Welcome Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles: Working Together, Mother and Daughter and a #giveaway
By Liz, so delighted to welcome mother/daughter cowriting team Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles! Their new Molly Murphy mystery is In Sunshine or In Shadow, and they’re here to talk about their cowriting gig and their process. Let’s give them a Wicked welcome!
Rhys: When Clare first came to me at the beginning of the pandemic and said she’d like to continue the Molly Murphy series with me I was a tad skeptical at first. I mean, what if it didn’t work out? I knew Clare was a good writer but if our styles didn’t mesh? If we didn’t think along the same lines? I would hate to have to tell her it wasn’t working.
But we gave it a try. Clare came to it with brilliant and fresh ideas, Molly’s voice perfectly in her head. We work together so smoothly—talk through where we are going next, one of us takes on the next chapter, the other adds, smooths for continuity, and on we go. At the end I can’t tell you who wrote which scenes.
I’ve been asked so many times what it’s like writing with my daughter. I think the answer is pure joy. Would you agree, Clare, or am I really a pain?
Clare: I agree! While we began writing our first novel together I was nervous, wondering if my work would be good enough. But Rhys and I enjoyed reading each other’s scenes and the book flew along. And now we have just finished our third novel together, IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW. Molly Murphy and her friends journey up to the Catskills to an early Jewish bungalow community.
Rhys: Clare and I have such fun conversations planning out the twists and turns of each mystery. And we never fight or argue. Clare is the most even-tempered person in the world but we never seem to find something to disagree about. She’ll suggest something and I’ll say, “Oh, great idea. Let’s do it.”
Clare: Many mothers and daughters talk every day, but not many of them talk about different ways to murder people and get away with it!
Rhys: At an event last year I was asked how we hooked up. I replied “I made her.”
The best thing about working with Clare is that she loves the research and is so good at it. Tell the readers how you approached the research for this book, Clare and what gems you discovered that totally enriched our story.
Clare: I do love to research! And of course, writing a series set in the early 1900’s every page needs research. As I looked deeply into the Catskills in 1909 I found not only information on the beginning of what would become the ‘Borscht belt,” but also a bohemian community with professional women, blue stone miners and new park rangers who reported to the NYPD. What a wonderful setting for a mystery!
Rhys: So the book just kept getting richer and more complicated, and more fun! We’ve already finished our fourth book together, exploring the early silent picture era. And the best thing of all… it’s a great excuse to chat every single day!
Readers, would you do a big project with someone in your family? Have you already? What was the experience? We definitely want to hear – leave a comment and Rhys and Clare will choose one commenter for an audiobook version of In Sunshine or In Shadow .
About the authors:
Rhys Bowen is the New York Times bestselling author of the Anthony Award- and Agatha Award-winning Molly Murphy mysteries, the Edgar Award-nominated Evan Evans series, the Royal Spyness series, and several stand-alone novels including In Farleigh Field. Born in England, she lives in San Rafael, CA.
Clare Broyles, who is Rhys Bowen’s daughter, is a teacher and a musician. She began collaborating with her mother on the Molly Murphy mystery series with Wild Irish Rose. She has worked as a composer and arranger in the theater for both Arizona Theater Company and Childsplay and was nominated for an Arizone ‘Zoni’ theater award. Clare is married to a teacher and they have three children.
