• InterventionsAn Interview with Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher
• Frederick Luis Aldama

Collaborative creation in the realm of the novel is a rarity. I'm not sure why. Film, children's books, and comics do more than fine with many mini-creators at the helm. Indeed, when we have had prose fictional collaborations they've resulted in some innovative—even excellent—creative results. In Italy, a group of ten Futurists created Lo zar non è morto (1929)—a much applauded speculative espionage novel. There's that wildly raucous rollercoaster ride Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg created (under the pseudonym Maxwell Kenton) with Candy (1958). Playboy named Candy one of the "25 Sexiest Novels Ever Written," and because of its radical innovation of the picaresque form, back in the day I could justify having it front and center on my PhD reading list. More recently, there was the Amazon Prime serial remake of the Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett fantastical novel, Good Omens (1990). And, as recently as 2015, five Australian women made headlines with their co-created, The Painted Sky, published under the pseudonym Alice Campion. Gosh, today, there's even sophisticated AI that co-creates fiction with you: you begin the story with a launch like "once upon a time..." and it will continue the story, asking you to chime in every once in a while as it spins stories anew. The jury's still out on this.

With Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher's publication of Sanctuary (2020) we see yet another great burst of creativity through the collaborative process.

Of course, Paola and Abby represent remarkable creative talents in their own right.

Paola's an award-winning film director, artist, actor, and activist; she's cofounder of the Women's March on Washington. She's been named Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film." Working as seamlessly as a director of films like Entre Nos (2009) acting in internationally acclaimed Sangre de mi Sangre [2007]) to her novels published in English and Spanish The Ones Who Don't Stay (2013)—a Romeo and Juliet story that follows the life of Mariana and Antonio in a war-torn 1970s Colombia and their nightmarish life in the US.

Abby's a much-applauded author of YA fiction, memoir, and nonfiction in national newspapers and magazines. For instance, in Breaking Free: True Stories of Girls Who Escaped Modern Slavery (2014) she dramatically drops us directly into the complex minds of three women, survivors of sexual enslavement. In Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoir of a Girl Who Couldn't Stop Praying (2009) Abby immerses us in her own ten-year-old self's complex response to loss. Abby's also written and performed for the Second City in Chicago as well as The Upright Citizen's Brigade, HBO, and Nick Jr.

Together, Paola and Abby create a remarkable, near future-set story that follows Vali and her little brother Ernie—in a US where all citizens are chipped and tracked; counterfeit chips are the order of the day for undocumented immigrants, until they malfunction. Sanctuary states are fortifying against the xenophobic neighbor states. Taken together, Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher lay to rest the lone-genius novelist myth. They announce to the world that the melding of two minds in the fiction writing process can and does result in brilliance.

I had the great honor of meeting and learning from Paola and Abby about their collective journey.

Paola, after migrating to the US, your mother struggled to raise you and your brother on her own.

We migrated from Colombia to a working class and poor community in LA. My father abandoned us. He told my mom that he was going to work, and he just never came back. He left my mom with a three-year-old and a seven-year-old— and two hundred dollars.

My mom had a high school education. She knew absolutely no English. I saw her struggle to put food on the table. Some days she succeeded. Some days she didn't.

There weren't a lot of resources given to the community. The only opportunity that was available to us...

• 干预专访Paola Mendoza和Abby Sher
• 弗雷德里克·路易斯·阿尔达玛

小说领域的合作创作很少见。我不知道为什么。对于许多微型创作者来说，电影，儿童读物和漫画做得还不错。确实，当我们进行散文小说的合作时，它们带来了一些创新的，甚至是极好的创意结果。在意大利，由十个未来主义者组成的小组创作了《赞美诗》（Lo zar nonèmorto）（1929年），这是一本广受赞誉的投机间谍小说。特里·南方（Terry Southern）和梅森·霍芬贝格（Mason Hoffenberg）的疯狂过山车之旅（以化名麦克斯韦·肯顿（Maxwell Kenton）命名）与《糖果》（Candy，1958年）一起创作。花花公子叫糖果之一是“有史以来最性感的25部小说”之一，并且由于它对皮克斯式形式的彻底革新，使我有理由在我的博士读物清单上居于首位。最近，出现了亚马逊总理对尼尔·盖曼和特里·普拉切特的奇幻小说《好兆头》（1990）的翻拍。而且，最近在2015年，五位澳大利亚女性以他们的共同创作《涂漆的天空》（The Painted Sky）登上了头条，其笔名是爱丽丝·坎皮恩（Alice Campion）。天哪，今天，甚至还有复杂的AI与您共同创造小说：您以“一次一次……”这样的发布来开始故事，故事将继续下去，并要求您每隔一段时间响一声当它重新旋转故事时。陪审团对此仍未作出决定。

保罗·门多萨（Paola Mendoza）和艾比·谢尔（Abby Sher）在《保护区》（Sanctuary，2020年）的出版中，我们看到了通过协作过程又一次爆发的创造力。

当然，Paola和Abby本身就是杰出的创意人才。

保拉（Paola）是屡获殊荣的电影导演，艺术家，演员和活动家。她是华盛顿妇女游行的联合创始人。她被《电影制作人》杂志评选为“独立电影的25张新面孔”。像恩特尔·诺斯（Entre Nos，2009年）的电影导演那样无缝工作，在国际知名的Sangre de mi Sangre [2007年]中表演她在英语和西班牙语中出版的小说《不住的人》（2013），这是罗密欧与朱丽叶的故事随后是马里亚纳（Mariana）和安东尼奥（Antonio）在饱受战争折磨的1970年代哥伦比亚的生活以及他们在美国的噩梦般的生活。

艾比（Abby）在全国性报纸和杂志上广受赞誉的YA小说，回忆录和非小说类作家。例如，在《挣脱自由：逃脱现代奴隶制的女孩的真实故事》（2014年）中，她将我们直接投入了性奴役幸存者三名女性的复杂思维中。在阿门，阿门，阿门：一个无法停止祈祷的女孩的回忆录（2009年）艾比让我们沉浸在她自己十岁的自我对损失的复杂反应中。艾比（Abby）还为芝加哥第二城市（The Second City）以及The Upright Citizen's Brigade，HBO和Nick Jr撰写并表演。

Paola和Abby共同创造了一个引人注目的，不久的将来的故事，紧随Vali和她的弟弟Ernie（在美国，所有公民都被劫持和追踪）的故事。对于没有证件的移民，假币是他们的日常工作，直到他们出现故障为止。保护区国家正在加强仇外邻国的地位。保罗·门多萨（Paola Mendoza）和艾比·谢尔（Abby Sher）在一起躺下休息了这位天才小说家神话。他们向世界宣布，在小说创作过程中两种思想的融合可以而且确实会带来光彩。

我非常荣幸能与Paola和Abby会面并学习他们的集体旅程。

保拉移居美国后，您的母亲努力地独自抚养您和您的兄弟。

我们从哥伦比亚移民到洛杉矶的工人阶级和贫困社区。父亲抛弃了我们。他告诉我妈妈他要去上班，而他再也没有回来。他给我妈妈留下了一个三岁和一个七岁的孩子，以及两百美元。

我妈妈高中毕业。她绝对不会英语。我看到她努力把食物放在桌子上。几天她成功了。有几天她没有。

没有给社区太多资源。我们唯一可以利用的机会...