Joys of joint publishing

There are things that wives, husbands and other partners should do together, and those they should do by themselves … like jointly writing and publishing a book.

Don’t do it, I was warned by one literary friend. You will have different writing styles, work habits and opinions. Also, you will need more patience than could ever be reasonably expected in any marriage.

As British writer Evelyn Waugh famously stated, co-authoring a book is like three people getting together to have a baby. But over the years, my writer wife and I have become more positive about plotting out stories together and including elements the other may have missed.

Also, there really is something to be said for couples to include male and female points of view in writing and self-publishing a well-rounded work of fiction appealing to the widest possible range of readers.

Seattle-based writer Charlotte Stuart, a former college teacher, and her husband, Don, a former attorney and Alaska commercial fisherman, recently co-authored the legal thriller “Midnight for Justice” (up on Amazon). The book starts with a 1970s case in which a civil liberties volunteer and a Navy lawyer team up to defend a sailor accused of murder … leading, years later, to a vast military arms conspiracy.

Now, the Stuarts have published “Bad Day for Justice”, the second in their thriller series. Don explained to me he got the ball rolling by sketching out a basic plot line, while Charlotte was completing another book, a mystery.

“We hashed out the plot and particulars daily on our walks. We’re blessed to live on Vashon Island in Puget Sound where there are a great many wonderful wooded trails,” he said.

“Then, when Charlotte was free, I handed over what I’d done so far to her and went to work on another project (a sci-fi novel). She carried the ball, completed and fleshed out the story and the characters, making it all make sense. From that point on, we have basically passed it off, back and forth, to one another as each of us was free until we were both happy with the final product.”

Don insisted the process has been, well, seamless: “Charlotte says correctly that the only disagreements we ever have is over comma placement. I’m the one that uses them too often.”

The Stuarts are guided by their publishing consultant, Geoff Affleck, founder of AuthorPreneur Publishing, based on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. He said lately he’s been noticing more and more couples choosing to co-author fiction and non-fiction books.

Affleck added that’s because “sharing perspectives often leads to deeper, more meaningful books.” And I agree with him.

My wife, Rosalind, has been a physical therapist, business owner and self-help author. I’ve been a news reporter, editor and columnist. But the best job I ever had was as a Wyoming horse wrangler.

It was, in fact, our love of horses that drew us together. So, it no wonder that they feature in “Maverick Valley”, the fiction book we co-authored and recently published about Kyra Gilbert, a woman haunted by tragedy as she tries to rebuild her life.

In the book’s first chapter, a seven-year-old boy dies after falling off a runaway horse, and Rosalind’s medical experience was key to writing about what happened. However, I felt we were getting bogged down in the health aspects of the fall. We argued about this, then agreed to compromise. And the overall narrative, I think, is much stronger for it.

These kinds of discussions took place throughout the writing of Maverick Valley, whether we were describing marriage, murder or other mayhem.

Rosalind grew up in Kenya. And one of her favorite books is “West with the Night”, a 1942 memoir written by Kenya horse-lover and pioneer aviator Beryl Markham. Hemingway and others highly praised the book. But controversy continues over claims it was Markham’s third husband, scriptwriter Raoul Schumacher, who actually penned the classic.

I choose to believe that it was mainly Markham’s work, but that Schumacher had a hand in it -- as have writers’ spouses throughout history. One name adorns the cover; the other stays in the background typing furiously.

In her 2023 book, “Lives of the Wives: Five Literary Marriages”, author and journalist Carmela Ciuraru describes how the male “literary lion” may be powerful on the page, but is often “a helpless kitten” in daily life — dependent on his wife for virtually everything.

During Jane Austen's era, women may not have been explicitly barred from writing novels, but it was not considered a respectable profession for ladies. Women authors often used male pseudonyms.

Later, literary lion F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, was accused by his wife, Zelda, of plagiarizing her work. One of his short stories was reportedly written entirely by her.

Now, the tables have turned. Men may still dominate in academic and scientific publishing. But in fiction, American women publish more books than men and sell more copies. Also, more than two-thirds of the publishing workforce is reportedly female.

I could not find specific data on the number of married couples co-authoring books with both names on the cover. But, as publishing consultant Affleck noted, indications are this kind of co-authorship is on the rise. Also, the publishing industry is accepting it more.

All it requires for further growth, I believe, is for husbands and wives to put their egos aside – and let their colorful ideas coalesce rather than collide. Besides, if the book you’ve jointly written turns out to be a lemon, you’ll both have a shoulder close by to cry on.