Writing by committee?

 I recently hosted the first annual meeting of the people who contribute to my books. One of the attendees coined the phrase, "Dean's Book Family."

For the most part, writing is a solitary pursuit. Like most authors, I spend hours on the computer with my fictional friends, creating what I hope are intriguing plots, with engaging characters, set in interesting places. In addition to the actual manuscript creation, there are hours of internet research involved in technical details. (Yes, I assume I'm on some FBI watch list because of the dark sites I've visited while researching the decomposition of bodies and the chemistry of duct tape.)

However, there is a human side to writing as well. I use an array of consultants, beta readers, muses, and proofreaders. Their input in things from police procedures and horse tack, to veterinary science (Is it possible to crossbreed a Basset hound with a St. Bernard?) is invaluable. With an email or text I get technical background that might take hours of internet searches, if it can be found at all, like the Basset/St. Bernard question. 

Okay, now that I've mentioned the Basset/St. Bernard question twice, I owe you an answer. According to Mike Westfall DVM, it is rare, but possible. 

With all but two of my experts in the same room, there was a buzz of conversation. Authors tend to be introverts. My consultants are mostly extroverts. There was a bit of kidding about what a scary place the inside of my head must be. I was skewered for not using as much information as was sometimes provided. Anne pointed out that her grandmother has not been told that she's one of the more colorful characters in my cozy series, although all of her children and grandchildren immediately recognized her despite her name being changed.

My sister-in-law, Natalie Lund, had only met the others peripherally and was delighted to put faces to the names in my acknowledgements. She also pointed out that she's used up most of the ink in the three red pens I sent last year. (Deep sigh).

Fran, my archaeology and Southwestern life consultant was delighted to meet my Two Harbors, tuba playing consultant who she thought was a fictional character in the cozy series. Brian is real, and he personally supplied most of the tuba jokes salted into the five (soon to be six) Two Harbors cozies.

Brian's wife, not a consultant but a reader, pointed out that she had been convinced I was using a ghost writer for the cozy series because it was so different from the darker Fletcher and Pine County series. Always helpful, Dr. Mike assured her I my mind was such a mess that I was able to slide back and forth between the fluffy cozies and grisly hard-boiled mysteries without problem.

Several attendees expressed disappointment that Deanna, my horse and cop consultant, and her daughter Kinsley, my teen jargon consultant, couldn't attend because of their recent Covid-19 exposure.

So, armed with an afternoon of playful kidding, I am inspired to plop into my chair and let the characters lead me off into another adventure. Dr. Mike asked for the date of the second annual Dean's Book Family reunion. 

Where to next? I told BWL publishing that there will be two Fletcher mysteries, a Two Harbors Cozy, and a Pine County mystery in both 2022 and 2023. There are titles, locations, and outlines for those eight books. Now all I have to do is write them! 

Thanks to the assistance of my book family, that won't be a problem.

Check out "Grave Survey", the first of the 2022 Fletcher books 

Hovey, Dean - Digital and Print EBooks (bookswelove.net) 

or Amazon.com : Dean L. Hovey