Clamp, Cathy 1961- (Cathy L. Clamp)

PERSONAL:

Born 1961, in Waukesha, WI; married; husband's name Don. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, camping, fishing, hunting, talking about new book plots.

ADDRESSES:

Home—TX. Office—P.O. Box 1162, Brady, TX 76825. Agent—Merrilee Heifetz, Writers House, LLC, 21 W. 26th St., New York, NY 10010. E-mail—Cat_Cie@msn.com.

CAREER:

Writer. Has worked as a paralegal.

MEMBER:

Romance Writers of America, Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Western Outdoor Writers, Horror Writers of America.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Honorable mention in the short story category, Writer's Digest, 2001, for "A Matter of Taste"; The Lories Best Paranormal Award, 2004, for Hunter's Moon; Best Werewolf Novel, Romantic Times Online, 2006, for Moon's Web; Book Buyer's Best Award for paranormal novel, 2007, for Captive Moon; Top 20 Debut Release, BookScan, for HowlingMoon; Award of Excellence, Reviewer's International Organization, for Touch of Evil; Write Touch Readers Award; EVVY Best Historical Chronicle Award.

WRITINGS:

(With C.T. Adams) Road to Riches: The Great Railroad Race to Aspen, Western Reflections Publishing (Montrose, CO), 2003.

"TALES OF THE SAZI" SERIES; WITH C.T. ADAMS

Hunter's Moon, Tor (New York, NY), 2004.

Moon's Web, Tor (New York, NY), 2005.

Captive Moon, Tor (New York, NY), 2006.

Howling Moon, Tor/Tom Doherty Associates (New York, NY), 2007.

Moon's Fury, Tor (New York, NY), 2007.

"THRALL" SERIES; WITH C.T. ADAMS

Touch of Evil, Tor (New York, NY), 2006.

Touch of Madness, Tor/Tom Doherty Associates Book (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor of stories to anthologies, including The Abyss: Dark Romance Anthology, OpenCAD Publishing; Secrets: Fact or Fiction, OxCart Press; and Weirdly: A Collection of Strange Tales. Contributor of articles to magazines, including Guns & Ammo, Fur-Fish-Game, Deer & Deer Hunting, and Game & Fish. Author of a blog.

SIDELIGHTS:

Cathy Clamp is one half of the writing team of Clamp and C.T. Adams, authors of paranormal romance titles. The two have focused on two series, the "Tales of the Sazi," which deals with shape-shifters, and the "Thrall" series, a vampire romance. Together, the two also penned the 2003 historical novel, Road to Riches: The Great Railroad Race to Aspen. Clamp, like Adams, worked for many years as a paralegal; in fact the two met when working in the same law office. Unlike her coauthor, however, Clamp had no intention of becoming a professional writer until well into her thirties. The two noted in an interview for Love Romances: "We would walk to grab lunch and talk about books. At first, they were other authors' books, but Cie was already a writer, and we realized that between the two of us, we came up with plots with unique twists. Regarding writing together, while we're each good overall writers, and could write books on our own, we figured out that each of us excel at different things. Cathy does terrific action scenes and amazing sex scenes, while Cie does vivid characters and crisp, tight plots."

Their first novel-length pairing was Road to Riches, which Clamp had begun but was having difficulty with subplots in this tale of opening up the first rail line to Aspen, Colorado. Adams proved invaluable in adding back-story to the fictional characters involved. Thereafter, the two collaborated on short stories, one of which was expanded into Hunter's Moon, the first title in the series "Tales of the Sazi." Initially contracted to a small electronic publisher, the book was lucky enough to find a home at a major New York publisher instead. The premise of the entire series is that shape-shifters live among normal people and go unnoticed until each full moon. These shape-shifters then grow fur, feathers, or scales, for they take the forms of bears, wolves, reptiles, cats, and birds. They live around the world and are found in every race and culture. The first book in the series features a hitman for the Mafia, Tony, who was badly injured by one of his targets during a "business" operation. Thereafter, he assumes the shape of a wolf at the full moon, and slowly he begins to feel that this wolf presence is taking over his total being. At this point he is hired by a beautiful young woman named Sue Quentin for a hit, but it is the oddest one in his career. Sue wants Tony to kill her. Having won a fortune in the lottery, Sue is now plagued by her family and death is the only way out she can imagine. However, love intrudes between the two, as does a host of other Mafia personalities with their own agendas.

Reviewing this first novel in the series, Booklist contributor Diana Tixier Herald found it an "unusual, artfully constructed, and enticing blend of horror and romance [that] will have wide appeal." Similarly, Jen Foote, writing in Crescent Blues Book Views termed Hunter's Moon a "suspense-filled mob tale with more twists than a pan of lasagna together with steamy romance and the werewolf legend." Further praise came from Curled Up with a Good Book reviewer Rashmi Srinivas, who noted that the authors' "efforts … in crafting this exotic new world of Sazi pays off handsomely, and hopefully they'll take us there again in the near future."

Clamp and Adams continue their shape-shifter series with Moon's Web, which follows the adventures of Tony and Sue now that they have found a refuge of sorts living under false identities in a group of other shape-shifters. Tony's werewolf nature has increasingly taken over and now he has developed paranormal powers that warn of danger from the Mafia. Booklist contributor Herald praised the authors for creating "an unforgettable world where secret shape-shifters live, love, and scheme." Romantic Times Online contributor Jill M. Smith had similar praise for this second title in the series, commenting, "This inside look at the unconventional world of shape-shifters is a page-turner in the truest sense."

