Two Authors Under One Roof

The two authors under one roof I’m writing about today are my husband and I; Bobby and Barbara Underwood.   You might be wondering about the dynamics of two authors married to each other, so I’m about to tell you!  First of all, let me explain how we met:

In this age of internet and email connecting everyone across the globe, it’s easier than ever to find someone who is your perfect match, and that’s how it was with Bobby and me.  Bobby was living in California and actively writing amazon reviews, but what he really wanted to do was pursue a writing career.   Having a full-time job made that dream seem almost impossible, so writing reviews for classic films and books was the next best thing.

And I was living in Sydney, Australia, where I had already written my first novel but didn’t know what to do next.  So I was keeping busy by writing amazon reviews for films and books, too, and that’s how we connected – on amazon.com.  Back then it was easy to find like-minded reviewers and contact them, so that’s when Bobby and I began corresponding by email and the occasional ‘snail-mail’ letters and cards.

That’s how Bobby ended up coming to Australia where we were married, and later moved from Sydney to a country town in NSW.  These changed circumstances allowed us to have much more free time to finally pursue our dreams.   Bobby was finally able to put down on paper a life time of stories he had inside, while I worked on a sequel to my first novel (Rhuna, Keeper of Wisdom).  Bobby was writing about a dozen books to just one of mine!

His books also cover more genres, such as Mystery and Detective, Science Fiction and Dystopian, Romantic Fantasy, Pulp, Noir and Western while my books are part of one large fantasy series.

Although our books are quite different, we still have the many fundamentals of writing in common, such as going with the creative moods or dealing with discouragement and ‘down days’.  We know when to give each other the necessary peace and space to write a while, and then balance the rest of the day’s activities around our writing periods. 

One of those other activities is taking our dog, Cisco, to the park at least twice a day, which is actually a very good break mentally, not to mention keeping us physically fit!  While doing these other things, we often talk about what we are writing at the time, or plan to write next.  Other times we discuss reviews we’ve received for our books, as well as other books we’ve enjoyed reading, discussing the aspects we like best and can learn from.

Bobby and Cisco in the park by the river

Being Independent Authors, we don’t have deadlines to meet, and this is a good thing we feel, because we don’t have any pressure which would make us rush our work.  Quality is definitely more important than speed or quantity of books!  On the other hand, we still give ourselves a realistic goal to meet, as well as a bit of structure to the planning of our books and their marketing.  When a book is finished, we often proofread each other’s work, but after that we go our own ways where publishing and marketing are concerned.  For example, all of Bobby’s books are available exclusively on amazon, at the discount price of 99cents and on Kindle Unlimited.

Bobby and I are not competitive, but I can imagine that other couples in the same profession might be, and in their case it can be a good thing.  In our case, we usually inspire and encourage each other, and Bobby’s success with many sales, particular his Western series, all year so far make me happy rather than envious or jealous.  

So this is our story - of two authors under one roof.

Ancient Mysteries in the South Pacific

Quite a few years ago now, I had the privilege of travelling to a small group of islands in the South Pacific called Tonga.  I was living in Sydney at the time, and trips from the east coast of Australia to the southern Pacific were not too expensive.  Western Samoa, Cook Islands and even Tahiti had also been in my travel plans back then, but Tonga was special.

That’s because I had been reading Thor Heyerdahl’s books about his adventures across the world’s oceans in search of megalithic ruins and other evidence of a technologically advanced civilization that explored the entire world in ancient times.  This subject had fascinated me since childhood, and I began to read up on it more seriously when I was in my twenties. 

Among Heyerdahl’s explorations of the Pacific, including the famous Easter Island, he also discovered similar giant stone statues in the Marquesas Islands, then continued on to Tahiti.  In passing, he mentioned the remains of pyramids on the main island of Tonga, and that’s why this small island was on my radar.

So off I went on a short vacation, making sure I had maps and arrangements to see the stone ruins on Tonga.   In my mind’s eye, I saw the pictures I had seen in many books on the subject of megalithic ruins, such as this one of a wall on Easter Island:

It is often compared to the walls found in Cusco, as well as many other places across Central and South America.  This is just one example Heyerdahl - and now many others - used to support the theory that ancient megalith builders crossed the Pacific and other oceans and established colonies or new settlements using the same building techniques.

So imagine the thrill when I first saw a complex of several different-sized pyramid bases, or truncated pyramids, on the main island of Tonga!  The stone blocks fit closely together like the Easter Island wall, albeit showing some signs of erosion – perhaps due to the tropical climate and occasional flooding.

Megalithic buildings in Tonga

Not only that, but in another area on this small island of Tonga is a “mini Stonehenge” complete with a “Hele Stone” (a single stone strategically placed to use as a sighting stone in astronomical measurements).   Tonga has a single arch, as if taken out of the famous Stonehenge complex, but the straight lines of the massive stone blocks are identical.

The "Hele Stone" on Tonga

These historic sites in Tonga have a local version given to tourists, such as the story of a Polynesian king who authorized the 'gate' to be built, but other historians and scientists believe the origins of the megaliths are much older and were made by other people.  

Personally, I think it's too much of a coincidence that ancient stone structures are identical or very similar all across the world.  And if a civilization had the technology to make evenly cut and sized stone blocks for building purposes, then one can assume they also had the knowledge and ability to make ocean-crossing vessels.

Apart from Heyerdahl's books, David Hatcher Childress has also written extensively about his explorations of ancient megalithic structures around the world, and one book is just about Tonga:

https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Tonga-Lost-City-MuA/dp/0932813364

I have used some of this information, along with my own personal travel experiences around the Pacific, in my Fantasy-Fiction series, RHUNA.   The heroine named Rhuna spent her childhood on Easter Island until she learned about the Atlantis-like civilization beyond the horizon.  She then spends her adolescence on Tonga (called Mediz in my story) before making another long sea voyage to the land of Atlan...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008YN2QMK

Part Two in Rhuna, Keeper of Wisdom is set in "Mediz" (Tonga), while the short story, The Summer Sojourn is set entirely there, and details Rhuna's adolescent years.  

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BJX53KG