Akamai Authors Collaborate

Last spring, Jennifer Conner had an idea for a series of stories based on four single characters in a small town.  She invited three of us to join her in writing the Pancake Club.  

Jennifer set up some questionaires for each of us to fill out and share with the group.  Since we each developed two main characters, we named who would be a part of the Pancake Club and who would be their love interest.  

Then Jennifer set up a pinterest page where we pinned a collection of images to help us "see" the town of Mercy Ridge and the our characters.

I asked everyone to share their thoughts about the collaboration process.

"We each sent information to the other authors about our characters in the beginning before we started writing--name, background, job--then as we wrote our separate stories, checked with each other again to see if what we'd written was something the other authors' characters would say or do."  Marilyn Conner Miles

"I love collaborating with others - it's like a giant puzzle without a box cover to go by. That's half the fun trying to get your characters to fit in with everyone else and to get interactions to seem natural even if you have to infer a personality from a rough manuscript. It's part maddening and part exhilaration."  J.W. Stacks

"This was my first experience in a collaborative writing project.  I loved the communication that was necessary with our shared settings and characters.  Although each book can stand alone, the stories together paint a richer picture of our imaginary town."  Jackie Marilla

"It has been a great experience writing with some of my favorite Books To Go Now authors.  With having almost 50 books in print, ebook and audio, I've written many series, but I've never collaborated with an idea and then with other authors.  I've been in 5 series this year with other authors, and its been TONS of fun!  I plan to do it again next year."
Jennifer Conner

Story One - Love on the Airwaves by Jennifer Conner

bit.ly/loveontheairwaves

After being on a big-city network news station, the last thing Tessa Sheldon wants to do is return to the small town of Mercy Ridge to work at the local radio station. But, she doesn’t have many choices.

Police Officer, Dolan Nash, wants to feel something other than the pain and death that’s surrounded him the past few years. If he keeps his head down and focuses on the peaceful quiet of the small town, the memories will stay quiet as well.

Sometimes we keep secrets inside. It’s easier than bringing out the darkness of our pasts. Will Mercy Ridge be the place where Dolan and Tessa find peace… and possibly love?

Random Fact about Jennifer: 

I am a HUGE fan of musicals. While other kids were playing with Barbies, I was dressing up and singing songs from Camelot. I've never wanted to be on stage, but if there is someone singing from a high-school production to the pros, I'm in. Just went to Kinky Boots last week. Fabulous!!

Story Two - Lesson Plan for Love 

by Jackie Marilla

FREE 11/6-11/8

bit.ly/lessonplan4love

As soon as Chad Granger thinks he’s exhausted every prospect of finding a woman in Mercy Ridge, the new third-grade teacher shows up in town and rents a cabin on his parent’s farm.  He’s immediately attracted to the hippie-like woman who appears to be the exact opposite of his former girlfriend.

Kristin Warner is conflicted about her attraction to Chad, but convinces herself there’s nothing wrong with nurturing a friendship between them.  Not quite ready to share her secret, she refuses to go out with him with a brief explanation that she isn’t ready for a boyfriend.

When Chad discovers why Kristin won’t date him, he faces the toughest decision of his life—to close his mind to her or open his heart.

Random Fact about Jackie:
In my early twenties, I took off with my boyfriend (now husband) to the wilderness of Alaska.  We parked our van literally at the end of a road, packed backpacks, and blazed a trail to a piece of land six miles away. Over the next two years, we constructed a log cabin and lived there for a few summers and one very long cold winter.

Story Three - Damage Control

by J.W. Stacks

FREE 11/6 - 11/8

bit.ly/jwdamagecontrol

Teenage love is a road fraught with heartache and Jennifer Defoe was no exception. Hers is an unrequited love for a boy who thought her a friend. When he left for the Navy, Jennifer gave up on her future and any hope of love.

Michael Harrison left Mercy Ridge with grand plans of travel and adventure only to have it come crashing down upon him after a tragic accident leaves him scarred. He flees back to the only home he has ever known for the chance to heal.

Jennifer Defoe hurts from a future that never was. Michael Harrison hurts from a past that he gave up. What happens when the fear of being close to someone collides with the fear of being hurt again? And can either of them overlook the past long enough to envision a future with each other?

Random Fact about J.W.
I talk in my sleep and keep a voice activated recorder on my nightstand so I can listen to whatever weirdness spills out of my mouth the next day.

Story Four - Saddle Up for Love

by Marilyn Conner Miles 
FREE11/6-11/8

bit.ly/saddleup4love 

My story is very loosely based on a trip my family took to a dude ranch when I was five or six years old. I got up very early in the morning with my dad to watch the wrangler bring the herd of horses in for the day's ride, and Wrangler Jack put me up on his big horse...way, way, way up there. Scary! And I loved it!

Barbara “Barb” Sessions is a wrangler and sometimes babysitter at the local dude ranch, Saddle Up. She meets lots of “weekend dudes”—older men, couples in love and families with children, but never any men her age, except for losers. Could it be because she’s always in jeans and cowboy boots? She can’t even remember the last time she wore a dress and heels. On top of that, one of the wranglers fancies himself in love with her. Will she ever meet Mr. Right?

Dirk Adams is new to town and new owner of the Mercy Ridge Large Animal Veterinary Mobile Clinic. This is his first real job as a veterinarian. He grew up in Seattle. He isn’t much used to small towns other Stanwood where he did his internship and Pullman, the campus of Washington State University where he was a student. He’s heard that small towns often don’t warm up to new people moving there, and now he’s getting ready to replace their beloved, retiring Doctor Nick. How will they react to his new ways?