CJ Carmichael: Partnerships

Last night two of my Calgary author friends—Roxy Boroughs and Brenda M. Collins--and I had a little party with pizza, chocolate and bubbly. Pretty decadent stuff for a Wednesday night—right?

Brenda, who also designs jewelry, made the evening even more special by presenting us all with “one of kind” silver snowflake necklaces. Here is mine.

So what were we celebrating? A writing project we’ve been working on for more than a year now. It began with Donna and her idea that we should collaborate on a Christmas series. Together we came up with the idea of a family who owns a maple syrup farm in fictional Carol Falls, Vermont. The title we settled on for the series was: Frost Family Christmas. Our goal with these stories was to combine what we loved most about small town settings, sweet romances and cozy mysteries into one heartwarming and page-turning series. And after much e-mailing, writing, revising and editing, that’s exactly what we did:

In December, after all the work was completed, we decided we needed to celebrate (you’ll notice this is a theme with our partnership.) So we treated ourselves to lunch in the beautiful mountain town of Canmore, Alberta. (I’m in the middle, with Roxy to my right and Brenda to my left.)

We had so much fun writing the books and our readers have been so supportive, we then did something crazy. We decided to write more. Since the series was now going to extend beyond Christmas, we needed a new name. After a few days of brainstorming we decided upon: Frost Family & Friends—Cozy in Carol Falls.

Each of us immediately started working on new ideas for the series. My story came together in a creative whirlwind of writing, where one of the most difficult challenges was designing a book cover that captured the right “small-town” feeling. In More Than A Feeling, I return our readers to Carol Falls, Vermont, two months after Christmas. The sugaring off season is just starting (the process of collecting sap from maple trees and producing maple syrup) and a new mystery and romance are in the works.

Last night, Donna, Brenda and I were celebrating, not just our books, but our partnership. We’ve been able to be supportive—yet honest—in our opinions and suggestions. We’ve all worked hard, we don’t let one-another down, but we also take time to celebrate our achievements.  

Here’s hoping we’ll still be writing, publishing and celebrating by the time next Christmas comes around!