Tom Angleberger (www.origamiyoda.com) and Michael Hemphill (www.stonewallhinkleman.com) met when they were both reporters for the same newspaper. Michael kept trying to use his news story about a Virginia battle flag controversy as the basis for a story for grown-ups, but Tom saw it as the perfect setting for a smart aleck teenager. Stonewall Hinkleman was born. Since Tom's father was a Civil War buff (though not a reenactor), it was pretty easy for Tom to imagine what life would be like for a kid who was stuck replaying the Civil War over and over again. So with Michael supplying the actual knowledge and Tom supplying the "are we having fun yet" attitude (and the magic bugle), they set to work. Eventually, Michael picked up on the attitude, but Tom never learned much about the war. There's been some feuding along the way, but it's a book neither of them could have written alone.