Friends and Foes: Lindsay Smith and Max Gladstone talk alliances, on and off the page

Lindsay Smith and Max Gladstone on writing The Witch Who Came In From The Cold

Lindsay Smith –

Magic and fiction are similar in many ways, but one of them is symmetry. We like our stories to rhyme. So to close out the first season of Cold Witch, Max and I decided to co-author the finale, just as we had the season premiere. Of course, life seemed so simple back then, when it was just Gabe and Tanya stumbling along in ignorant bliss. Now we have a whole mesh of characters with competing interests and allegiances, and a devious Flame operative on the loose — in possession of a Host. That calls for a finale that’s nothing short of explosive.

I think our main goal with this episode, beyond resolving the central arc (the Host/defector, Maksim Sokolov) of the season, was in showing just how far our heroes have come — and just how much further they have to go yet. Gabe and Tanya have worked together before, haltingly, begrudgingly, to stop the Golem of Prague. But can they do it on a more permanent basis? In a way that directly competes with their intelligence organizations’ interests?

There’s Jordan, too, whose avowed neutrality in the Ice/Flame conflict has gotten her into trouble all season thus far. It takes something major to persuade her to choose a side, even if it’s just for one teeny, tiny little world-changing ritual. That’s bound to have major political and metaphysical repercussions for her.

And how about Zerena? She’s a scheming socialite with an absentee ambassador husband, but as the season unfolded, her true colors shone through. Compared to the clumsy power grabs of our other friends in the Flame, her methods look far more competent and slow-burn. But we wanted this op to back her into a corner. It’ll be really fun to see the fallout for her next season, and how she plans to regroup.

Max Gladstone –

The best part, for me, about collaborating directly on a ColdWitch episode is the way the writing experience parallels the narrative. You’re working with someone else, yes, and you have a plan, but when you’re doing the work you’re alone at your keyboard, hoping the weird magic will come together and leave you with a piece that sings.

Lindsay and I started from a strong outline, but we ended up writing most of the scenes blind, then knitting them together. They meshed much better than I think either of us expected on the first pass — but it was a great trust fall exercise getting to a climactic scene break, leaving a space in which “Lindsay writes awesome groundbreaking magic stuff,” then picking up where I expect she’ll hand off the ball to me.

It went so smoothly, I think, because we had a season to get inside one another’s heads, and inside the characters — another way in which the process parallels the narrative, since fundamentally Gabe and Tanya can succeed here to the extent they’ve managed to build room for one another, against all odds and in spite of the consequences of such collaboration.

And there will be consequences. Our heroes best not get comfortable; they’ve pushed their luck so far. Will their alliance hold up under pressure — from the magical world, and from their own governments?

Stay tuned!

Originally published at blog.serialbox.com on April 29, 2016.