This week on Amberkatze's Book Blog my guest is bestselling author Cathy Clamp! With her partner C.T. Adams she has written the Sazi and Thrall series and soon there will be more! Read the interview to find out what is coming soon and read till the end to enter the contest and win a signed book!

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Amber - Cathy! Welcome to Amberkatze's Book Blog! You and your partner C.T. Adams have been entertaining readers for a few years now. How did you two gals get together and start writing books?

Cathy - CIE AND I ACTUALLY MET WORKING IN A LAW FIRM TOGETHER. WE'RE BOTH PARALEGALS AND OFTEN MET FOR LUNCH BECAUSE WE BOTH WALKED FOR EXERCISE ON OUR LUNCH HOUR. TO PASS THE TIME, CIE STARTED TO TELL ME ABOUT THE STORIES SHE WROTE. I'D NEVER CONSIDERED WRITING BEFORE, BUT I ENJOYED EDITING, SO I ASKED IF SHE'D LIKE ME TO LOOK OVER SOMETHING SHE'D WRITTEN. SHE LIKED MY IDEAS A LOT, AND WE DISCOVERED THAT I NATURALLY WROTE VERY SIMILAR TO HER. THE PARTNERSHIP STARTED SHORTLY AFTER! :)

Amber - How do you both manage to share the writing? Does one of you start a chapter and the other writes the next? Or do you sit together and really write together?

Cathy - ACTUALLY, NEITHER ONE. WE DO WHAT QUITE A FEW CO-AUTHORS DO AND HAVE A "PRIMARY" AUTHOR AND A "SECONDARY" AUTHOR ON EACH BOOK. THE PRIMARY AUTHOR WRITES THE ENTIRE BOOK. THEN, THEY PASS IT ALONG TO THE SECONDARY AUTHOR, WHO "RE-WRITES" THE ENTIRE BOOK. THE SECONDARY AUTHOR GETS TO CHANGE PLOT, PACING, CHARACTERIZATION, FLOW---PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING THAT THEY THINK COULD USE BEEFING UP, OR TRIMMING DOWN. IT'S CAUSED MORE THAN A FEW "DISCUSSIONS" BETWEEN US (LOL!) BUT OVERALL IT WORKS REALLY WELL. :)

Amber - I only know from personal experience that working together with someone on any project can cause some differences of opinion. Do you ever disagree? How do you solve any differences?

Cathy - SEE ABOVE. YEAH, WE HAVE DIFFERENCES, BUT WORKED OUT EARLY ON HOW TO SOLVE THEM. WE HAVE AN ACTUAL PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT, DRAWN UP BY BOTH AN ENTERTAINMENT ATTORNEY AND A CPA TO DEAL WITH DIFFERENCES OF CREATIVE OPINION, SPLITTING OF MONEY, PAYING EXPENSES, ETC. IT SAVES A LOT OF GRIEF IN THE LONG RUN. FRIENDSHIPS HAVE DIED OVER LESS THAN WHETHER A CHARACTER LIVES OR DIES IN A BOOK, SO WE DECIDED THAT WE'D AGREE EARLY AND THEN WOULD ABIDE BY IT WHEN THINGS GOT "HEATED."

Amber - Your Tales of the Sazi series is going strong and are very popular. Can you tell my readers a little bit about the series? How many more books are there going to be about the Sazi?

Cathy - NO ENDING IN SIGHT! YAY! WE GET ENOUGH FAN MAIL TO KNOW THAT READERS REALLY LIKE THE STORIES, AND DIFFERENT PEOPLE LIKE TOTALLY DIFFERENT STORY LINES, SO WE TEND TO MIX THINGS UP FROM TIME TO TIME. LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE BOOK I JUST PUT TO BED (SO TO SPEAK) IS THE THIRD OF THE "TONY GIODONE" BOOKS. LOTS OF PEOPLE REALLY LIKE THE TONY AND SUE CHARACTERS (WELL, ACTUALLY, MORE PEOPLE LIKE TONY THAN SUE, BUT THAT'S ABOUT TO CHANGE!! SHE'S GETTING A MAKE-OVER, SO TO SPEAK, THAT READERS ARE BOTH GOING TO FIND BELIEVABLE AND REALLY INTERESTING, BECAUSE IT STARTS A WHOLE NEW CHAPTER IN THEIR LIVES.)

Amber - Touch of Darkness the last in The Thrall Trilogy was released not so long ago and in this series vampires were the main paranormal creature. Was this series always going to be just 3 books long?

Cathy - YEP. ALWAYS PLANNED TO BE A THREE (OR FOUR) BOOK SERIES. MOSTLY, THE LENGTH DEPENDED ON HOW LONG IT TOOK TO GET TO THE PLANNED ENDING. WE WERE ABLE TO WRAP IT UP WELL IN THREE, SO A FOURTH WOULD HAVE FELT "FORCED."

Amber - I know that you have a new book coming out early next year with your partner but the author name will be a combination of both of your names, Cat Adams. What is this new project about and why after all this time the decision to join your names?

