Two are Better than One
An interview with co-authors Erica Dansereau and Britt Howard
Dearest Readers,
I have such a treat for you today as not only am I featuring another author interview, but for this post, I am introducing you to co-authors Erica Dansereau and Britt Howard. I discovered Britt and Erica through social media about a year and a half ago during the release of their first co-authored project, The Bookish Bandit, which was the first title in The Bookish Romance Series.
In that initial encounter on Instagram, they mentioned You’ve Got Mail vibes plus a New York City setting for the series. Add that to the bookish theme, and if you know me at all, you’ll know I was all in.
A few months ago, I was delighted to learn that both Erica and Britt also live in my neck of the woods. After personally connecting and getting to hear the story of how they started their co-author journey, I immediately asked if I could chat with them here—I’m thrilled they said yes!
Before we jump in though, I’d like to announce the launch of giveaways in this space. From experience, I know the long hours authors put in toward their books, and frankly it’s hard work. My heart through these interviews is to support them while simultaneously putting books into the hands of readers. Gifting their novels is another way to come alongside them.
With that in mind, this initial giveaway will be for both books in The Bookish Romance Series to one Letters and Literature subscriber! Simply subscribe below (for new readers) and like this post, and you will be automatically entered (U.S. addresses only, please).
And now, without further ado, I introduce Erica Dansereau and Britt Howard.
Erica and Britt, thank you so much for joining me today at Letters and Literature! Why don’t you both tell us a bit about yourselves and introduce us to your individual writing before we talk about your collaborative work.
Britt: Hi friends! Tiffany, thank you so much for hosting us at Letters and Literature! It’s such a pleasure to chat with you and have the opportunity to share our experiences in this wonderful world of books with you and your readers. Books have been one of the strongest forces in my life for as long as I can remember. I’ve been reading since an early age and really tend to process my experiences and emotions through the medium of story.
I pursued a degree in English and worked in various writing fields for some time, then began offering editing services to fellow authors, which has been an incredibly satisfying career. While I wrote extensively throughout childhood into adulthood, it wasn’t until 2020 that something I was missing finally clicked for me, and I was able to fully finish a novel and actually began to envision myself publishing the launch of my multi-book, contemporary romance McCade Family Series (the second book in the series is set to publish this spring!).
Self-publishing was always my goal, as I love the creative control it allows me. The Bookstagram community makes indie publishing such a rewarding experience, and incidentally, the community is the reason I had the blessing of meeting and forming a friendship with Erica, with whom I’ve had the pleasure of co-authoring now two books!
Erica: Yes, thank you so much for having us, Tiffany. It’s always a delight to chat about all things books! Echoing what Britt said, books have been an integral part of my life since I can remember. Both reading and writing have always been a place of solace for me. Whether that’s finding myself in pages written by others or working through my own heart in my own pages, books have consistently been an obsession and a blessing in my life. Writing helps me process, and from a young age, I always dreamed of one day being an author.
As I grew, I realized how powerful and transformative the written word can be, and my love for writing only multiplied as did my love for Christ, which of course shifted my goal as a writer from simply telling entertaining or heartfelt stories to writing to honor and glorify Him. As of now, I have four books available—two solo works and the two collaborative books with Britt!
Please tell us about The Bookish Romance Series and how you started coauthoring.
Collaborating together was the most serendipitous surprise! Already friends and fellow authors, we were sharing a table at an author event, each promoting our own books, when we jokingly discussed the idea of one day working together on a collaborative project.
Later that day, I (Erica) casually shared with Britt a small idea I had for a romantic comedy that I had no intention of actually pursuing. As soon as I’d shared it, we both wondered the same thought: Could this be the collaborative project we’d talked about? Our excitement building, we dove into brainstorming the endless possibilities, and soon after, scheduled a meeting to officially plan our co-authoring journey!
I truly love that story. It’s such a work of providence. How has faith played a role both in developing your storylines and in working together?
When we originally set out to write together, our goal was to write a closed-door romance that celebrated our collective love for books and a beautiful love story. We were simply writing for the joy of creating together. However, as The Bookish Bandit progressed, a clear theme of faith in the wake of loss and grief kept making its way into the story.
