Nous sommes heureuses d’accueillir Vi Keeland & Penolope Ward sur le blog aujourd’hui. Les deux auteures écrivent conjointement des livres et un de leurs romans Avec Toi, Malgré Moi ou encore Cocky Bastard sont sortis aux éditions Hugo Roman. Merci aux auteurs pour leurs réponses !
We are very happy to welcome Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward on the blog today. They co-write books together and some of their novels are out in France. Thanks to the authors for the answers!
Hello, can you present yourselves in a few words?
Vi: Mom, workaholic, wanderlust.
Penelope : Creative, Sensitive and Loving
How did you get the idea of writing a book with another author?
Vi : We met when we were part of the same box set promotion. The set had six authors, and we all became friends and started to chat together about the book world. Eventually, the two of us found we had similar taste and started to talk outside of the group and run things by each other—cover photos, blurbs, plots etc. One day, Penelope sent me a mock book cover with both our names on it—and we decided to give writing that book a shot. We’ve never looked back.
Penelope : Vi Keeland and I are good friends who spoke every day before we started writing together. We never originally planned to co-write. We started a conversation one day about a fake book cover I made and started talking about what the story might be about. That was how Cocky Bastard started.
What is your process? Is it difficult sometimes?
Vi : Not at all! We have a great time doing it and find it easier than writing most of our solo books. Our process if very unstructured, but works for us. We come up with a general plot and a feel for both characters, but we don’t have a formal outline or anything. We basically pass a word document back and forth every few days, and we both write both characters. Sometimes we write two chapters and pass it back at the start of a new chapter, and other times we will leave off in the middle of a chapter. It’s fun because we never know what direction the other is going to take the story in, and we look forward to reading what each other came up with!
Penelope : There can be days when you don’t have the ideas flowing, but overall I try to outline my story first. The same goes for my books that are cowritten. We try to plan the main parts of the story first so we have a map to use when writing.
Do you have the whole idea of the book at once or does the inspiration come as you’re writing it?
Vi :We talk about the general idea of the book—the characters, their issues and the twist. But the individual scenes are developed by each of us as we go. It’s what makes co-writing so much fun—we are part reader, being surprised when we received back a new scene, and part writer.
Penelope : It starts with an idea and the main plot points are determined ahead of time. But inspiration for specific dialog and circumstances and really the chemistry of the characters develops organically as you go along.
Does the inspiration for the characters come from people you know?
Vi :There are always elements of people from my real life in my characters, but none of them are specifically modeled on a particular person. Often it’s fears or silly habits that find their way into books, sometimes my own!
Penelope : Definitely not. My characters are all figments of my imagination that come from the there and develop there and stay there. 🙂
What kind of books do you read? Do you read other books when you are writing? Or not for fear of being influenced?
Vi : I primarily read romance and rarely read out of genre anymore. I definitely avoid reading other books while writing so that I don’t influence my characters from anywhere except my own mind.
Penelope : I actually don’t read while I am writing. I am usually writing two books at a time (I split up the week between my solo book and my co-written book), so to enter a third literary world as a reader becomes too confusing. It’s hard for my brain to relax and just enjoy the story. If I am on a short break from writing, I only read other contemporary romances and love to get lost in them.
Between all the books you wrote, who is your favorite character and why?
Vi : From my solo books—Drew and Emerie from Egomanic stole a piece of my heart. I miss them immensely. Out of our co-written books, Soraya from Stuck-Up Suit is my favorite heroine–I loved her sass. And probably Chance from Cocky Bastard is my favorite hero—although Carter from Playboy Pilot is really a close second.
Penelope : Damien from Neighbor Dearest (which is not published in France yet, but will be in the future) is my favorite male character because of his humor, creativity and protective nature. I also love love love Soraya from Avec Toi Malgre Moi (Stuck-Up Suit) as my favorite heroine because she is so funny and feisty.
Do you plan to try another genre?
Vi : I’ve thought about it! But anything that I do would need to be close to romance—perhaps women’s fiction, but never something such as science fiction for me!
Penelope : I think I will stick to Contemporary Romance. I love writing about love and anything else wouldn’t come with the same passion.
Have you ever been in France? Do you plan to?
Vi: Yes. I’ve been to Paris and absolutely loved it. I am planning on returning this year for the Romance Festival in the fall. And I can’t wait.
Penelope : I am deathly afraid of flying. It’s the only reason I have not visited your beautiful country thus far.
Are there any other projects you’re working on or thinking about starting in the near future?
Vi : I’ve already released two books this year in the U.S., but plan to release four—two solo books and two co-writes. We released our fourth co-written books two weeks ago– Mister Moneybags, and I released Egomaniac in January. I’m also currently working on a solo book to be released this summer in the U.S. and we are writing another co-written book as well.
Penelope : I am always writing as I am now a full-time author. My most recent release in the U.S. was Mack Daddy, about a single father who comes back for a second chance at love with his son’s teacher and also the co-written Mister Moneybags with Vi Keeland. I am writing a new standalone that will release in the U.S. in August that is currently untitled but that also has a second chance element. And there will also be more cowritten books with Vi Keeland in the future as well.
Bonjour, pouvez-vous vous présenter en quelques mots ?
Vi: Mère, acharnée de travail, qui a l’esprit d’aventure.
Penelope : Créative, sensible, aimante.
Comment vous est venue l’idée d’écrire un livre avec un autre auteur ?
Vi : Nous nous sommes rencontrées quand nous faisions partie de la même boite de promotion. La collection comptait 6 auteurs et nous sommes tous devenus amis et nous avons commencé à parler ensemble du monde du livre. Finalement, nous nous sommes rendues compte que nous avions toutes les deux des goûts similaires et nous avons commencé à parler à part du groupe et à gérer les photos de couvertures, résumés, intrigues etc… Un jour, Penelope m’a envoyé une maquette de couverture avec nos deux noms dessus et nous avons décidé d’écrire ce livre. Nous n’avons jamais regardé en arrière.
Penelope : Vi Keeland et moi étions de bonnes amies qui se parlaient tous les jours avant de commencer à écrire ensemble. Nous n’avions jamais pensé co-écrire. Nous avons commencé une conversation un jour au sujet d’une fausse couverture que j’avais faite et de ce que l’histoire pourrait être. C’est comme cela que Cocky Bastard a commencé.
Quel est votre procédé ? Est-ce difficile parfois ?
Vi : Pas du tout ! Nous passons toujours de très bons moments et je trouve que c