Interview

Q. Writing seems like such a solitary profession. How do you manage to collaborate?

A. We have a scene-by-scene system that we call "the marines and the village maker." While Alice would rather teach Kegel exercises to a team of Sumo wrestlers than face a blank page, Roy's favorite part is charging in for a bold, spontaneous, although somewhat crude, rendering of draft number one, filled with his wild off-the-wall inventions. Alice then produces a second draft by making a "village" out of it --rearranging, cleaning, suggesting changes and adding her creative input. We sometimes divide up scenes or sections, working on separate computers. Roy prefers humorous dialogue and action scenes. Alice likes inner dialog and love scenes. Then again, there are days when we reverse our writing preferences, and by the time we finalize a chapter it is tightly interwoven into a complete integration reflecting the two of us. We don't consider any chapter finished until we both agree on it. Which is why we call this the bickering stage.

Q. Why are you using a pseudonym?

A. Our editor asked us to use one, since the book has a female protagonist and content that tends to favor the female reader. But we also see our pseudonym as a symbol of the fact that we're best pals.

Q. Roy, is it difficult for a man to write from a female point of view?

A. I don't see why it's such a big deal. Authors write from the P.O.V. of the opposite sex all the time. A female cast dominates The Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson. Some of the writers for the Sex And The City HBO series were men. And on the opposite side, Jane Austin created Mr.Darcy and Diana Gabaldon created Jamie. All good authors have to be able to put themselves in the shoes of every character in a novel, from the hero or heroine right down to the deranged, psycho, disemboweling slasher villain.

Q. What made you choose to combine humor with suspense?

A. That's what we like. Roy's favorite TV shows are Seinfeld reruns and Law And Order. He decided that combining them in a book would make for a fun read. Alice loves old Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers movies and novels with witty female narrators. Plus, Roy was experienced in writing stand-up comedy monologues, so that was the natural choice.

Q. Are your characters based on real people?

A. Most of our characters represent the combined traits of a wide range of people we have either known or met. And our two main characters, Saylor and Benita, have a healthy dose of both Alice and Roy in each of them.

Q. Are the places where your characters hang out real?

A. Some of the places, like Gleason's Gym and DUMBO General Store are real, while others are based on real places, but have made up names and sometimes made up locations.

Q. Will Saylor and Benita ever learn to mind their own business?

A. Never!