Commentary:
Another issue we had to resolve when trying to crack this crossover was, I wanted there to be a reason they were there. It had to, in some sense, matter. But the scale of an Avi & Aquila story at this point is fairly small, and I'd only just thrown Annie at my readers, so I didn't want to do, and we talked about this, a big heist story that relied in some sense on more crossover characters. I'm happy with where we landed, at this goofy little 6-pager.
This 6-pager is a crossover with WHO KILLED THE CENTURION?, my friend David's novel, which I, as its editor, contributed enough to that I have a cover credit. The story is his, many of the jokes are mine. It's available on Amazon now.
Text summary: (click to open)
"Oh, hey," Eddie Gagnon says to Dick Schwartz, "you're right. ...I still read about them. It's weird," he continues, turning to Avi and Aquila, "to see you from before--"
"Oop." Avi interrupts him, making a cross with the brooms, as Aquila does with her arms, "no spoilers, please."
Aquila walks downstairs and greets Dick Schwartz and Eddie Gagnon with open arms. "Hi!"
"It's a pleasure."
"Likewise."
They exchange a pleasant fistbump.
"But what are you doing here?" Aquila asks.
"Fictional detectives," Avi adds, joining them downstairs, "don't usually appear out of thin air for no reason."
"Hold on, I'll look." Dick Schwartz closes his eyes, then dramatically opens them again — instead of their usual blue, they glow a dramatic yellow — to see through time.
