Steelhands

Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett wrote their first novel together, Havemercy, over the Internet—Jones in New York and Bennett in British Columbia. They now shuttle between apartments in Brooklyn and Victoria, B. C., and which makes their collaboration much easier.
About Danielle Bennett

Photo © Matthew Lichtash

Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett wrote their first novel together, Havemercy, over the Internet—Jones in New York and Bennett in British Columbia. They now shuttle between apartments in Brooklyn and Victoria, B. C., and which makes their collaboration much easier.
Author Q&A
ABOUT THE WRITING PROCESS:

Music listened to during writing:
Regina Spektor. "Begin to Hope" came out that summer and it was the soundtrack to the book–until both our roommates were driven completely insane and never wanted to hear even a few bars of “Après Moi” again.

Writing habits:
Forgetting to eat. While writing Havemercy, both of us would be glued to the computer, forgetting all necessary social and hygienic propriety (if we ever knew it to begin with).

Best moment in the writing process:
Danielle — Waking up in the morning to see that Jaida had sent me literally fifteen pages, all of them brilliant, and having to sit down with a cup of tea in my pajamas to try and wrangle what came next.
Jaida — Getting the next part from Danielle to read something that I completely wasn't expecting, and having the characters suddenly react spontaneously to a situation I was just as surprised by as they were.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Favorite scene/bit in the book:
Jaida — Definitely the final battle scene. I remember working on it up until the very last second before class, and knowing if I didn't just get the scene finished, I wouldn't be able to make it through the day. It was a moment I'd actually been dreading, because it was all action and I didn't trust myself to juggle so much, but once I sat down and started it, it immediately became my favorite scene to write.
Danielle — It's hard not to pick the final battle scene also, but just to be different I'm going to go with the ballroom scene, if only because I have a deep and abiding love for political intrigue. Not that I consider myself smart enough to always pull it off, but the many layers of what's really going on with the magicians, not to mention Thom and Rook, all the things left unsaid never fail to delight me.

Favorite character in the book:
Jaida — Rook. It’s so much easier to write an angry potty-mouth than someone who's actually eloquent.
Danielle — Balfour. I love everyone so much, but I spent a lot of time thinking about the littlest Airman and in the end found I'd grown quite attached, bless him.

The one line high-concept:
Metal Dragons.

What’s next:
We're working on a semi-sequel to Havemercy about the other side, the Ke-Han. Hopefully there will be a full incorporation of Japanese folk legends, culture shock, and cross-dressing!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Book currently on nightstand:
Danielle — Guy Gavriel Kay's Ysabel
Jaida — Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories (I re-read it every year)

Favorite band/musical group:
Danielle — Right now, I'm in love with a Japanese band called Bump of Chicken. I think the story behind their name is that they wanted to give their listeners goose bumps, only something got lost in the translation.

Spend way too much money on:
Jaida — Coats. This as you can imagine is not very useful in NYC in the summer when it's 95 degrees and almost 100% humidity.

From the Hardcover edition.