Madam President
Drama, Humor, Lesbian Romance, First Edition Published in 2001, Co-written by T. Novan, ISBN: 0974621013, $18.95, 384 pages
Story Summary
Author Commentary
The sequel to Madam President is entitled: First Lady.
In this Lambda Literary Society best-seller, Devlyn Marlowe, the first woman President of the United States, has just been elected. Breaking with the tradition of hiring a political writer to chronicle her administration, President Marlowe selects one Lauren Strayer, a professional biographer with a reputation for absolute honesty. There's a slight problem with Devlyn's plan, though. Lauren wants nothing to do with what she sees as a political hack job.It takes some serious persuading, but the Commander-in-Chief is an eloquent negotiator, and Lauren reluctantly agrees to take the job, provided she truly has editorial freedom. So armed with her computer, her incredibly ugly Pug, and a fair bit of trepidation, Lauren finds herself in residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
There, amidst the harrowing and demanding life of the First Family, Lauren begins to understand and eventually love the complex woman who is both leader of a great nation and loving single parent to three rambunctious children.
Funny, realistic, romantic, and endearing, Madam President is rapidly becoming a modern classic, with thirteen months on the Open Book Best Seller list.
Madam President is, undoubtedly, my most popular collaboration with the talented T. Novan. This was a story where not only TN and I 'clicked,' but the characters did as well. I'm often asked what it's like to write a story with another author, how it works, etc. I've had varied experiences with co-authors and the best advice I can offer is to try it. You'll know pretty quickly if it's for you. The experience of creating something with another person is both rewarding and challenging. Your ability to compromise is tested, and there are many times that you're forced to step back from a story and look at where you're going and why. And that's the exact reason that joint writing projects can turn out some wonderful pieces of fiction.
As for specifics, while we both wrote all the characters in the story, I was principally responsible for writing Lauren, the children, Janet Marlowe, and Beth, while TN handled much of Devlyn, David, and Frank Marlowe. None of our habits were written in stone, but but having a ‘primary’ owner of each character helped to keep them true. For example, if I wasn't sure how David would react in a certain situation, I could consult with TN, who had spent more time inside his head than I had, and vice versa.Dev and Lauren were a fictional match made in heaven. The story is very character-driven and the reader is presented with dated sections depicting slivers of the characters’ lives. I loved the freedom of the format and the chance to show readers the big and no so big moments that make us who we are. An amazing, but little known fact, is that this entire novel was written in three or four months; a feat I don't think T. Novan nor myself will ever have the energy to achieve again.