something that doesn't fit. Sabrina is fearless about this, and I mean that as a total compliment. She knows Juliette, inside and out, and whenever Sheena or I use Juliette in a scene, she tells us how Juliette would actually have reacted, and we fix it. I'm thinking of one scene in particular where someone wants to wipe Juliette's face tenderly. But Juliette wouldn't cry. She wouldn't fall into the fountain. If she had blood dripping down her face, she wouldn't sit at the fountain, she'd go get medical services, it hasn't been suggested, but I doubt she forgot to wipe her milk mustache...We'll find a reason to get that face wiped eventually, but it takes time. When Sabrina writes one of our characters into a scene, she asks us in advance how they would react. In the beginning, sometimes I didn't know. But I know Ana now, and I'm getting nearly as careful about it as Sabrina is.

It's pretty cool. I think when I write a new novel, that kind of back and forth scene creation is going to help me so much. Remembering that every character is the star of their own story and looking at each scene with that perspective in mind is going to enrich my writing permanently.

3. Characters can be quirky.

In her blog post, Sheena calls Ana an "Every Girl" sort of character, and that struck me. That's the kind of character I enjoy writing. As far as I can remember, every main character I've ever created has fit that pattern. I probably won't change. It's who I am, and there is nothing wrong with it. But I have been amazed at how much I've come to love Sam and Juliette. When I first read their character sketches, I remember being worried about it. Juliette, for example, is grumpy, and I was afraid that might make her unlikeable. Not at all! Her glow shines forth all that much more brightly against the backdrop of that character flaw. And Sam...well, Sam has a way with the ladies that I thought might make it hard to respect him. Again, I was so wrong. He's super-duper respect worthy. In the future I hope I am less afraid to let my characters be flawed.

4. Writing in a group is hard.

When writing multiple characters, timelines can be as complicated as advanced calculus.

For example, in our first draft, sometimes I would write to a spot well beyond where Sabrina (who wrote after me) needed to be, and so she would have to backtrack to tell her story. And in the beginning, Ana went first. But in the second draft, Sam goes first. As we work to clean up these timeline glitches, and as we add other subplots (that inevitably mix events up), scenes we really like don't match up any more, and it causes me untold stress. Sabrina and Sheena are calmer about it, promise me that it will all match up before we send it out, and I believe them, but it is hard to let it go.

5. Writing in a group is awesome.

For me, the best part has been always having two other people to chat with about what I'm writing. Writing is usually a lonely endeavor, and writers have to be careful about how much they talk to other people about it, even when those other people are interested. But Sheena and Sabrina are as heavily invested in this book as I am. I can pop them off an e-mail and get an incredibly knowledgeable, thoughtful and interested reply back. We can debate the finer points of how magic works, where it came from or what the cost is and they have different perspectives that broaden mine. I sometimes worry about having writing be a solitary journey again someday. But for now, I'm counting my blessings.

How To Begin A Successful Novel Collaboration

Months ago, Sabrina wrote a couple of fun posts about the art of collaboration. You can find them here and here. Those posts (especially the second one) sparked one of my favorite projects I've worked on this year. I can't tell you a whole lot about it yet, because it's a collaboration, which means that I'm not the only writer. But here are the bare bones:

After Sabrina's post, Sabrina, Sheena and I started brainstorming ideas for a novel. Here is a list of some of the things we decided on that has helped it to be successful so far, as well as some of the things I've learned.

The Top Ten Things We Decided Together

1. Who would be part of our collaborative effort?

How we decided: Sheena wrote a comment at the bottom of Sabrina's post asking if anyone wanted to play Letter Games with her (that's the type of collaboration Sabrina was describing). Sabrina and I both wanted to play, and no one else volunteered. We weren't certain we could come up with a method of letter writing that smoothly incorporated 3 people, but we were willing to try.

This has turned out well for us so far. We had already read and/or critiqued each other's work, so we basically knew what we were getting into. I recommend knowing each other's writing or doing some research before you commit to anything. Or not--it depends on your risk comfort level, I suppose. 

2. What would the genre be?

How we decided: Perhaps this should have come before we started suggesting story ideas, but as we brainstormed, it became obvious that most of our ideas were in the YA fantasy genre. Even though Sabrina didn't have much experience in this genre, she was happy to give it a try.

3. What would our setting be?

How we decided: This happened before we came up with a plot idea too. Sheena was brainstorming, and one of her ideas reminded me about the private school/treatment center my sister-in-law worked at. The first time I heard about it, I knew that portions of that school would end up in something I wrote. Sheena and Sabrina both agreed that it was a good setting.

4. What would the format of the story be?

How we decided: The plot still wasn't there, but things were coming together anyway. We realized that if we are all at the same school, we probably couldn't write each other letters in a way that felt natural. As we discussed plot, we came up with the idea that as part of the school/treatment experience, our characters would be forced to write in a journal that would be analyzed by a therapist. It also made sense that the book would follow the course of one year at the school.

5. What are the rules and history of magic?

How we decided: This was the most complicated part of our discussions. It was also a lot of fun. Someday, when our book is published, we'll have to include a transcript of our discussion. It's hilarious.

If you aren't doing fantasy or science fiction, you still need to discuss the rules of the culture you are writing in, as they will drastically shape what happens in the story you write.

