At the end of the day, we have both our names on the book and we've both got to be proud of it. It's a joint effort, but that doesn't mean it has to be a compromise. On the contrary, working together means that we try and show off to each other. We have a rule that we have to make our writing as polished as possible before we show it to the other person. Generally, we try to be as constructive as possible when it comes to criticism.
Most problems only occur when there's been a lack of planning.
The more we write together, the clearer it becomes that good planning is essential. Taking those kinds of decisions is very painful and it's best to avoid them at all costs. Every writer has a different process, but for us, from now on, the plan is to work up a water-tight plot before we start. Our friends and family seem to have accepted that writing novels is our job, so for them there wasn't as much excitement as there has been in the past. For us, though, having a novel published and seeing it out there in the shops is still a huge buzz, terrifying and exciting at the same time.