Been busy writing the book reviews that are due Monday, with a digression yesterday to Harrow, Ontario for an antiquing jaunt with mom and cousin. Two interesting things about reviews. First, they are so much easier to write than novels. They are even easier to write than a scene of a novel. Therefore, they give maximum writing pleasure.
The second thing is about the authors of one fo the books I’m reviewing. The book is called The Last Defense by Christopher Darden and Dick Lochte. Darden’s name is much bigger than Lochte’s name on the cover of the ARC. Darden, you will recall, was a prosecutor in the OJ Simpson trial. So, he’s famous. And being famous sells books, apparently. Lochte was an acclaimed writer of mysteries before he teamed up with Dardin. (This is their third book together.) He’s also a critic for the LA Times. Maybe he teamed up with Darden to get first hand knowledge of the legal world. Maybe he wanted to sell more books. Maybe both. And that’s fine with me.
It’s a good book, but I couldn’t help wondering who wrote what. I couldn’t help but suspect that Lochte wrote it all, with some input from Darden, mainly about race related stuff and the legal end of things. Maybe I’m being unfair to Darden. Lawyers write all the time, briefs and so forth. And there are a couple of famous lawyers turned bestselling authors out there…
What is it about two people writing a book together that makes me nervous? Louise Erdrich and Michael Dorris wrote Crown of Columbus together. They often were quoted in interviews as saying that they wrote all their books together, and assigning the byline to whoever had the original idea for the book. Except now, of course, Dorris is dead and Erdrich still publishes novels in the gorgeously individual voice she’s always had.
Tori Carrington is the pseudonym of another husband/wife collaborative team. They write romances. I talked to them at a conference once. They seemed like nice people, but when I asked them how they could write together, they smiled and asked how I could write alone.
I write alone because I can’t imagine sharing my creative vision with anyone else. I wouldn’t want them mucking up The World According to Cindy. Maybe that makes me selfish, but I don’t care. Anyway, the majority of the writers in the world are on my side in this. I have a hunch that most writers choose to write alone because creativity works best that way. And of course because you can work in your pajamas. Which I am doing again, at one o’clock in the afternoon.
Excuse me while I go change into a pair of baggy shapeless pants that I would be laughed out of the classroom for wearing…