Cathy - THE NEW BOOK IS CALLED "MAGIC'S DESIGN" AND IS A STAND-ALONE PARANORMAL ROMANCE. SO, NO SERIES FOR THIS ONE (ALTHOUGH OUR EDITOR KEEPS PUSHING FOR A SEQUEL TO ANSWER THE "BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO...?" QUESTIONS ABOUT SECONDARY CHARACTER PLOT ARCS! LOL!) THE REASON FOR SWITCHING TO ONE NAME IS QUITE SIMPLE---BOOKSTORES WERE GETTING CONFUSED. SHOULD THEY SHELVE THEM UNDER ADAMS OR CLAMP? WHAT IF A NEW EMPLOYEE PUT ALL THE BOOKS FOR THE NEW RELEASE UNDER ONE NAME, BUT THE OTHERS WERE TWO SHELVES UP? AND TOO, WITH TWO NAMES, IT WAS HARD FOR THE PUBLISHER TO GIVE OUR NAMES THE SIZE THEY DESERVED ON THE COVER. IT'S NOT LIKE A HARDBACK WHERE YOU HAVE PLENTY OF SPACE. PAPERBACKS ONLY FIT SO MUCH LETTERING. :)

Amber - What other projects are you both working on? Do you ever write separately?

Cathy - OH, SURE. WE HAVE A LOT OF SEPARATE PROJECT, BUT NONE WITH A PUBLISHER (YET!) NEXT UP ARE TWO URBAN FANTASY SERIES. ONE IS LOOSELY TIED TO THE SAZI WORLD, BUT WON'T FEATURE COUPLE SOLVING PROBLEMS. INSTEAD, THEY'LL BE MORE URBAN FANTASY---DARK AND EDGY WITH A BRAND NEW CHARACTER THAT READERS WILL MEET IN THE AUGUST, 2009 RELEASE (THE TONY BOOK I JUST FINISHED) IT WILL BE CALLED "COLD MOON RISING" AND THE THREE WORDS ON THE COVER WILL SIGNAL THE NEW MOVE TOWARD THE NEW BOOKS. AND CIE'S WORKING ON A BRAND NEW URBAN FANTASY WORLD THAT'S GOING TO BE RELEASED AS A BACK-TO-BACK TRILOGY IN 2010. IT MIGHT BE A SERIES AFTER THAT, DEPENDING ON READER RESPONSE. WE'LL HAVE TO SEE. BUT LOTS OF NEW STUFF COMING UP! :)

Amber- What kind of books do you read when you have the time? Any favourite or must have authors/books?

Cathy - WE BOTH LOOOVE URBAN FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION. FAVORITE READS ARE JIM BUTCHER, LAURELL K. HAMILTON, RACHEL CAINE, P.N. ELROD, SIMON GREEN, ISAAC ASIMOV, ETC. PLUS, I LIKE THRILLERS LIKE CLIVE CUSSLER, JIM PALMER, ROBIN COOK, ETC. I'M ALSO A FAN OF MYSTERIES AND ENJOY LORI AVOCATO, SUE GRAFTON AND TORI CARRINGTON.

Amber - Some writers put together song lists for their books. Are there any songs or particular music that you associate with your books?

Cathy - NOPE. I CAN'T WRITE TO MUSIC. IT HAS TO BE DEAD SILENT (PUN INTENDED) IN MY OFFICE FOR ME TO GET MY HEAD INTO THE BOOK. :)

Amber - Do you have any favourite moments from your time as a writer so far?

Cathy - PROBABLY THE FIRST TIME WE ACTUALLY SAW A READER PICK UP ONE OF OUR BOOKS IN THE BOOKSTORE (WITHOUT US HAWKING IT, THAT IS... LOL!) AND, OUR FIRST APPEARANCE ON A BESTSELLER LIST, AND THE FIRST CONTEST WIN. THOSE ARE ALL REALLY EXCITING "SNOOPY DANCE AROUND THE ROOM" MOMENTS IN AN AUTHOR'S CAREER.

Amber - Did you always want to be a writer? What did you did before you became a writer?

Cathy - I WAS AND AM STILL A PARALEGAL. I HAVEN'T ALWAYS LONGED TO BE A WRITER. I DISCOVERED I WAS GOOD AT IT, AND HAVE LEARNED HOW MUCH FUN IT IS. CIE, ON THE OTHER HAND, HAS ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A WRITER. IT DRIVES HER DAY-TO-DAY LIFE. I'M MORE LOOSE WITH MY WRITING, BUT IT'S STILL A LOT OF FUN.

Amber - If you were stranded on a dessert island what five things would you most like to have with you?

Cathy - HMM... A GOOD KNIFE, A BAR OF MAGNESIUM, A CORELL BOWL, A FIRST-AID KIT AND THE COMPREHENSIVE ANTHOLOGY OF ISAAC ASIMOV STORIES! YEAH, I KNOW---I'M THE BORING, REALISTIC SORT WHO ACTUALLY WANTS TO *SURVIVE* THE ISLAND ADVENTURE. HEH...

Amber - Thank you so much for your time! I hope you will visit Amberkatze's Book Blog again in the future!

Cathy - THANKS FOR HAVING ME! I'LL DROP BY AS OFTEN AS I CAN! CATHY




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Contest Time!!

Cathy has kindly donated an autographed copy of Touch of Darkness as a prize! So I hope you are all interested in the Thrall!

To enter the contest leave a comment in this thread letting me know which new release you are looking forward to! No mention of a book, no entry!

You can also win an extra entry to the contest by posting about this contest somewhere else on the web. Please make sure you post a link to your post so I can confirm your entry.

The contest will be open until Sunday the 28th of September 4pm CET and anyone can enter.

If you enter the contest please make sure to check back and see if you won as the prizes must be claimed within 7 days. I don't always have time to chase the winners ;)

Enter away and have a nice week!

Thanks again to Cathy for the great interview and prize!

Labels: C. T. Adams and Cathy Clamp, Contests