COEUR d'ALENE - Susan Schreiber, Yvonne Deitz and Vikki Moormann don't write for money. Heck, they aren't even sure how many copies were sold of their first book, "Murder is Only Skin Deep" that came out in 2006.

COEUR d'ALENE - Susan Schreiber, Yvonne Deitz and Vikki Moormann don't write for money.

Heck, they aren't even sure how many copies were sold of their first book, "Murder is Only Skin Deep" that came out in 2006.

"Make a lot of money?" Schreiber asks with eyes wide open. "Are you kidding? The first royalty check that I got was $1.11."

The largest check each of the three retired English teachers received from their mystery novel was "$24-something."

"When you divide the royalties by three, it goes down," Moormann said with a laugh.

But that didn't keep the trio from collaborating on their second book, "Murder is a Pain in the Neck" which was recently released.

It again brings to life their fictitious character, retired English teacher Jean Smiley, who investigates the death of a young teacher. The setting for the tale is Coeur d'Alene High School, where all three authors taught.

Writing a book is somewhat like teaching, the ladies agreed. Difficult work, not great pay, but greater rewards.

"You're never in it for the money," Schreiber said. "That's for sure."

Moormann and Schreiber both retired from CHS in 2002. Deitz retired from Lake City High in 2001. Each is a stickler for grammar, proper quotations and especially careful use of commas.

"Publishers like to eliminate as much punctuation as possible because it costs money for that extra ink," Deitz said with a smile.

"You get those commas in the right spot, or you're not going to go to print," Schreiber added.

But that doesn't mean they didn't have fun together. They did. Too much, sometimes.

"We spent more time laughing than writing," Moormann said with big grin.

"These two are the comic queens of North Idaho," Schreiber added.

Getting three retired English teachers to agree on the plot, the characters, and the setting for their second book was the easy part.

For the writing, they made up chapter outlines, then divided up the chapters.

"Then, you just write your chapter," Deitz said.

They were able to maintain "consistency of voice" because they're familiar with the others' styles.

"It was easier this time than it was the first time to keep it moving smoothly, to not repeat ourselves too much and to have it flow from one chapter to the other," she said.

Sometimes, people they came across during the process ended up as their characters. At the Iron Horse, for instance, where they often wrote, the waiter was nice and always gave them a quiet table.

The result?

"We put him in the book," Deitz said.

The editing was not quite so easy.

"You haven't lived until you've edited a book," Schreiber said.

She looked at Deitz and said, "Remember when you made us go back and fix it so all the men didn't sound like English teachers?"

Deitz laughed.

"I got that from the writers league," she said. "I would take a chapter and have it criticized. I was told, 'All of your characters sound alike. They sound like English teachers.'"

They were also informed no guy would say, "Goodness gracious," so the phrase fell victim to the red marker.

With three authors involved, they learned to compromise.

"That's the way to do it in any relationship" Moormann said.

"We haven't killed each other yet," Schreiber added.

So, what have these teachers learned that it takes to be a good writer?

No secret here.

"Writing," Deitz said. "Writing, writing, writing, and then having people read what you've written and give you feedback."

They also considered techniques of other writers.

"I look at Janet Evanovich and I think 'How come she's making all that money and we're not,'" Moormann said with a big laugh.

"She must have connections somewhere," Schreiber added.

The conversation turned to author Stephanie Meyer, whose "Twilight" books have sold millions and turned her into a wealthy woman.

Deitz, Moormann and Schreiber shook their heads and laughed as they talked about Meyer's writing, which they decided isn't really all that great.

"She has made millions of dollars and our book is much better," Schreiber said with a chuckle.

"Murder is a Pain in the Neck" is $16.95 at Hastings.