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Kathy Kacer, the author of the Secrets book STONES ON A GRAVE, tells us, breaking down the process from initial conception to (tada!) published books. Find out more below, and be sure to check out all seven novels in this diverse, exciting new collection!

You’ve heard the expression that two heads are better than one. Well, what about seven heads --- or authors --- each writing books that are linked together by seven girl characters that inhabit the stories? Sounds like a bit of a nightmare, doesn’t it? I mean, how do seven authors keep seven story lines straight while creating seven individual girls with seven unique journeys of self-discovery?

The answer may be found in the new series Secrets, published by Orca books. I’m thrilled to be one of the seven authors involved in creating one of the books in this series. And the six others? Well, they are pretty much the dream team of authors: Teresa Toten, Vicki Grant, Kelly Armstrong, Norah McClintock, Marthe Jocelyn, and Eric Walters.

Eric and Teresa came up with the premise for the whole series, which goes like this: In 1964, an orphanage in a small town in Ontario burns down. With nowhere to live, seven girls from the orphanage are given the opportunity to discover where they came from and the circumstances of their birth. As clues, they are each given whatever object accompanied them when they first arrived to the orphanage as infants.

While the starting point was set in stone, we all had input into the details of what that opening sequence would look like --- when did the fire take place, where were we each sleeping inside the orphanage, what did the orphanage look like, who ran it, who were the secondary characters involved, and so on and so on. It felt as if there were a million small details to sort out before we could each get to writing our individual books. But I have to say that contributing to that initial set-up was incredibly important. The seven of us threw ideas out onto the table, knowing that some would stick and others would be discarded. Creativity was the name of the game, while keeping in mind that the premise would have to work for all of us. In the end, we were all happy with the scenario that we had created.

It was also important to know something about each of the other girls in the series, as all seven would have lived together since infancy. Even though we were each going off on individual journeys, we had to establish a close connection between the seven before we split up. It helped tremendously to understand the likes and dislikes, personality quirks and emotional challenges that inhabited each of the seven girls. The more we knew about each other, the easier it would be to write our individual stories.

In all honesty, that initial work probably took more time than it took to write the books themselves! Once we got past the opening scenes, we each did what we love to do --- create a compelling book with an exciting storyline and, hopefully, a memorable outcome. I just finished reading the other six books; remember, after the initial group work, I really didn’t know where the other books were going to go. I couldn’t put them down! Each one is mesmerizing and different, written in a style that matches the individual author perfectly --- historical fiction, humour, mystery, fantasy. Each one is tied to the other books in a way that lets you know they are part of a series but still stand alone. Each one has a fascinating girl character who embarks on a personal mission to discover where she came from. It’s a fabulous literary ride!

As The Three Musketeers said, “All for one and one for all.” This Secrets series is there for the individual girls that we have created, and we are each there for the series.