INDUSTRY: Author-Agent Contract

Once you get an offer of representation from an agent, some will ask you to sign an author-agent contract. Some don't. It all depends on the particular agency. When I signed with my (now ex) agent she issued one as a part of her operating procedure - keep in mind my agent was from a small agency and so this contract my differ minutely from a larger agency one.

Following common sense, I sought legal advice on the document (I arranged for a phone appointment with a legal consultant from the Australia Society of Authors) and she went through each clause and explained in layman's terms what each meant and what I was obligated to do and what the agent was obligated to do. She'd also researched the agent and her background to assure me I wasn't signing with a con-artist. I made notes during the phone conversation and she emailed me the comments she'd made when she examined the contract so I had a hard copy.

NEVER SIGN ANYTHING UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SIGNING!!! I can't stress that enough. If you don't know, find someone who does.

According to the ASA legal consultant the author-agent contract I received was a pretty standard one. Here's what it looked like...

AUTHOR-AGENT CONTRACT

AGENCY LETTERHEAD

DATE

YOUR NAME & ADDRESS

Dear Kylie:

As requested, I shall be pleased to serve as your literary agent. This letter sets forth the terms and conditions of this representation, and is to be considered our Author-Agent Contract. Please review, and if you accept these terms sign and date two copies, and return for countersignature.

1.    For the term of this Agreement, NAME (the “Author”) located at ADDRESS retains AGENT of AGENCY NAME (the “Agent”), located at AGENT'S ADDRESS:

A)    To represent the Author for the sale of (1) all book length fiction written or to be written, and (2) any other writing that the Author and the Agent may agree upon.
B)    To negotiate sales for the represented works in (1) the United States (“Domestic Sales”), (2) non-domestic markets (“Foreign Sales”), and (3) derivative or secondary rights in the represented works including but not limited to film, TV, recording, or other dramatic media, anywhere in the world (“Subsidiary Sales”).
C)    To receive payments and royalties from the represented sales, as per an agency clause that will be included in any contract with the publisher of such works.

2.    The Author agrees that during the term of this Agreement, the Author will not retain another literary agent to represent the Author’s work unless the Agent, (AGENT) specifically consents to this arrangement.  As to Subsidiary and Foreign Rights, the Agent shall engage all subsidiary or co-agents which the Agent believes will best represent the Author in selling Subsidiary and Foreign Rights, unless the Author and the Agent agree in writing to a different arrangement.

3.    The Agent will use best efforts to promote the Author’s work, in order to sell the represented works. The Agent shall negotiate the terms of any contract that is offered, but the Author will have the right to reject any contract if the terms are not acceptable. A sale will not be binding unless approved by the Author in a signed contract.

4.    The Agent shall be entitled to a fifteen percent (15%) commission on Domestic Sales, a fifteen percent (15%) commission (which includes seven and one-half percent (7.5%) for co-agents) on Subsidiary Sales within the United States, and twenty percent (20%) (which includes 10% for co-agents) for Foreign Sales and Subsidiary Sales obtained outside the United States.

5.    The Agent will pay for all expenses that arise in selling the Author’s work except in the following situations:

A) If it is necessary to produce multiple copies of the Author’s unpublished work, including bound manuscripts that are greater than fifty (50) pages the Author will be charged for making the copies, at the time the costs are incurred.   
B) The costs of mailing your book or manuscript to foreign agents, editors, or subsidiary agents will be deducted from your earnings, if that work or any subsidiary rights, including film rights to the work are sold.
C) The costs of mailing your book or manuscript to domestic agents, editors, or subsidiary agents will be deducted from your earnings, if that work or any subsidiary rights, including film rights to the work are sold.
D) All mailings, both foreign and domestic, will be made using the lowest applicable rates allowed by postal regulations.
E) If a book or manuscript needs to be delivered via next day service, the Agent will request written permission from the Author prior to mailing the work.

6.    The Agent shall make all payments due to the Author within thirty (30) days of receipt of any fees covered by this Agreement. Such funds will not be intermingled with funds belonging to the Agent.

7.    The Agent shall send copies of statements of account received by the Agent to the Author when rendered.  If requested, the Agent shall also provide the Author with an annual accounting showing all income for the period, any fees paid, the dates of payment and the amounts on which the Agent’s commission was calculated, and any sums due less those amounts already paid.  The Agent will provide the author with a 1099 form. On the giving of reasonable notice, the Author may request an examination or independent audit of the Agent’s books and records by a certified public accountant, once per calendar year. This examination or audit will be at the Author’s expense.