6. Perhaps I should have mentioned this sooner: How we got together to make these decisions...

Sabrina, Sheena and I are scattered across the country, so having face-to-face chats was out of the question (although Sabrina and Sheena did end up meeting at one point. Yes, I'm a bit jealous. J) Instead, we discussed things on the private message part of facebook. A couple of times we set meeting times to discuss pre-writing issues there. It worked pretty well--it's basically instant messaging.

7. Who would the main characters be?

How we decided: We each created our own character. Sheena sent us a whole character analysis, which made me realize I'd better flesh my own character out more. This was the point when I started learning a lot from observing the thought processes of Sabrina and Sheena.

We decided that we could create minor characters on our own as needed. However, once they are out there, the characters are free game for everyone to develop and use. Obviously, we also need to write scenes that include the other main characters. We try to stay true to what we know about their personality and history, but if we transform them, they stay who they are.

8. What would the plot line be?

How we decided: Obviously, we discussed plot lines from the very beginning. By the time we knew about our characters, the rules of the world, and the setting, we had a sketchy idea about the plot line. We had a starting point, and an ending point. But we really didn't know what was going to happen in the middle. Whether this turns out to be a mistake or not remains to be seen. If you are interested in trying a collaboration, you'll need to decide how closely you want to adhere to an outline.

We decided our collaboration was going to be an exercise in flexibility. I know where I'm going with Anastasia (my character), and presumably Sheena and Sabrina know where they are going with their characters. All of our characters are main characters, and they are all going to stay that way. At some point, our plots are going to start knocking into each other. We've each finished three journal entries so far, (this is assuming that Sheena was up typing into the wee hours last night. ) and thus far it's been exhilarating. I've had to make a few minor course adjustments, but I think it's all been for the better. I fully expect to have my plot derailed at some point, but hopefully it will simply jump onto a better track.

This takes a certain amount of trust in your colleagues. When Edwin O'Connor and Edmund Wilson collaborated, Edmund wrote, "In writing alternate chapters with Ed, I very soon ran into difficulties. He would not always accept my cues of my methods, and I found my narrative blocked. I suspected that this was deliberate and that we were playing a game of chess, and this suspicion has been corroborated by Mrs. O'Connor's telling me that, in sending back Chapter 4, Ed had said to her with satisfaction, "Well, I guess I've got him now." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_fiction)

Only you know if this would be an enjoyable feeling to you. Personally, I don't think I'd like it.

9. How would we send things to each other?

It is crazy how hard the waiting is! It's a little like Christmas. We decided to send things via snail mail. I started first, and sent my chapter to Sabrina. Sabrina sent a copy of my chapter and her own chapter to Sheena, who sent Sabrina's chapter and her own back to me, and I started the round robin again. Thankfully, we still send a little note to each other on facebook when something has been sent out. To get the real experience, we probably should be left wondering when it would circle round again, but that would drive me batty.

10. Is there a deadline for each chapter?

Especially here in the summer, there hasn't been one. The letters tend to get stuck occasionally, but since it works out well for me to have a couple of weeks off in between chapters, I haven't minded. I ponder where I'm going, and I get my to-do list in my real life checked off so that when it's my turn, I'll have time to write. So far, our rhythm works out well for me, even though we never discussed it. If I ever do something like this again (and I'd really like to!) this is probably something we should have discussed. The fact that it's worked out as well as it has is a happy coincidence.

Some other things we should have discussed before we started:

Moral boundaries: What if you are extremely pro-choice, and your writing partner writes something extremely pro-life? Or vice versa. Or perhaps you are very careful to keep the moral content of your books on the same level as Louisa May Alcott. What do you do when your partner writes a racy scene worthy of the 50 Shades of Grey? If something is going to be published with your name on it, you need to be certain you won't be ashamed of it. Before you start is a much better time to iron out these differences.

It is amazing how often I start researching a particular topic and find that Holly Lisle has written something insightful and profound about it. Collaboration is no exception. She has a very thoughtful list of things authors should discuss before they begin  collaborating. It's also a list of things I never would have thought of.

It includes topics like:

1. Determine who will own what. (i.e. the setting, the plot ideas, the characters, the story...)

So many things could go wrong here. For example, what if (thank heavens it is not so, but what if?) I LOVED my character, the setting and the world, but I hated what Sheena and Sabrina wrote? Or what if I loved it, and they didn't? What if I think we should publish it, but Sheena and Sabrina want to drop it? What if we publish it, and Sabrina decides she wants to write a sequel but she is tired of collaborating? What if half way through, Sheena decides to stop writing?

Or, as is the case with Holly Lisle, what if your collaboration includes other authors working on sequels, and the first author doesn't write to the predetermined ending? Do you lose a friend forever or do you anger all those other authors? These are just a few of the endless things that can go wrong if you don't decide the answers to these questions.

2. Who gets the final say in the edits?

3. Whose name will go first on the cover?

4. Who gets the final say on editing?

The list gets a lot more complicated if you have already been published and there are agents and publishers and previous contracts to worry about.

Do yourself a favor and read Holly's article before beginning a collaborative work. It probably seems unnecessary. You might think things like, "But my partner is my best friend!" or "But this is just for fun, and we'll probably never publish it."

But then you'll get to the place where I am--I'm realizing this collaboration we are working on could be darn good. When the first draft is done, it will probably be rambling and rough, but I hope we clean it up and publish it.

Sheena and Sabrina--maybe the time has come for another facebook chat. J

Everyone else: If you are interested in doing some variation of the Letter Game, leave a comment below! Maybe we can get another bestseller started.