Captive Moon develops other Sazi story lines, featuring the world famous animal trainer and Sazi member Antoine Monier, whose trained tiger is killed in Germany. But now Antoine discovers that the German police have another tiger in their custody. This turns out to be a beautiful shape-shifter, Tahira Kuric, member of a rival Sazi tribe. Events force the two to come together, however, in order to save their people. Reviewing this title in Romantic Times Online, Smith noted, "Adams and Clamp's writing style successfully blends romance, adventure and the magical." Likewise, Harriet Klausner, writing in Best Reviews, thought Captive Moon was an "enthralling thriller." In Howling Moon, a one-time member of the Sazi secret police, Raphael, must help Catherine, injured victim of a serial killer who has now been turned into a jaguar. Herald, again writing in Booklist, found this series installment a "compelling romance," and further observed, "When it comes to paranormal romance, nobody does it better than Adams and Clamp." Michael M. Jones, reviewing the same title in SF Site, added a similar assessment: "Adams and Clamp just keep getting better and better with each subsequent book in the series." Moon's Fury features Cara, leader of a wolf pack in Texas, and the local sheriff, Adam, from Minnesota and leader of a pack of Sazi. Again, Clamp and Adams pair fated mates in a tale of romance, magic, and suspense.

Turning from shape-shifters, Clamp and Adams deal with vampire parasites in their "Thrall" series. The first title in what is intended as a trilogy, Touch of Evil, introduces Kate Reilly, whose life has been turned upside-down by the kiss-bite of her supposed lover, actually the leader of a vampire parasite group called the Thrall. The venom in the bite has changed her and put her in line to become the next Queen of Thrall. When she meets the handsome firefighter (and werewolf) Tom, she may be saved from her Thrall fate. But Tom, too, is hiding secrets in this "outstanding paranormal romance," as Booklist contributor Herald described it. Romantic Times Online reviewer Smith also commended the title, terming it "an unbeatably good paranormal." And Klausner, writing in Best Reviews, observed, "The action-packed story line is driven by the heroine who readers will root for."

The story is carried forward in Touch of Madness, in which the stakes are increased in the improbable romance between Kate and Tom. The couple face pressure from both sides: the Thrall want Kate to investigate the murders of many of their young, and Tom's werewolf pack wants him to leave Kate and mate with another werewolf. A Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that "fans will happily rejoin Reilly's story, which features great chemistry between the leads and a swift pace," while Herald, writing in Booklist, praised the authors' "fully imagined world," and their ability to "bring multiple, disparate plots together to satisfying effect." Likewise, Martina Bexte, writing in Book-Loons, found Touch of Madness a "standout story."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 15, 2004, Diana Tixier Herald, review of Hunter's Moon, p. 713; August 2005, Diana Tixier Herald, review of Moon's Web, p. 2004; February 15, 2006, Diana Tixier Herald, review of Touch of Evil, p. 52; December 1, 2006, Diana Tixier Herald, review of Howling Moon, p. 29; May 15, 2007, Diana Tixier Herald, review of Touch of Madness, p. 28.

Publishers Weekly, April 2, 2007, review of Touch of Madness, p. 43.

Science Fiction Chronicle, September, 2005, Don D'Ammassa, review of Moon's Web, p. 35.

ONLINE

All Experts,http://www.allexperts.com/ (January 15, 2008), "Expert Profile: Cathy Clamp."

Best Reviews,http://www.thebestreviews.com/ (November 29, 2004), Harriet Klausner, review of Hunter's Moon; (January 26, 2005), Kelley Hartsell, review of Hunter's Moon; (August 24, 2005), Kelley A. Hartsell, review of Moon's Web; (April 25, 2006), Kelley A. Hartsell, review of Touch of Evil; (May 16, 2006), Harriet Klausner, review of Touch of Evil; (July 25, 2006), Harriet Klausner, review of Captive Moon.

BookLoons,http://www.bookloons.com/ (January 15, 2008), Martina Bexte, review of Howling Moon and Touch of Madness.

Cathy Clamp Live Journal Profile,http://www.huntergal.livejournal.com (January 15, 2008).

Cathy Clamp MySpace Profile,http://www.myspace.com/ (January 15, 2008), "Cathy Clamp's Blurbs."

Crescent Blues Book Views,http://www.crescentblues.com/ (January 15, 2008), Jen Foote, review of Hunter's Moon.

C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp Home Page,http://www.ciecatrunpubs.com (January 15, 2008).

Curled Up with a Good Book,http://www.curledup.com/ (January 15, 2008), Helen Hancox, review of Moon's Fury and Touch of Madness; Rashmi Srinivas, review of Hunter's Moon, Moon's Web, Captive Moon, and Touch of Evil.

Love Romances,http://www.loveromances.com/ (January 15, 2008), "An Interview with C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp"; Kelley A. Hartsell, review of Hunter's Moon and Moon's Web.

Make-Believe Mondays,http://www.makebnelievemondays.blogspot.com/ (July 24, 2006), "Make-Believe Mondays with Cathy Clamp."

Romance Writers of America Online Chapter Web site,http://www.rwaonlinechapter.org/ (January 15, 2008), "Cathy Clamp."

Romantic Times Online,http://www.romantictimes.com/ (January 15, 2008), Jill M. Smith, reviews of Captive Moon, Hunter's Moon, Moon's Web, and Touch of Evil.

SF Site,http://www.sfsite.com/ (January 15, 2008), Michael M. Jones, review of Howling Moon.

Vampire Genre,http://www.vampiregenre.com/ (January 15, 2008), Vicky London, review of Touch of Madness.