We interviewed Susan Rogers and John Roosen about their series under the banner of Yoga Mat Mysteries. yogamatmysteries.com

With Cobra Pose as the second installment in the Yoga Mat Mysteries series, what challenges did you face in maintaining continuity from the first book, while also ensuring that it stands alone for readers who may not have read the first book?

ANS: Writing a series is much like building a set of nesting boxes or containers.  One box can fit snuggly inside the other, but they are most often viewed and used separately. You start with the smallest box which is the first in the series and build from there.

The series writer knows that there will be layers upon layers developed with each successive book.  Each book typically has some small carry-over items from the previous book.  This is likely several characters or perhaps a continuation of an event. It might also be some small detail that is buried in one book to be fulfilled in another. 

Overall, the objective is that each book stands on its own as a separate story. There may be small ‘refresh moments’ for a first-time reader choosing to start the series with a book other than the first one. These ‘refresh moments’ will provide the reader with an orientation of what happened in the beginning of the series. The trick is to limit this to only the necessary details and ensure the reader of every book in the series isn’t reading the same exact details again.  An example of this is in Cobra Pose where we use the characters themselves to remember some details about each other.  [Excerpt from Chapter 2 – Off Like a Rocket]

‘I found your canvas shoes,’ he said as they walked down the lane.

     ‘Yes, I remembered where they were … after you left. Thanks for letting me stay with you eight weeks ago; after those two break-ins at my apartment.’

     ‘You’re welcome. You do remember the finer details of things.’

     ‘Two months, Ric? And you’ve forgotten that I remember things? How about this? Height 194 centimetres, in bare feet. Shoe size 10.5. Your suit jacket is a “long”. Pants have front pleats. You’re partial to cotton, silk, merino wool and cashmere. RM Williams boots are worn for casual wear. Side speed-zip and lace-ups for work boots. You shave with a straight razor, use maca root shaving cream and wear Speedo bathing suits. And thanks to Peter, my blind neighbour, we know you like Irish Tweed cologne.’

     ‘Wow, pretty good, Ms Williams.’ Ric guided Elaina to the Lacey Lane building entrance. ‘Back at ya. You are 168 centimetres in height. Shoe size 6.5. You tailor your clothing to fit an hourglass figure. You also prefer cotton, silk, merino wool, cashmere and just about sheer everything else. Shoes are canvas for casual wear, leather for formal wear, and Birkenstocks are okay. I can attest a full-length bathing suit casts you as an Olympic swimmer. You prefer vegetarian pizza. Your perfume is an array of fragrances which was named after the Shalimar Gardens.’

     Elaina took it all in. ‘Have you been measuring me while I sleep?’

     ‘Certainly not. How could I? You sleep curled up in a ball.’

     ‘You sleep on your back with your arms behind your head, like you’re poolside at a resort.’

     ‘Touché,’ Ric said.

Writing a series is like playing three-dimensional chess. The games are more difficult to build and more strategic, but they also allow time for more realism and complexity as the series progresses.

From a story perspective, a series also allows continuation of some of the characters, which becomes something readers and listeners often enjoy. This follow-on can also provide the characters time to continue to grow and develop.

How did you balance writing for two different formats – print and audiobook?

ANS: We always knew that we would produce audiobooks after each book was published.  There’s just something magic about bringing the characters and plot together in an audiobook format, which is also a popular media format currently making a ‘comeback’ from audiotapes and discs. 

We always read our books over and over again to each other during their construction.  It allows us to hear the flow of the story, letting us know where we needed to add ‘the zing’ into the description or the dialogue. 

Though reading aloud during the creation takes time. We like to listen to the words and how they sound. We work to make a ‘realistic but wonderfully descriptive’ story with the sounds.  And it’s also easier for us to tell when we need to add or subtract words, concepts or connections.

We think that good storytelling naturally lends itself to audiobooks.  We just had to find a way to produce the audiobook that we could hear in our heads.  That was the challenge! 

Did you consciously make decisions keeping the audiobook narration in mind?

ANS: We use a variety of tools to keep track of the ‘threads’ that we want to continue throughout the series, and those that may last only in one of the books.  And listening to the story as we read out loud helps strengthen that structure.

We knew the ultimate work will be presented in two formats, and that drove us to spend the time crafting the structure to get it right for both formats.

The most difficult part of writing this book (and every book) is writing The End.  We get very involved with the book, the characters and the plotline.  So, it is like closing the door and saying goodbye to good friends, if only for awhile. 

That is probably another reason we have gone on to develop audiobooks for our series.  The Dead Man’s Pose and Cobra Pose audiobooks feature a world-renown voice actor, Rupert Degas.  Thus, we can listen to our characters ‘in action’ whenever we have a moment. This helps reinforce where we will be going with the storyline and the character development in the future books in the series.

How did you navigate the process of writing a cohesive story as co-authors? Were there any specific challenges?

