Collaboration can be a difficult exercise. Egos, personality quirks, differing agendas and time constraints are just some of the issues that can get in the way. When working together, however, my daughter Sarah and I have experienced few if any of these pitfalls. Being father and daughter we share not only DNA but also many experiences, traits, predilections and points of view. We shared a close relationship throughout her childhood, which continues to this day. We have the kind of rapport and shared knowledge that allows us to communicate whole ideas with a single catchword or phrase. In other words, despite the generational differences we “get “each other, which is a big plus in the shared creative process. Our creative relationship, not surprisingly, grew out of our personal relationship.

I think it is safe to say that working together has been beneficial for both of us though it is true that we approach it from different view points. For me it is a hobby, a pleasurable pastime, for her it is an avocation and a career. Our collaboration is a two way stream of inspiration, instruction and motivation, but especially so for me. In fact I had all but ceased writing once my children had become adults and it was Sarah who inspired me to return to my creative endeavors after many years of dormancy. The gift of inspiration that I hope I had given her when she was a child has, in a sense, been re-gifted to me, and has returned to me a lost source of pleasure and feeling of accomplishment that I had forgotten.