When author and translator work together on the translation of fiction, a unique situation of exchange based on creativity and interpretation occurs. This paper exposes the underpinnings of such a literary enterprise and discusses the collaborative efforts of author and translator on the development of three successive versions of two specific passages in the novel De troublants détours (Sanconie 2004). Each version of these passages represents the bricks-and-mortar of the creative bridge that arches over the literary distance between the original and target texts. Author and translator are temporarily suspended in this creative space as each awaits the other’s commentary on the first and second stages of translation. The alliance of author and translator creates a new space for inventive translation where source and target texts converge and cohabit, despite their alterity. The new literary translation as creation recycles the old and is the product of a series of negotiations, involving narrative, representational, and interpretive strategies, under circumstances and parameters that push the boundaries of standard translation.