This is a story that Jolene and I started collaborating on a while back. Then life got in the way for me and we didn’t see the story to completion at the time. Part I is here.

She also got to see the hidden dark side of my editing processes and probably wanted to run away screaming. I once shared a strikethrough version of such a process on this site or the earlier iteration and the lasting comment from readers was, “Wow, that is lot of red text.”

Add side comments in the margin along with those redlines and my process quickly appears more madness than method.

No one would blame a collaborator if they scooted. Quickly.

A few months back, Jolene mentioned off hand that I should run with it and, once again, I had too much on my plate. I said something to the effect of “that goes both ways, feel free to resurrect it.”

So she did.

So far, we’re in familiar territory for me.

While we blocked things out with some rough notes, I’m sure she’s soon going to go less familiar territories.

This should be fun.

A cautionary tale with a modern twist? Written by: Jolene Rice  Michael Raven Judy sat in her car looking at the address her GPS sent her to with disgust. Not only at the appearance of the rundown structure; at herself. Now she knew how Sarai or Elizabeth felt in the Bible. That feeling of crying […]

Be careful what you wish for 

Jolene decided to finish something we started together and I had to bail on when I got busy with life. Three kids and seven cats apparently have that effect at times. And a job where emergencies crop up without warning…

Anyways… While we never got around to collaborating on it after the first couple of brainstorms and paired writing sessions over Google Docs, Jolene went back and finished what we’d started a couple of years back.

Most of the credit should go to her. My writing DNA might be in it but she took ownership of the tale and saw it through. It really is her story, although she’s been kind enough to credit me for my meagre contributions.

She asked if I wanted to read the final story before it went live and I declined. I want to see where she decided to go with it and be surprised as much as her readers are. It’s more fun that way.

If you’ve not visited Jolene’s site before, I encourage you to give it a gander. Maybe stay for a while.