When the Heart Falls(90)

And yes, we are living that ourselves, a most epic romance, the kind love songs are written about. Perhaps because we know what it feels like to live a happily ever after, we love writing those stories for our characters. But we also know that love isn't just about feeling turned on by the other person (though that's certainly a fun part of it!) A healthy romance, a healthy love, includes acting as a reflection for that person, and in that way, helping them to grow beyond any patterns and habits that are keeping them trapped in unhealthy cycles of unhappiness.

We are each other's best friends. We work together, raise children together, and embrace life together. We strive to see things from each other's perspective and to help each other see those hidden shadows we can't always see clearly in ourselves. That is the best kind of love, and the kind we enjoy writing.

2) What inspires you to write Dmytry? Where do you draw your creativity from?



I like entertaining people. When I write a book, I want it to appeal to as many people as possible. That need to entertain, to write something that people love, drives me.

3) Same for you Kimberly. What part of life brings you the most inspiration?



Inspiration comes from everywhere and everything. It comes from noticing things deeply, whether it's a book, movie or song, or something one of our kids say, or even a news article or story online. Life is full of inspiration if you keep your eyes open and think like a writer. I'm often inspired by dreams, as well. It's how the Forbidden Trilogy was written, based on a dream.

4) Does the blended family make for writing fodder?



Sure, as much as any family does. We all bring colorful dark and light stories of our pasts to a relationship, and each family forms a tapestry with each individual's strands of color. Being a blended family gives us stories, as does our multi-cultural family unit, but mostly it's the unique perspective we each bring to this family that makes it so rich.

5) How has the transition from single writer to writing duo been? Have there been any uphill battles or struggles?



It's been a surprisingly organic process, actually. We are so in tune with each other, and so connected to each other's work already, that it was a natural next step. There hasn't been a single piece of work either of us has worked on since we met that didn't carry the thumbprint of the other person in some way, so blending our voices into one happened naturally.

The most challenging part has been logistical: combining social media platforms and websites and rebranding all of our books, but once that's done, it's done and everything from then forward will be much easier.

6) How do you structure your process? Do you both write together, take turns, assign different characters?



We each have different strengths, which works out well for us. When we first conceive of an idea, together we will brainstorm the characters, plotline, story arc and themes of the novel. Then we'll work on a more detailed, but still rough outline. Once that's done, Dmytry handles the chapter by chapter outline with dialogue, and specifics of plot and action.

Kimberly then writes the chapters, adding her own dialogue, prose and voice. After that, we each reread, rewrite, edit and polish until we can't tell who wrote what. It's the most efficient way for us to work and allows us to maintain a unified voice in our prose.

7) You both live on the West Coast, but Dmytry has a very diverse background. Can you tell us if there has been any culture shocks to your system? And where do you see yourself settling down eventually? Or are you in the perfect place?



Though Dmytry was raised in Canada, his parents are Russian/Ukrainian, so there have been some fun cultural difference. He wasn't used to fitted sheets when he first came here, though that was most likely unique to his family, rather than cultural. Also, he had minimal toys as a child, so the plethora of 'stuffies' and just 'stuff' our kids have is crazy to him. He often sounds like the proverbial old man talking of 'in my day, I only had one toy and if it broke, that was it.' It's amusing.

We enjoy the cultural diversity and our girls are learning French and Russian from us, as well as Chinese at school. We want them to grow up with an awareness of other cultures and countries, and not have a myopic ethnocentric view because they are Americans.

As for where we want to settle down, we're in the perfect place for us, for now. At least while the kids are in school. We moved to this area for the school, and it was well worth it. We'll likely stay here until the last one graduates high school, then, who knows? We're open to anything.

8) Your book When the Heart Falls is set mostly in the city of love--Paris. Have either of you spent any time there?



Kimberly spent a summer studying at the Sorbonne and living in the same dorms as Winter and Cade. A few of their adventures are rooted in Kimberly's own experiences, like having to bring toilet paper to the bathrooms at the dorms, and having to balance over a hole in the ground to pee at an outdoor party. Fortunately, things weren't quite as crazy for her as they get for poor Winter.

9) The main characters of your story are battling personal issues that change how they interact with their world around them. Is this something either of you have dealt with personally?



We haven't dealt with exactly the same issues as Cade and Winter, but certainly we've each had life events, situations and people that have forced us to change our perspective and see the world differently.