We've gone GOLD!!

Okay, I don't know if this is an announcement or not, but I had to tell SOMEONE who would understand!


I just popped over to the Romantic Times website and found this:

Title: MOON'S WEB
Author: C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp
Publisher: Tor
Published: August 2005
Rating:
Type: Contemporary Romance (Werewolf)

We GOT A GOLD RATING FROM RT!!!



Now if I'd only get my July issue, I could see what they said about it. Hahaha.

Mods, if this is more properly posted in Announcements, let me know, but nobody but romance authors will probably care! LOL!


Cathy

We are indeed, batgirl! (BTW -- your board name always makes me laugh, since my own nickname with several other authors is ESBG, or "Evil Space Batgirl!" )

We're going to be presenting a workshop about this very thing at the Writer's Weekend in Seattle in 2006. Also, at my last marketing workshop, I posted the following response:

*************
RWA ONLINE takes great pride in welcoming CATHY CLAMP as its July Workshop Presenter!

Before a workshop begins, we ask each Presenter a personal question to post at the onset, help kick-off the festivities and let others get to know the presenter just a little better.

Here’s the question we asked Cathy:

Cathy, you work intensely with your co-author, C. T. Adams, can you tell us in 80,000 words or less ROFL: ), what problems you encountered in the early part of your relationship, how you overcame them, and what advice you would give those who think they might consider working with a co-author?


Hmm, this is an interesting question. I think that to work with a co-author, you need to possess a couple of character traits. First, you have to be willing to bend. That doesn't mean being walked on, but when you're working creatively with someone who has equal say in the product; you have to be willing to concede on occasion. One of the biggest problems that Cie and I had early in our working relationship was deciding who "won" when one or the other of us wouldn't agree on a plot point or a character's actions. At some point, someone has to give in and say, "Fine. Do it your way. I give up." Then, you have to do it cheerfully, and move on to the next item without ever looking back. That's trickier than you might think when you've lost. We decided first thing that whoever was the "primary" author on the book got final say in arguments. Yes, we have arguments (well, not the yelling/screaming sort, but "vigorous discussions!" LOL!)

Primary authors means that we each write separately. So, we're always working on at least two different books at the same time. Terrific for contracts, but tricky for flow. But there's no other way to do it. A person can't create with someone else standing over their shoulder, and writing separate chapters didn't work. So, when we first get a project, we start with the basic concept and talk out the characters, much as a lot of people do in critique groups or with a critique partner. Once we've fleshed out their character traits and background, then we decide how they are going to fit in the plot. Now, Cie writes in the school that is completely opposite me. I MUST flesh out the entire story arc until it's visible in my mind like a moving picture. Then I simply write down what I see. I have to have models of the people, so I can see them move in my head. Cie writes as she goes. She's what's known as a "pantser" or "writing by the seat of your pants." If she plots everything out in her head (or in our talks) the story is over, done --- dead. It will never reach paper because it disappears from her consciousness. So, that was our second problem. We MUST talk out my storyline, and we CAN'T talk out hers. So the other thing we learned is that I have to pretend that she's not writing --- not ask her about where she's at or what's happening with the characters. While I normally have a general idea of what her books will look like, the actual text is always a surprise. A nice surprise, mind you, but a surprise none the less. My books, on the other hand, are pretty much exactly what she expected them to be because we've already discussed it ad nauseum. <g>

The second trait you need is the ability to hear. Most people have the ability to listen, but only a very few actually hear the words and allow the words to change their mind. One thing that's really nice about having a partner is shared creativity, but that's also a matter of hearing and accepting that sometimes the plot I wrote didn't work or is… (gasp!) boring. We can toy with every aspect of the book without fear of "what happens if it's published? Will she sue me because I used the terrific idea she gave me?" This was what led to the partnership. We originally wrote separately and I was writing an historical fiction novel. The research was dead on, and the main plot was going well. But it was boring! There were no subplots to give it zing, no memorable secondary characters. So I asked for help, and she worked up an amazing subplot with a brand new character. Then she added a second subplot, which made it an even better book. But then it got accepted for publication! EEK! Now what to do? Should I give her some money? If so, how much? It probably got bought BECAUSE of the subplots, and I full well knew it. Then we started to realize that she had the same problem. I'd solved some problems she had with HER book, and what would we do if IT got bought? Solution? A formal "Book Collaboration and Partnership Agreement" that dealt with custody of the ideas, what happened if one of us got hit by a bus, how to expense things on our individual taxes, etc., etc.

But back to the wonderful things. I had to buy Cie lunch recently because I was flat stuck on a plot point with a new secondary character. The world had written us in a corner because of the previous books, and now I either had to make him different, or find some way to work within the rules. One lunch did it! Problem solved, and two braids back into the plot for his subplot. Yay!

So, that's about it. It's a good team because we can bend. We don't get caught up in the "I am the author and I must have my way." Frankly, that doesn't work in real life anyway, because writing isn't just an individual effort. It's a team effort. The editor's right in there too, and the copy editor and the marketing department, so the partnership really helped us deal with turning our "baby" into a product early on for the benefit of the book.

Cathy

Hope that helps! ESBG