The best description they have is that David tells the story, and Ruth writes the book. When pressed, David admits that he could never be a successful author by himself. It’s Ruth who turns his words into something readable. She takes his words and builds the characters, bringing them to life by adding depth, emotion and realism.
He explained that he writes in the moment. ‘Imagine you’re walking down a street, and you turn a corner. You have no idea what you might meet. That’s how I write. I have no plan; I see where the story takes me.’
‘We know each other well. We’ve been married for over thirty-five years,’ explains Ruth. ‘So, David trusts me. I take his words and bring them to life. It’s not a quick process but worth it.’
David is the ultimate storyteller. My part comes into play later once the story is formed and the stage set – which David does so beautifully. When he is happy that he has done his ‘bit’ he hands the book over to me. I do a ‘once over’ where I fix any mistakes or improve parts where I think they could work better. I then go through the book again, looking at character details to ensure they are correct and also begin to imagine myself AS the characters, not only to ensure they are believable but also to deepen them and to ensure the readers identify with them and their relationships. This is the part I love because my own creativity can flow and writing becomes an artform rather than a grammatical exercise.
After I have done that I let the book rest for a few weeks and then come back to it with fresh eyes and do another edit/rewrite THEN I hand it all back to David to read to ensure he is happy with the changes. During this time David and I chat regularly about the action, settings, characters and details to ensure we are both in agreement and to clarify any questions.
