Authors Breakfield and Burkey
We coined our writing process when we started down this path, as literary ping pong. We do have a patent pending on that, which we hope to hear on soon. What, you might ask, is literary ping pong? Where to begin, hmmm, at the start of course.
When we started writing we had many goals. Being strong opinionate souls, we never failed to convey our point of view. As you can image, any two people outside of perhaps twins are going to look at a subject and write it differently. Heck that’s why good teachers can spot plagiarism a mile away. We found that when we each write something and then bat it back and forth it helps to make it a better, stronger story one chapter at a time.
For example, Breakfield has been known to wake up and pound onto the keyboard this epiphany he’d dreamed about overnight. Okay, sometimes it has no relationship to the targeted chapter he signed up for, but it is always great. So, he lobs it over to Burkey to read and review, which it where it gets interesting. Burkey has a goal of making it fit somewhere into the current story. Out of the roughly 103 times it has occurred every one of these lobs have found their way into the story being worked at the time. Currently there are eleven books in the series, so you do the math.
Once it is reviewed and edited for the current story it gets hit right back over to Breakfield to see if he likes the treatment it has been given. Then back and forth it goes until both of us are delighted with the end result. Burkey had one instance where a chapter was pushed down later in the story at least 6 times before finding the perfect home for it. That was in The Enigma Always and if you can identify the chapter in discussion, heck we’ll add your name as a character in our next book. Of course that means you are agreeing to be an evil genius in our next book.
To be fair, that has occurred in the opposite direction, where Breakfield calls up and says WTF, you want this chapter you wrote to go where? You do know that WTF is Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and is used as a pilot communication in identification of his aircraft in The Enigma Wraith. It’s the little tidbits of information that are so much fun, isn’t it?
Sometimes our afternoon story discussion sessions can spin up some really crazy ideas that helps to push our story editing efforts to the extreme. Burkey will coax Breakfield to recount some of the dumb stuff he did as a teenager or from last week, then voilà a new short story or chapter is born. Somehow after we run these ideas through the literary ping pong process they become more outrageous than the original event. Story writing begins with what and who you know as foundational to your next story.
One of our best real character-based stories is The Enigma Rising. Nothing like having actually met a bank robber looking to invest with you or the FBI discussing with you the real estate client you were trying to work with who was a drug dealer that murdered his wife to launch his drug operations. Or two bad boys all moms warn their daughters to avoid. Yeah, we know… good times.
Take care – Breakfield and Burkey
Bio
Breakfield, is a 25+ year technology expert in security, networking, voice and anything digital. He enjoys writing, studying World War II history, travel, and cultural exchanges. He’s also a fan of wine tastings, wine-making, Harley riding, cooking extravaganzas, and woodworking.
Burkey, a 25+ year applied technology professional who excels at optimizing technology and business investments for customers all over the world with a focus on optimized customer experiences. She writes white papers and documentation, but has a marked preference for fiction.
Together they create award-winning stories that resonate with males and females, young and experienced adults, and bring a fresh new view to technology possibilities today https://www.EnigmaBookSeries.com.
Social Media
- Twitter handle: @EnigmaSeries and @1rburkey
- Facebook URL: https://www.facebook.com/TheEnigmaSeries/
- Website address: https://www.EnigmaBookSeries.com
roberta-writes.com 
Great spotlight post, Robbie 🙂
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Thank you, Esther.
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Interesting look at the dynamics of a duo published book.
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I thought so too, Mark. I don’t think I could do it but I do know others who can. I know I write with family members but that is different [I am very bossy].
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I love the term literary ping pong. Good luck getting it patented! It’s great that you two have found a system that works for you. 🙂
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Hi Yvette, I am impressed by this literary collaboration. Thanks for your support with the tour.
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How wonderful of you to share the Spotlight Authors here today, Robbie!! I have read the first Enigma book and while I didn’t understand a lot of the techie jargon, the story is great! The authors did include a glossary in the back of the book explaining a lot of the terms and that was helpful!
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That is great to know, Jan. I am enjoying learning more about the various members of RRBC.
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Collaboration has unique challenges. (K)
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Oh yes, I could never do it. I am far to controlling to write with another person [other than beloved mother and son but that is different]
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I know what you mean. The balance is hard to find.
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That was interesting. I can’t imagine how co-writing would work though I’ve seen it done successfully. I totally get how theirs ends up in a great story. Enjoyed this process.
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I enjoyed this post too, Jacqui. I must be honest, having written a book with my mother, I would never try writing with a stranger. I like to have total creative control [except when I write with mom and then she controls everything – wink!]
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Very interesting insight on how a writing relationship works. Nice to have a feedback as you go. Thanks for hosting, Robbie:)
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My pleasure, Denise. I must be honest, I am a one-man show when it comes to my adult writing. My co-authors for my children’s books are family members and that is enough complexity for me
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Agree, an interesting look at the creative process between collaborators!
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Thank you, John. It is interesting to note how others collaborate. Not something I could do with a third party.
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Fascinating look at collaborative writing. Sharing… 🙂
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Thank you so much for all your wonderful support, Bette. I appreciate your shares.
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I enjoyed reading about literary ping pong! I expect it works better for some fiction genres than others. And like Robbie, I am of the controlling persuasion when it comes to my fiction.
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Hehe, another trait we have in common, Liz. I don’t think a writing collaboration of this nature would ever work for me.
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It wouldn’t work for me either.
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Always intriguing to see people who write together! Seems like it’d be a hard process, to me!
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Me too, H. I think you need to be more relaxed than me to do this. I have written a book with my mom but that is quite different.
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Lord, if I wrote a book with my mom, one of us probably wouldn’t live to see it finish. Not that she and I don’t get along, just that we’d never agree! So wow, very good on you!
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Roberta, You have collected some really outstanding comments from your visitors. This is great to see. We appreciate your hosting out tour. It has been totally exciiting. You site is so inviting. Thank you for your efforts. RRBC is for us a family we recently found. Best and be safe!
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HI Rox, thank you for visiting. My apologies that I missed your comment which ended up in spam. I don’t always remember to look in there. RRBC certainly is a great place for writers and readers.
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literary ping pong is a good description of what you two do. 😀Thank you, Robbie, for hosting.
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My pleasure, Joy. Thanks for visiting. PS For some reason I cannot comment on your blog. WP just won’t accept my log in.
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