Hi Gail. I've been enjoying the Night of the Owls crossover and I've got a question. When a company has a crossover taking place in multiple books written by many different people, does one writer take the lead and dictate how the story will go or does eve

It’s different depending on the event. In some cases, a writer will have an idea and editorial helps coordinate it because it’s a big crossover. In that case, the writer guides the main book, the editors do most of the organizing with the tie-in books.

In the case of Night Of The Owls, it was Scott Snyder’s idea for the main story all the way, and he was the key factor all the way through, with a lot of help from the various book editors, including my editors at the time, Bobbie Chase, Katie Kubert, and group editor Michael Marts, who all did a wonderful job keeping things cohesive.

But it was Scott’s idea, that we all thought was so cool, that made everything work, and Scott gave us lots of room to tell individual stories. I had a blast on that crossover, I got to tell what I think is a unique story, and Scott was 100% supportive, an absolute pleasure to work with.

Most writers don’t really want to TELL other writers what to do, most of us are happier giving suggestions and support, rather than dictating. And for editors, it’s always easier if the writers are telling a story they actually want to tell.  So the ham-fisted approach, that’s kind of a last resort in most cases.