We quickly realized that our own experiences with grief were influencing Andrew and Charlie’s journey to deepen their faith. After a prayerful reassessment, we knew that we wanted to allow our love for the Lord and our own pursuit of spiritual growth to flow naturally into our writing. From then on, our focus was on developing a swoon-worthy love story that could stand on its own, but within that framework, we’ve also given a front row seat to the areas of spiritual growth we personally have found ourselves working on throughout our lives. It’s grown into this wonderful journey of collaborating on the plot and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide the book’s spiritual road map through prayer and bringing our own Bible studies into the use of Scripture and spiritual themes.
As we work toward our third book together, we’re in a good flow of starting out with a faith-based goal in mind, but we’re also allowing the characters themselves to direct some of their own growth and walk with the Lord. It’s our belief that creativity and a love for the Lord go hand in hand. After being given so much by the Author of the greatest love story of all time, how could we not reflect His goodness in our writing!
Absolutely. When I started this writing adventure, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to write faith-based novels, but I’ve found that, for me, I simply can’t leave it out. The story of God’s generous intervention in the lives of messy humans—in its myriad forms—rises to the surface again and again.
What have been the biggest blessings in writing together?
Writing together has been an incredible joy. As co-authors, we are equally invested in our projects, sharing a commitment to making them the best they can be. We hold each other accountable and keep each other motivated. Double the authors means double the brainpower. The process of brainstorming, planning, and writing is fun and rewarding. The anticipation of reading each other's latest chapter is quite a giddy thrill. It feels like watching the latest episode of a highly anticipated television show and having a vague idea of what's about to happen but uncovering exciting details along the way.
Beyond the fun, what has stood out the most is the encouragement and growth that has come―not only in writing but in sharing our faith. We sharpen and help each other to consider new perspectives. Our unique gifts complement each other, helping us to create rich, well-rounded stories. There's a special steadiness and confidence that comes with writing alongside a strong partner. It's a comfort to know that the weight of the story doesn't rest solely on your own shoulders. Instead, there's a deep reassurance that throughout the journey, you have a partner to lean on to resolve any challenges. It's also a blessing not to have to deal with the process of getting a book ready for publication alone! You're in the trenches together!
Or as Solomon said, two are better than one! I love the support system you have in each other. That said, I’m assuming there are certain challenges to co-writing as well?
It’s hard to call them challenges since every aspect of this journey has been such a joy, but navigating the different seasons of life together can occasionally mean that our schedules don’t match up. So, one of us may turn in a chapter and be rarin’ to go with a deluge of ideas, but end up having to wait for the other to write the next chapter, which is challenging from a creative perspective.
It’s not easy having to pause your own creative flow to wait for your partner since as a solo author, you’re able to go at your own pace. With the way our process works, it’s difficult to jump ahead and write our own next chapter since, to some degree, our process is a call-and-response to each other. It makes for an exciting process, but it’s a challenge.
On that same note, there are moments when, on a personal level, one of us doesn’t feel particularly creative. The muse doesn’t always muse, but we owe it to our co-author to get in there and write the next chapter so that we stay on schedule. It requires both a high level of personal discipline to stay accountable and a loving sense of patience with each other to stay on track. (Though to be honest, it’s mostly Erica waiting on Britt, who gets anxious about writing but then ends up pushing through and surprising herself with a chapter that seems to write itself.)
It’s also rare, but there are moments when our creative vision for the plot or characters doesn’t quite match each other’s. This takes both a willingness to see the other’s perspective and a willingness to adjust our own expectations. There’s no room for pride or stubbornness in a collaborative process. It takes an intentionally humble heart, love for each other, and a deep respect for our co-author to make it work as smoothly as it has for us. Coincidentally, anything we’ve adjusted to honor each other’s wishes has turned out to be just what the book needed, so our method seems to be benefitting our goals.
How do you tackle drafting a novel together? What does the process look like?
