...in the actual, literal sense I'd still be extremely unpublished. I know of a few who believe this is what they should do as writers. Theirs is a sad lot.

Crescent Blues: How important do you feel your research is to your books?

P. N. Elrod: It is a necessary element to any story's background. Writers who ignore that factor give us a flat, colorless narrative. Writers who abuse it annoy me severely. By abuse, I mean overdoing it, making the reader wade through a "data dump." That's the writer showing off and saying "I've done allllllll this research, now you're going to suffer and learn it all, too, mu-hahaha!" I try not to do that to my readers. Put enough necessary detail in to flavor the plot, not dominate it. Too much of any one spice in any one place can ruin a dish.

I've read some books that were about 50 percent data dumps. I'd skip pages and pages until it got to something on the characters, then resumed reading again. Think of all the paper that writer wasted. Think of all the readers put to sleep! I do. With a shudder.

Crescent Blues: You've also collaborated with Nigel Bennett, star of Forever Knight and Psi Factor, on Keeper of the King. What's the story behind that partnership?

P. N. Elrod: Bill Fawcett, a book packager, came up with the idea of having actors in popular genre series writing stories in those genres, a Star Trek actor writing s/f, for instance. So at the August 1994 Galaxy Fair in Dallas, he saw Nigel and wondered if he might be interested in writing a vampire story. Bill's worry was what if Nigel couldn't write? My good friend Teresa Patterson, also a writer, said, "Then team him up with someone who can. Like Pat for instance." (God BLESS that woman!) I didn't know ANY of this was going on at the time and just as well! I'd have been a wreck!

Months later Bill approached Nigel's agent with the suggestion, and happily Nigel was very interested in writing a vampire book. The following August he approached me at a New Orleans convention, the third time we were on a con guest roster together, and pitched the concept to me. After I mentally picked myself off the floor, I said I'd be delighted to co-write a book with him. He said I was on the short list of authors recommended to him, and hadn't chosen yet.

A week or so later I sent him a "Writing 101" letter on things he needed to know about the business whether I got the job or not. One item I stressed was that he should be comfortable with his co-writer's style of work, that it should mesh comfortably with his own style and ideas. I suggested he read the other writers' works and my works and decide from those who he wished to go with. I was aware I might have been shooting myself in the foot with that, but on the other hand, I knew myself to be a damn good writer. If he chose someone else, then it only meant he was more comfortable with their style.

I still don't know if Nigel ever read and compared, but a month later Bill called to say I got the job. It was the best thrill I'd had since the Roddy McDowall audiobook, and I'm still thrilled.

Crescent Blues: What are the advantages and disadvantages of writing as part of a team?

P. N. Elrod: I only have to develop, plot, and write half a book, which is a hell of a lot more fun and faster than doing it on your own! I like it enough to want to team up with a couple of other people I know to work on projects, but have not had the spare time to really get into them. Yet.

When you're working with the right person, two heads are definitely better than one. You get this great surge of energy rolling during a really good outlining session when everything just clicks, and all the bits come together. The key to making this happen is one single ground rule: when story-storming NEVER say the word "no" to ANY idea. Once that is established you can go anywhere without fear of someone squashing your suggestions. It's very freeing. I stole the concept from Chuck Jones, that's why the Bugs Bunny cartoons are the best on the planet. No one in his story-storming sessions can say no, so it's easy to have fun. When the work becomes fun inspiration positively flows!

One disadvantage is the danger of a member of the team thinking they know what's best. I went through this stage at one point with Nigel. He wanted a specific scene in Keeper, and I thought there wouldn't be a place for it. It was the closest we'd come to any kind of a disagreement. The scene was personally important to him and he really wanted it in. I realized my reluctance was a way of saying no; I was doing exactly the sort of thing that annoys me most. If the scene didn't fit, as I feared it might, then it was my job as his co-writer to make it fit no matter what. If it refused to go in, then I would be honest about it and tell him -- but it was only fair to him to first give it a try.

He sent down the pages, I started working on them, and damned if they didn't segue seamlessly into the storyline! In fact, I was halfway through the edit of the scene before I realized what I was doing. Nigel's instinct for the character was exactly right. I learned a most valuable lesson there.

The scene in question is...

P.N. Elrod (continued)