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Collaboration, Craziness, and Completion

I posted this on our Space City Scribes blog a few weeks ago, but I wanted to re-blog (is that a word?) because our official launch date is approaching! Beginning on Oct. 8, the kindle version of Space City 6: Houston Stories from the Weird to the Wonderful will be available on Amazon, and on Nov. 8 the paperback will be available (AND we will be at Katy Budget Books signing…more on that later!) SO…if you’ve read this before, I apologize, but if it’s new to you, I hope you enjoy it.

Introducing Space City 6: Houston Stories from the Weird to the Wonderful
According to Merriam-Webster, to collaborate means to work together with another person or group in order to achieve or do something. People have asked me how I can stand such a solitary endeavor as writing. The answer is that writing, and more specifically the production of a book, is not always solitary. It’s often collaborative.
Collaboration in writing takes many forms. It can mean actually writing a piece with someone else, it can mean working with an illustrator, or it can even mean taking part in critique groups where members help each other hone their stories. I’ve done it all.
But wait, there’s more! (Cue announcer on late night infomercial.) My newest collaboration has been one of the most difficult, yet rewarding ones for me. As part of the Space City Scribes, I had the opportunity to work with five other women in order to achieve something of which we’d be proud. Although we wrote individually, it was still a team effort. Working towards producing the best anthology possible, we read, critiqued, and re-read each other’s pieces. We doled out advice that we felt would strengthen the stories without diluting the writer’s unique voice. We were each other’s cheerleaders, pushing towards a common goal. All summer long emails flew through cyberspace to places as varied as Texas, Vermont, and Vienna, Austria. Yes, it definitely got a little crazy. However, often the craziness of collaboration is the magic. People throwing out ideas, other people piggy backing on those ideas, and lots of discussion…that’s collaboration. After much revision, the stories were done. Whew. And then it got really hard. And crazier. It was time for us, as a writing collaborative, to decide on a cover, a title, and a way to sell the book. Every decision was made as a group. More emails, more discussion, more hard work, and ok, a little more crazy thrown in for good measure. But the good kind of crazy! The kind that makes you proud. The kind that you look back on and say, “We did it.”
So now here we are. We’ve reached the final C…COMPLETION. We are proud to announce that our collaborative effort, Space City 6: Houston Stories from the Weird to the Wonderful is now available on Amazon. We hope you check us out and let us know what you think. Feel free to do it alone or get a friend to look at it with you. After all, sometimes collaborations yield the best results.

2 Comments
  • Robyn Campbell
    Posted at 03:52h, 11 November

    I must buy it. It sounds wonderful. I have been in a few anthologies. I know how fulfilling that can be, Ellen. I like the emails zooming through cyber space. I could see the smoke as I read your post. Sounds like you’re very happy with it.

    • ellenleventhal
      Posted at 14:27h, 11 November

      I definitely want to read your stories, Robyn. Let’s exchange info later. Now, go forth and NaNo!