Searching for the Serpent’s Crown: The Antiquity Affair by Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne

BY MARILYN PEMBERTON

1907, New York. It is the eve of intellectual Lila Ford’s debut ball, when she expects to have to do her duty and catch herself a man, preferably the wealthy William Hendricks, in order to save the family from financial ruin, caused by her father, Dr Warren Ford, an eminent but irresponsible Egyptologist. Lila’s younger sister, Tess, is far more practical than her sister; she takes after her father and dreams of following in his sandy footprints. In a case of mistaken identity, a secret organization kidnaps Tess, believing that she is the only one who can help them find the Serpent’s Crown, a lost relic that, legend has it, will provide them with world domination.

And so begins an adventure where the two previously estranged sisters are reunited in Egypt and have to collaborate in order to solve the coded puzzles to find the relic but avoid allowing it to fall into the wrong hands.

The Antiquity Affair (Harper Muse, June 2023) is an Indiana Jones-like story co-written by Lee Kelly, who lives in New Jersey, USA and Jennifer Thorne, who lives in Gloucestershire, UK. Kelly explains that ‘Our primary goal with writing The Antiquity Affair was crafting a story we would have fun writing together – an immersive adventure with a theme of collaboration at its core … what I especially loved about writing The Antiquity Affair is that the book itself is about partnership – about working with someone who has different strengths and interests and then together, being able to achieve something greater than either one of you could have if working alone. I was learning about collaboration right along with my character.’

Kelly and Thorne both debuted their first novels in 2015 and became good friends through their marketing and promotion efforts. It was a couple of years later that Thorne suggested they write something together and Kelly accepted straight away. According to Kelly, ‘The writing and plotting chemistry were there right away, as was the mutual excitement.’ The two women were big fans of each other’s work and Thorne’s hunch that ‘we’d write well together both in terms of craft sensibilities and our personalities meshing’ proved to be correct.

author Lee Kelly

They both love adventure stories and it was soon apparent that this was the genre they both wanted to write together. Thorne admits that the ‘initial germ of an idea was pretty simple: Indiana Jones with women.’ Kelly further explains that they asked themselves what would the adventure stories that traditionally feature male protagonists look like with ‘a female heroine – or two female heroines who had to work together, versus single-handedly, to save the day? We decided we wanted to craft an adventure novel that paid homage to the best parts of franchises like Indiana Jones and The Mummy, the twists and turns, the puzzle solving, the world travel and romance … while at the same time, striving to write a socially conscious story that examines and grapples with the sexism and racism inherent in those types of story.’

Kelly said that once the personalities of the sisters became fleshed out, because Thorne is ‘a puzzle and languages pro, whereas I naturally gravitate towards the mythology and storytelling aspects of history, so it was almost like the characters chose us.’ Thorne admits that, unlike Lila, she is not ‘anywhere close to a genius’ but she is ‘similarly clumsy and unathletic, and at times, annoyingly pedantic!’ Thorne is, unlike Tess, an older sister, so she admits that it took ‘some time, honestly, to get into Tess’s mindset and this idea of having a perpetual chip on my shoulder! Tess’s birth order has a lot to do with how she views the world, what she wants, and what she hopes to prove to her family and society. Once I started writing her, though, I really started to get her.’

author Jennifer Thorne

Thorne knew that ‘if we were going to take gross liberties with historical figures and Egyptian mythology – the myth of the Serpent’s Crown and the Five Ladies was our own invention – we needed to surround the fiction with historical context that was as true as possible in order to sell the lie.’ So, both Kelly and Thorne spent months researching Progressive Era Manhattan, Egyptology, Belle Epoque Paris, archaeological methodology, Egyptian mythology and Ancient Egyptian dynasties. Thorne also versed herself in cryptology and hieroglyphic translations as much as she could without actually entering a degree program!

As the two women live on different continents their collaboration had to be done totally remotely. Kelly describes their writing process: ‘we talked over Google chat every week, traded emails, and were constantly thinking and building upon the story or floating new plot twists and character nuances to each other, so the book very much felt like the product of a partnership.’ The preferred means of communication in order to resolve problems was Skype or ‘phone as ‘the best way to discuss any disagreements or different visions is on a call, versus on emails,’ and it is vital, Kelly asserts, that ‘all feedback is presented with kindness and in the spirit of support.’ Thorne agrees that ‘there were gruelling moments, to be sure. Revision was a beast, given the many iterations of the story we had to keep in our heads simultaneously! But looking back, it was all great. Writing can be so isolating. It’s been a joy to have such a simpatico co-worker, especially a partner like Lee who is also one of my best friends.’

Both Kelly and Thorne have thoroughly enjoyed working together and have learned a lot about the collaborative process. Kelly suggests that ‘the most important thing about co-writing, over having a similar writing style or process style or what-not, is mutual respect – respect for your partner and their ideas, first and foremost. And I think Jenn and I built that trusting relationship writing The Antiquity Affair, and created a safe space where we both feel free to throw out any and all ideas to see what sticks, welcoming wacky concepts and plot threads in the spirit of getting to an answer that feels “right” to both of us. I also think there needs to be respect for the process, as well as for each other’s process – an understanding that collaboration is just like any creative undertaking and will involve trial and error, multiple drafts, same as any solo writing endeavour – that this is an evolution, and that the book will come together through cooperation and multiple iterations.’

Thorne adds that for a successful partnership, ‘You absolutely cannot be a control freak, trying to steer the book into your singular vision for it. It just won’t work, not with any writing partner. I also think it’s worthwhile to test the water with a potential writing partner. See how it goes to come up with concepts before you jump into drafting. Be honest with yourself – do you enjoy the back and forth with this person? Beyond their writing style, are your ideas in the same ballpark? And do you have that kind of natural rapport that’s going to keep you allied through years in the publication timeline? Third tip – don’t be afraid to get personal. Things come up, life has twists and turns, and the more your writing partner is aware of what’s going on with you outside of your shared document, the stronger your working relationship will be.’

Kelly and Thorne loved writing The Antiquity Affair together so much that they are in the process of writing their next novel. It is set in 1950s Holywood and is another female-centred adventure.

About the contributor: Marilyn Pemberton has a passion for fairy tales that subvert and challenge the social mores that exist at the time. Pemberton has written the biography of a Victorian fairy-tale writer, Out of the Shadows: the Life and Works of Mary De Morgan, and fictionalised De Morgan’s life in The Jewel Garden. In her historical trilogy, Grandmother’s Footsteps, the main female protagonists from different generations write fairytales that express their frustrations at the constraints imposed on them and offer different solutions. The first two books of the trilogy, A Teller of Tales and A Keeper of Tales, are now available and A Seeker of Tales is in progress.