Susan and Clay Griffith met in a bookstore over a copy of X-Men #201. The meeting led to marriage and collaboratively writing urban fantasy novels and short stories and media tie-in work.

Daily Dragon (DD): How did a copy of X-Men bring you together?

Clay & Susan Griffith (C&SG): Clay was working at B. Dalton Bookseller, and Susan came in as a customer. She bought a copy of X-Men #201, and she claims that he spoiled the ending. He disputes this. Either way, we’ve been together ever since.

DD: How long after you met did you start writing together, and what spurred you to try it?

C&SG: Several years. We certainly read and helped edit each other’s solo writing for a long time before we started working on the same projects. We started working together when an editor called Clay to ask if he was interested in writing some Disney-licensed comic book stories. Clay immediately said yes, but he wasn’t really a huge Disney guy. Fortunately, Susan was.

DD: What was your first sale?

C&SG: Our first collaborative sale was a Disney comic story. It was either Toy Story or Beauty and the Beast. Not sure which one came first.

DD: What is the Vampire Empire series about?

C&SG: The series focuses on Princess Adele, heir to the Empire of Equatoria, a remnant of the old tropical British Empire. When she becomes the target of a merciless vampire clan, her only protector is the Greyfriar, a mysterious hero who fights the vampires from deep within their territory. Their dangerous relationship plays out against an approaching war to the death between humankind and the vampire clans.

DD: You’ve also written another series, Crown & Key. What’s the premise of that series?

C&SG: We like to call it Charlotte Bronte’s Avengers. It’s a world where werewolves prowl the shadows of back alleys and the inner circles of upper-crust society of Victorian London. Only a handful of specially gifted practitioners are equipped to battle the beasts. Among them are the roguish Simon Archer, who conceals his powers as a spell-casting scribe behind the smooth veneer of a dashing playboy, Scottish monster-hunter Malcolm MacFarlane, and the self-possessed alchemist Kate Anstruther, who is equally at home in a ballroom as she is on a battlefield.

DD: How did you settle on Victorian London as the setting for your series?

C&SG: We’ve both been fascinated by the Victorian era for most of our lives. It’s the setting for so many formative stories we read as kids, like Edgar Allan Poe and Sherlock Holmes and Dracula. The time period is draped in mystery and adventure. There’s also inherent drama and conflict from class struggle and gender roles to colonialism and scientific discovery. Plus it just looks cool with top hats and cloaks and gowns and carriages and gas lamps.

DD: Are there any other periods that particularly interest you? If so, what intrigues you about them?

C&SG: We are both writing in the 1930/1940s in Hollywood and the NYC nightclub scene. These were the eras of grandparents and parents. Like the Victorian era, the 1930s/40s time period also features a world clothed in glamor covering stories of struggle.

DD: Do you ever write separately?

C&SG: We are both currently writing novels separately. Clay is writing a post-war Hollywood magic story, and Susan is in the final edit stages of her fantasy novel set in the NYC night club scene of the 1930s.

DD: Please tell us a little about your media tie-in work.

C&SG: We’ve written a variety of media tie-ins, in both prose and comic form. We’ve written some of our favorites like Toy Story, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and The Phantom. We were also given the opportunity to write novels based on the Flash and Arrow tv shows. The best part of those Arrowverse crossovers was the relationship between Barry Allen and Oliver Queen, and we really leaned into that duo. The project was great because prime Arrowverse was among the best superhero material produced anywhere.

DD: Is writing a short story collaboratively harder than writing a novel together?

C&SG: It’s actually easier, as one will become the lead and take a first crack at the draft, and the other puts on the editor hat and goes through it with a fine-tooth comb. This all comes after numerous discussions and outlines. But it is easier to work on a short story rather than a novel that has numerous plot pitfalls and character change issues over a longer period of time.

DD: What is Bluewater Comics, and how did you come to write for them?

C&SG: Bluewater was an independent company that produced a variety of original and licensed comics for a while. We wrote a number of projects for them from horror stories starring Vincent Price to a Nelson Mandela bio comic. It was a lot of fun. We enjoy writing comics and would love to do more someday.

DD: You cited the Avengers as an influence. What do you like about superheroes?

C&SG: The great thing about superheroes is their flexibility in terms of stories. They can be used to tell any type of tale from gritty crime stories to galaxy-spanning science fiction. It all works as long as the character comes first. Also, at its heart, it’s a genre about heroism and sacrifice for the welfare of others, or should be.

DD: Do you have a favorite comic book character?

CG: As a kid it was Spider-man. As an adult it’s Superman.

C&SG: Spider-man was my first superhero, but when the new X-Men came along I loved Storm and then the Rogue/Gambit couple.

DD: How did you come to write media tie-ins?

C&SG: Most of our media tie-in work came because we published our own material first and then when we contacted editors working with properties that excited us to ask if there were any opportunities, we could point to the fact that we could do the work. Publishers who produce media tie-ins want to know first that you are a skilled storyteller who can perform like a professional. If you’re a fan of the property, that’s a nice bonus.

DD: What’s next for you?

C&SG: We’re both wrapping up solo manuscripts (with generous edits and contributions from the other person) and we’ll be either shopping those in the traditional market or self-publishing. We’re also planning to co-write some new Vampire Empire material for self-publication in the future.

DD: Thanks for your time.

For more information about Clay and Susan Griffith, visit their website, https://clayandsusangriffith.com.