For Immediate Release: Husband and Wife Writing Team has One Millionth Argument
Portland, Ore. — It was a milestone for husband and wife writing team Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall who, on the morning of Jan. 13, had their one millionth fight related to writing together.
“The exciting part is that it really came out of nowhere,” said Clark Hays, coauthor of the Cowboy and Vampire Collection. “Some fights you sort of expect, and maybe even anticipate a little bit, but this one caught me totally off guard. It was completely organic.”
The fight, like every other fight that preceded it, started over something completely random and meaningless, having more to do with a long weekend of editing and laying out the first book, the rights of which recently reverted to Clark and Kathleen from the original publisher.
“You always wonder where you will be when these big moments happen,” said Kathleen. “I was in bed checking our tweet stream on my phone and getting my brain in gear to go back to work after a long weekend spent incorporating edits on our third book, planning the relaunch marketing strategy and battling the urge to take a nap.”
The fight centered on perceived levels of celebratory spirit about the progress made on the layout and printing process.
“This was a new one for us,” Clark said. “Usually we fight about things that are least somewhat related to the writing process like whether we use too many em-dashes — the answer is no, by the way — or whether a character would really start a sentence with ‘well.’ I’m proud of us for taking our arguing to the next level.”
The authors noted that not talking from 6:30 to 7:02 a.m. is hardly noticeable, but still worth the effort.
“When you’ve had as many fights as we have, you have to really work at keeping them fresh,” said Kathleen. “I don’t think we’ll ever be the kind of writing partners who are just quietly, boringly locked into one or two argument topics. I feel that Clark is always trying to surprise me, and the least I can do is return the favor.”
To celebrate, the couple decided to ride their bikes to work in silence, keeping at least ten feet between them the entire way. The fight was resolved, as per usual, by email.
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About the Cowboy and Vampire Collection
The Cowboy and the Vampire: A Very Unusual Romance will be re-released by Pumpjack Press in early 2014, unless many more fights break out. The Cowboy and the Vampire: Blood and Whiskey, is currently available in the usual places and will be getting a new cover and a little nip tuck action as soon as the authors can quit bickering about what to put on the back page. The Cowboy and the Vampire: Rough Trails and Shallow Graves will be out by summer of 2014 to coincide with the authors two millionth fight.
Earlier this past year, we went to a local production of Venus in Fur at the Portland Center Stage. It’s a play about a playwright struggling to adapt the classic novella, Venus in Furs (by Sacher-Masoch). The literary work is famous for exploring some dark themes, including sadomasochism, and the play — a kind of a play within a play — taps into the psycho-sexual tension between a writer/director and an auditioning starlet. We were unexpectedly treated to a play within a play within a play because, in the row in front of us, another little drama was taking place. 
Cowboy wisdom, Roanoke vampires, favorite books, soapy bombs, and romantic beginnings – the five most read pages this past year. Thanks for all the hits and we’ll do our best to keep you entertained in 2014.