Anyone looking at our backgrounds would wonder how we met, how we stayed together, and how in the world do we write books together.  It definitely isn’t easy, but it’s fun.

John’ s background was a little different, starting his career as a biologist, then serving as a commissioned naval officer.  He was also a designated law enforcement officer and environmental emergency specialist in the United States.  Susan’s life took a major detour when she became a commissioned naval officer and a designated law enforcement officer.  Susan also headed a small arms weapons training team for the for the US Coast Guard and conducted safety and engineering inspections of ships at sea.

That’s where our paths came together. We met at Officer’s Candidate School in Yorktown, Virginia. Susan was a rule follower, doing things ‘by the book’.  John liked to figure out ways to break the break the rules. There was an immediate attraction.   

Now, when we write, we sit in a small bay window for 12-14 hours a day. We built a narrow American ash table that fits two computers and lots of coffee cups.  Using this table, we finished our first mystery novel, Dead Man’s Pose, about a murder occurring in Sydney, Australia. It becomes three murders after wrangling a plotline from the creative ether. We argued over many things—from character flaws, to location descriptions, to unique methods of murder.

The narrowness of the table forced us to eventually see ‘eye to eye’ to continue writing the series.

How do you resolve the differences?

ANS: It is the passion between us that creates the tension in the stories. It isn’t easy to have two strong personality types build a gummy web of intrigue. As we both have military experiences, sometimes there is a bit of pulling rank or ‘drawing swords’.

Most of the time (miraculously), we maintain our humor. The impenetrable goal is always not to tarnish (too much) our long relationship by arguing over Oxford commas, how to place Australianisms, or where to bury clues so they are read, but not apparent.

We write, we focus and we share the passion that we have for each other and our stories. We laugh and cry and encourage Elaina – our main protagonist in books 1 and 2 – onwards in her journey. Our solicitor turned yoga instructor overcomes various issues in the first two books with a zig-zagging pathway.

Elaina’s handsome, dark horse partner, Ric, is easier to write about. He seems to collaborate with us throughout the mystery-thriller series, making us laugh at his wry humour and smart dialogue. Thanks Ric! Readers and listeners will get better acquainted with Ric’s past in books 3 (Tree Pose) and 4 (Warrior Pose).

We have dug deeply into our backgrounds and our personal experiences working across the world. We created a souffle of English, business, technical writing, biology, chemistry and trivia to create the series. Do we tear our hair out, gnash teeth, or threaten to jump from the 14^th floor window? Well, the jumping would be difficult as we are on the ground level … but sometimes it seems like that.

During the blazing arguments and work-throughs, we pound out the direction were headed and how we would get there. That’s where our passion for writing burns brightest.

Would we do it again? You bet! We have worked together to release two eBooks and 2 audiobooks in about 16 months. And the next three are drafted and will be ‘perfected’ one by one. Drafting the stories in advance was another method to help us develop this series.

As the story of Cobra Pose unfolds in Brisbane, how did you ensure the city’s essence was captured effectively in the book?

ANS: We have spent 12 years in Australia working and exploring many of the locales in this extraordinary country of Australia. Cobra Pose takes place in the sub-tropical city of Brisbane and the surrounding area of Queensland. Brisbane is a great city which runs along the winding Brisbane River.  The river actually reminds us of how twisty a mystery plot can go.

We have been fortunate to have lived and worked in many countries in the world. So, we always look for the ‘discovery’ of a city from the reader’s point of view. 

We purposely ground-truth each and every locale that our characters live, visit or explore. This includes both the protagonists and the antagonists.

As Cobra Pose was being written, we ground-truthed every street, every restaurant, and even took a few days to stay on Stradbroke Island, near Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. This was to carefully plot out the final emotional action scenes related to one of the overarching themes of this book – hacking. 

And it was then that we received an email from our Australian communications company.  We’d been hacked!

“At first it was very frustrating to learn we’d been hacked,” John commented. “But we realised in thinking about it, that it was the perfect validation for all the work we had done in preparation for Cobra Pose.”

“And some of the things we learned during that particular occurrence, also helped us better construct the plot!” Susan concluded. 

Can you give us a hint about what you’re working on next?

ANS: Absolutely!

Tree Pose is the 3^rd book in the series and Ric and Elaina travel to Tasmania (one of the states of Australia) which is an island in the southern part of the country.

Warrior Pose is the 4^th book in the series and Ric takes Elaina to the place he was born – New Zealand.

Half Moon Pose is the 5^th book in the series and Elaina persuades Ric to head to France where her mother was born.

How do you hope readers and listeners will feel after finishing your book or audiobook?

ANS: This is the best question of all. Our answer is for the reader and listener to be swept away with the mystery, suspense and thriller themes, as well as the romance and faraway places.

Stories are a magic way of taking one to another place in a relatively short time.

And of course, we hope that the reader and listener can’t wait to get into the next eBook and audiobook and are hungry for more!

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