This month I'm pleased to feature a writing duo in the Spotlight. Please welcome the writing team of Cathy Coburn and Duaine Neill.

1. Please tell us a little about yourselves.

C: I came from the small town of Lakeside, on the outskirts of San Diego, CA. I now reside in Phoenix, AZ. Though I love the desert, I miss the ocean, I miss everything about it. I love just looking out to sea, mostly from the balcony of a cruise ship. I love scuba diving, or just sitting in the sand. So why do I live in Arizona? Now . . . I’m not sure, I’ll have to get back to you on that.

D: I too grew up in San Diego. My wife and I both grew up at the beach and our love for it almost always takes us on vacation to the beach. We live in Phoenix, AZ now along with our boy and another to come at the end of this year.

2. Every author I’ve met has their own unique story of how they found their way into writing. What path led you to become a writing team?

C: Somehow I think I was always meant to write, although I was detoured into the direction of wildlife artist, I was never really fulfilled. I was painting pictures I saw, not creating something from my own imagination. In writing fiction, you make up whopping big lies and try to convince others that it happened just that way. Then teaming with my son who is a gifted liar, well that just made since.

D: Not sure why my Mom keeps calling me a liar! I am just a really good story teller. I do like to make up stories and tell them to people as if they were real, (mostly her). My gift of story telling and my vivid dreams are why I started writing. We have always work together on projects in the past, and she has a crazy imagination like mine, so it only made sense to bring both of our creative minds together to write some great books.

C: At least I referred to you a gifted liar this time and not just a whopping big liar as before. But really Duaine, you answered your own question and I quote, “I do like to make up stories and tell them to people as if they were real, (mostly her)” I rest my case.

3. What are the advantages and the challenges of writing as a team?

C: The advantages are vast. First would be less of a chance for writers block. Another would be to feed off each others enthusiasm. Finding the time to get together to write in a world that doesn’t slow down, is the biggest challenge. We would both like to be able to someday do just our writing, as we both love it so much.

D: The advantage of writing together is that we both have our own view of every part of every story, sometime 2 totally different story line or sometime similar, so you pick the best one for that part of the story and run with it to make a better story. The challenge is just like she said finding time to write together.
4. What aspect of the writing process do you enjoy the most? What part of the process do you dread?

C: I love when I’m completely lost in a story, when my characters take on their own personalities and I start to look at them as invisible friends. I both dread and love the editing process. Although it’s tedious I love the development of making my writing flow. Maybe if I just did it right the first time it would be less tedious. But as the writer I tend to read what I think I wrote instead of what I’ve really written. So it takes a fresh pair of eyes to see the mistakes. Thank goodness for editors.

D: I am a big movie buff. So I enjoy writing the story and seeing where it is going to end up, it’s like a movie playing in my head. The most dreadful part is the long drawn out process of getting it published and on the market.

5. Are you a plotter or a pantser in terms of your writing style? Or, do you each have a different style (which would make things very interesting).

C: That’s a tough question. Are normal people usually one or the other? I find that I am equally both. I write by the seat of my pants, going in what ever direction my brain takes me in, then I plot to be sure it all makes sense.

D: We are both not really normal when it comes to story telling "or life lol." I think we both plot out a basic story line, but always if something better comes to mind make the changes needed to make for a better story.

C: To tell you a little about our book I’ll give you one of our five star reviews to say it all:

If you like suspense, mystery, intrigue, and genuine romance, AFTER THE MIST is the book for you. Add the legend of the Bermuda Triangle and you get an unforgettable literary roller coaster ride of well-plotted reading enjoyment. The characters are finely drawn, especially Maggie, with her fiery personality and Luke, the heinous villain. The tension is on-going, just when you think you're about to catch your breath, the authors throw another curve. We can't wait for another book from this new literary duo.

D: After the mist is a story that has a little bit of everything to appeal to almost all readers.

7. What can readers expect in the coming months? What are you working on now?

C: My latest book is called, When the Dam Breaks, a Philological Thriller, about a cold blooded killer, add more than a touch of insanity, and you’ll know it was meant to scare the crap out of you. I just signed contracts, it releases in March. Our next book together is book two in the Mist series we hope to be finished by the end of this month.

D: We are currently working on 2 more books in the Mist series and possible a forth on Luke the Beginning.

8. What interview question have you never been asked that you’re dying to answer? Answer it.

C: What is my favorite comfort food? Answer: Dried fruit. Finally . . . I got that off my chest, Thanks.

D: Funny. My answer to her question would be ice cream. We get asked a lot of off the wall questions that we love giving off the wall answers to.

9. Where can you be found on the web? (web site, blogs, social network links)

Website: http://www.cathyandduaine.com/
Blog: http://catcobu-afterthemist.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CathyCoburnNovelist
                 http://www.facebook.com/duaine.neill
Twitter: https://twitter.com/catcobu

Thank you so much for having us here today Linda and for all the support you’ve given us and many like us. You’re the best.

Thanks so much to both of you for an interesting and entertaining interview!

You can get your copy of After the Mist at Champagne Books.