by G. M. Malliet

When my agent contacted me about being considered as a co-author alongside a New York Times bestselling writer, my reaction was immediate (“Sure!”) and contradictory: exhilaration followed closely by creeping anxiety. 

It felt like an unexpected marriage proposal: flattering, thrilling, and accompanied by the urge to ask, “Are you sure you meant me?”

On one hand, the opportunity feels like a door flung open into a room I’ve long admired from afar. To collaborate with someone whose work has reached millions is not just exciting and potentially lucrative – it’s validating. It suggests that my voice, my ideas, and my craft might be ready for a bigger stage. 

For any writer, that kind of recognition feels like winning the lottery. Although you’ve worked very hard to earn that ticket.

But writing is a deeply personal endeavor. It’s where you control the rhythm, the tone, the pacing. It may be the only area of your life where you feel in control, if only until you hand off the manuscript to your editor. The idea of sharing that space, even with someone immensely talented, introduces doubt. Will our styles mesh? Will compromise make the story stronger, or turn it into a literary version of “too many cooks”?

Still, what interests me most in a literary sense is knowing that collaboration could stretch me in ways I know I can’t achieve alone. There’s something energizing about the idea of two creative minds sparking off one another – about discovering unexpected turns in the work that neither might have found independently.

As members of SinC, we often talk about stepping into opportunity, even when it feels slightly terrifying. This feels like one of those butterfly moments. 

So yes, I’m a little nervous. But I’m also honored, curious, and – to be honest – already mentally picking out the china pattern for this potential literary marriage.