As writers, we are both quite character-driven in our approach, so with each book’s brainstorming sessions, there’s a central character who seems to stand out to us. The basis of our story is built around that person. While their co-star is just as important and loved, their journey naturally evolves out of our focal character’s life. We approach plotting with the basic idea that we have “this character who faces this problem and we want to solve it in this way, so how do we do that in a way that is fun and romantic and memorable?”
Since The Bookish Romance (TBR) Series is quite focused on the lives of people in the bookish/writing/publishing world, our plots are centered around something happening in that field, and the storyline develops out of that baseline. We also love celebrating the details of life: good food, beautiful experiences, and exploring lovely places, so planning out the locations/activities we want to feature in our books is quite fun.
Of course, the most fun is planning the romance that develops between our two main characters. Our goal is to create characters who both complement and challenge each other. We aren’t looking for a perfect romance or a love story without flaws, but rather characters who push each other to grow both personally and in their walk with God. We develop characters with weaknesses that need work and strengths that can come into play later.
We plan and pray and continue tweaking the details until there comes a moment when it all seems to click into place. And then we’re both too excited not to dive in and start writing!
Has there been a standout moment in working together?
There have been so many standout moments on this journey! Watching God work through the creativity we’ve committed to Him makes our hearts so full. What a blessing! We’ve received countless messages from readers who found their hearts touched by one or more of our characters’ journeys. So many readers have identified with the struggles Andrew, Charlie, Dawson, and Ava go through and have shared either the healing their stories bring or the way their own perspectives have changed.
There’s nothing quite like the feeling when someone close to you shares that our books brought healing to a couple of areas of hurt and trauma they'd struggled with for many years. Or that when faced with those same traumas anew, they’ve thought back to our books and regained strength to face the situation. Knowing that it was truly because of the collaborative effort and passion we share for writing books filled with the hope and love of God means the world. All glory to God!
And for another, very exciting standout moment, we were a finalist and placed second with Blind Date with a Book Nerd for the Christian Indie Awards, so that is quite exciting!
How wonderful—congratulations! Also, I’d like to make a side comment on Britt’s cover art for both books. Her work is stunning!
Finally, I’d love for each of you to share a favorite book or recent book recommendation.
Britt: My very favorite series that I’ve been recommending to people for years is Dee Henderson’s O’Malley Series. I first read it years ago, and it truly set the tone for my own writing. Henderson’s characters are so easy to love and respect, yet still full of such relatable fears and raw humanity. As an author, she balances intense and thrilling plots with incredible warmth and character development, but it’s all so realistic and sharp at the same time—flawless! Not to mention how she balances her characters’ romantic storylines with their faith journey—so inspiring as both a reader and a writer! Even though I haven’t (yet!) published a romantic thriller, it’s my goal to carry that same Dee Henderson attention to detail and crystal-clear story development into my own writing, no matter the genre. This series is one I’ll love, reread, and recommend forever!
Erica: This question always stumps me, because it feels impossible to only choose one when there are so many incredible books out there! I will have to recommend Jamie Ogle’s Of Love and Treason, a showstopping Christian historical romance that, fair warning, will leave you in a puddle. In it, Ogle weaves a beautiful tale and challenges readers to consider the true meaning of love while also examining and reflecting on their own faith. She recently published As Sure as the Sea, which I cannot wait to read. I have no doubts it will be just as stunning.
Erica and Britt, thank you for giving us your valuable time. It’s been a joy to chat with you. Many blessings on book three!
Friends, you can find Erica and Britt, and their work, at their websites and socials:
Erica Dansereau:
https://www.instagram.com/ericadansereauauthor/
Britt Howard:
https://britthowardauthor.wordpress.com
https://www.instagram.com/britthowardauthor
A final reminder to subscribe and like for your chance to win The Bookish Romance Series. I will announce the winner in my next post and reach out to the recipient via email in the meantime.
Until next time, friends,
Tiffany
Great interview Tiffany!
Britt and Erica were so genuine and cool. I can't wait to check out their book.
Thanks Tiffany, for posting your insightful interview with Erica and Britt. I plan to attend Erica's breakout session at our upcoming conference. Britt's book cover is so fun! I've added their books to my ongoing list...