How do each of your parts of the project fit into the larger whole?
Bill Myers: For better or worse, I created the series and the characters in a web series pilot along with the first book. Somehow, by the grace of God, I managed to talk some good friends who are at the top of their writing game into the crazy idea of choosing one character and writing additional episodes (like a TV series) from that character’s point of view. A crazy idea. Crazier still, they agreed.
Angela Hunt: Considering that I’m the only female among the writers, I think I present Andi as a very smart but decidedly female character—with all of the attendant emotions. She adores the professor, she likes Tank, and she is patient with all of them. Usually.
Alton Gansky: My task was to write from Tank’s point of view. Tank is a large, good-ol’ boy, with a huge heart, and bulging muscles. Yet, he is sensitive and protective of the others. Some might think he’s a “dumb ox,” but he’s not—he’s unsophisticated and unpretentious. He is the Christian witness in the group and he cares a great deal about truth. He has no problem staying in the shadows. He is as humble as he is big. Of the group, he is the one to see things in a spiritual light. Often, the only one to do so.
What was the biggest challenge writing your part of a composite story like Harbingers?
Bill Myers: After the first cycle, catching the wild and creative curves the author before me would write and incorporating them into my next book starting the next cycle. But that was also the most fun. Between the four of us I don’t know how many hundreds of books we’ve written. This new approach made things fresh and alive, keeping me on my toes, forcing me to go into challenging and uncharted territory.
Angela Hunt: The biggest challenge—and I think this would apply to any series with multiple authors—is keeping the details straight. When you’re writing alone, all you have to remember are your details. When you’re writing with a team, you have to remember all the little details that everyone else tossed into the mix.
Alton Gansky: Keeping Tank real, believable. My fear was that I would present him as the stereotypical dumb jock—he played college football—when he was so much more. In some ways, each character had a private mission folded into the shared mission of the team. Tank’s mission was to portray Christ to the others, something they had no interest in—at first.
Click though to learn what surprised the authors about the finished project…