Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone)

ForNevermore .  
    Also with Season 2, we’ve had the awesome work of our editor, Matt Gartland, who has helped us have great copy produced at a tremendous clip.  

    DAVID: The overall process was relatively the same, but we had to work much faster with a goal of releasing a new book each week. As for tweaking, I believe the more you write, the better you get. So we keep writing and aiming for that perfect blend of story and character that defines serialized fiction for us.

    MATT: What new inspirations did you weave into the fold of the storytelling in Season 2 that weren't there in Season 1?

    DAVID: Our opening sequences in Season One weren’t exactly gripping. Between seasons, we were watching back-to-back episodes of Breaking Bad and LOVED how that show often opened up with something compelling and then circled back to deliver WHY it was compelling. LOST did that with its flashback openings from time to time, also.  
    So we opened up Season Two with the attack on the farm where the Drury group was staying. That was the biggest shift in writing this season, the opening sequences. Start strong or start compelling, or start weird, even, and then come back and tie that into the current timeline. We didn’t follow that formula in every episode, but overall, I think the openings were much better this season.  

    SEAN: I think our inspirations were mostly carried over from one season to the next. The biggest change was that we were writing for an active audience the second time around, and that changed the mood. It was wonderful to have readers waiting each Tuesday. One of the best parts of my year so far for sure.

    MATT: What "magic" can you share about how well you produce such captivating stories at such a high velocity?

    SEAN: I think speed is our key. Dave and I have written together for three and a half years, and I’ve had to write thousands of words a day professionally for all of that time. The velocity has always been there, as has the quality. That’s how I made my living. But now I’m getting to point that velocity toward something I love, while doing it with a creative partner who makes the writing fun, and deep, velocity isn’t the problem so much as deciding which stories we want to tell next!

    DAVID: Trying to keep up with Sean! And prodigious amounts of diet soda.  

    MATT: What was the hardest scene or episode for each of you to write, respectively, and why?

    DAVID: The hardest episode was Episode 11, “The Loophole.” I wanted to write a romantic storyline with elements of fate, destiny, and choice which would set the stage for the season finale in a big way.
    The big challenge was that we were asking readers to care a lot about Will, who had to that point been only a background character. So we had to slow down the plot to introduce Will’s back story. Initially, the Big Reveal at the end of Episode 11 was that Will had foretold his own death. But there was no parallel in that and what happened with his boyfriend, or in Episode 12.
    Sean and I brainstormed and then it hit us ... Will didn’t see his own death. He saw Luca’s! Will wasn’t trying to protect himself , he was trying to protect someone he loved. That revelation changed everything, bringing not only Episode 11 full circle, but it set up the season finale perfectly.
    Episode 11 was the hardest, but it was also the most rewarding. I’m not sure how many readers consider it a favorite, but it might be one of my favorite things I’ve been a part of.

    SEAN: Boricio’s origin. I really wanted to get that right. It’s important to get Boricio just right, and he’s definitely the most specific character I’ve ever written. That scene needed to say everything, and it had a lot of heavy lifting. Boricio is obviously central to the story, and it’s important that readers care about him, even if they hate him. That scene had a helluva job to do, and when I read it out loud to my wife, I knew it did it. It may not be the best scene in the series, but it’s my favorite. So far. Probably.

    MATT: Did you ever feel, individually or collectively, that you were writing yourselves into a corner? If so, how did you work out of that?

    SEAN: Ha, a bunch of times. Not really, but we would have if we weren’t careful. We have our straight lines because of Dave. I’m more haphazard than he is, and would miss the details that help keep Yesterday’s Gone in key. Whenever we had something that looked like it would lead down a