The Meta World of Writing Partners

Last week in Penna's post on metafiction, she described how we've used Arkham Files to write stories where the characters are aware they're in a work of fiction. Reading her thoughts on the subject caused me to reflect on the similarities between Arkham Files and the meta lives we're leading as writers.

The origin of Arkham Files is in The Dreamer. Diana and Jones were investigating the cybercriminal Azathoth's fascination for Lovecraft by researching Lovecraft fan groups. Jones started a Lovecraft blog to develop contacts, and I decided to have Diana offer to write fanfiction. At first, I didn't plan to actually write the stories, but as Diana discussed her ideas with team members, I realized I wouldn't be able to leave them unwritten. She, like I, wound up being sucked down the writing rabbit hole.

Without Penna's help, I would have been sunk, and I wanted Diana to have support as well. That was the driving concept behind the Arkham Round Table. The Round Table consists of Diana, June, Tricia, Mozzie, Elizabeth, and now Jones. Diana is the beneficiary not only of their ideas but the suggestions of other team members. That's analogous to the creative brainstorming Penna and I've been doing for the past three years, aided by the comments sent in by readers.

Penna expanded on the meta concept when she wrote A Caffrey Christmas Carol. In that story, the characters of the two worlds can interact with each other. The various alternative realities are the literary equivalent of the cosmological parallel universes studied by Dante "Mozzie" Atwood, the Arkham Files astrophysicist. Similarly, both of us routinely conduct conversations with our characters, preferably when colleagues and family members aren't around to call for the padded wagon.

Working as co-writers for a series has taken us onto paths that I never would have otherwise attempted. We manage a joint Pinterest website for the stories and are co-writing a blog. We've invented the game of bunnyball where we bounce plot bunnies off each other. With each toss of the ball, the bunny becomes more irresistible. Our favorite example is when I invented the Reverse Goldilocks con for The Woman in Blue. In that story Neal, Peter, and El trick Joe and Noelle into believing a bear had invaded the Burke family cabin. Neal's growls as he imitated a bear led Penna to develop the Baby Bear backstory, where Baby Bear was the nickname his grandmother Irene gave him. I took her Baby Bear idea and shot it off to space with Peter teasing Neal about the Ursa Minor, or Baby Bear, constellation.

In a couple of weeks, we'll embark on a new adventure—a writers' retreat. That idea was also kick-started by bunnyball. When I wrote about Diana's writing experiences in The Dreamer, she was undercover, posing as a writer on a retreat at a ski resort. That scene led us to exchange emails where we daydreamed about retreat locations. This past year we've used FaceTime to create virtual retreats. Now we're about to go on a real one. Woo-hoo!

Thank you, Penna, for an extraordinary three years! I can't wait for the next chapter to unfold.