8.    This Agreement may be terminated by either party by giving thirty (30) days written notice to the other party. If a project is under consideration by editors at the time of termination, the Agent will still earn the commission on that project, if an offer is made by one of those editors within one calendar year of termination.  A project is defined as under consideration if it has been formally pitched to an editor either through e-mail or a phone conversation, and the editor has the manuscript or is waiting for the manuscript.

9.    This Agreement shall not be assigned by either of the parties.  It shall be binding on and inure to the benefit of the successors, legal representatives, or heirs of the Author and Agent.

10.    Any controversy, claim or dispute between the parties hereto,  that cannot be resolved amicably will be taken to Arbitration subject to the rules of the American Arbitration Association, and the differences resolved under the laws of the State of New Jersey.

11.    All Notices shall be given to the Author and Agent at their respective addresses set forth above.

12.    All changes to the Agreement must be written.  This Agreement represents the entire understanding of the parties.

13.    If any part of this agreement shall be held unenforceable, the rest of the agreement will remain in full force and effect.

Sincerely,
AGENT'S NAME

ACCEPTED AND AGREED TO:
AGENCY
                                                                   
_____________________________            _____________________________
AGENT SIGNATURE                                                  AUTHOR SIGNATURE
Member                    

_____________________________            _____________________________
Date                                                                                Date

_____________________________
Social Security Number (OF AUTHOR)

One of the most important clauses to ensure you have in there is Point 8. It gives you both an out if things don't work out.

Just remember, if you don't understand something in any contract, consult someone who does and get them to explain it to you.

I hope this has been a useful topic to share with you.

Success Quote 3

"Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor."

(T.Capote)

Come Fly with Me...

My flight out of Australia to to Italy begins this morning! Woohoo!

May the flight be uneventful and may I arrive in Rome and then Bologna safely, where I'll then be joining my friend, Erin.

Our possible itinerary may include the following places - Venice, Stresa, Florence, Verona, Turin, Cinque Terre, Siena, Pisa, Lake Como, Lake Garda, Lake Maggiore, Genoa, La Spezia and Rome! (sigh)

Not sure how much writing is going to get done on the WIP over the next few weeks *vbg*. There'll be plenty of inspiration though!

Ciao!

TOPIC: Rejection Letters: "The Offer" (Part 4)

If you go back over the last few posts on this topic I'm sure you'll see the striking differences in each form of rejection letter. Each type have become more personalised and attentive to detail - all steps in the right direction. Whether you're submitting to agents or editors you can use these as a guide on how to interpret the contents of your letters.

This week I'm sharing "The Offer" letter. The one goal you've been working hard towards. (Keep in mind this is all based on my limited experience - hey, I've only ever had one "offer" and it happened to be with an agent but I'm always hopeful I'll be widening my experience in this field in the near future! ;-) )

EXAMPLE

Dear Kylie,

I find myself frustrated at the difference between our time zones, at the second, as I'm assuming you're still asleep.  (The internet tells me that it's 4:44am by you, right now.)

Anyway, I know this is rather sudden, but I'd like to officially offer you representation.  The reasons for this are two-fold:

1. You write well and even from the two partials you sent me, I can tell that your books will sell to a publisher.  I would normally prefer to read the entire full manuscript first, but this brings me to point 2...

2. Editor A at Publishing House A, who is their romance editor, is desperately looking for a full manuscript to fill a hole in her publishing schedule.  I would like to jump on this chance for you, since I think Publishing House A would be an ideal place for Manuscript A.

I'll be spending the rest of the day reading Manuscipt A; I'd love to chat with you on the phone, but I think we're going to need to set up a time, due to the time differences.  I have very inexpensive long distance from my home phone line, so I can call you.

(SHE GOES ON TO OUTLINE HER SCHEDULE AND ASKS IF WE CAN FIND A TIME THAT SUITS BOTH OF US FOR A PHONE CALL). That will give me a chance to get most of Manuscript A read.  I am very excited about your writing, and I really would love to work with you.

I've been using http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html to figure the corresponding times between you and I out.  I'm in the same time zone as New York City (40 miles south of it), and I've been using Sydney for your time zone.

Best,
Agent X

When this sort of letter arrives you sit there, stunned and shell-shocked. Suspicious you've imagined the content, you re-read the letter because you were expecting just another rejection. When you realise it's NOT then, believe me, emotion overwhelms you - you will cry, and scream, and dance, and re-read the letter a hundred more time, and then panic because you wonder what to do next.

HINT: Give yourself a day or two to calm down and reboot your brain so you can think logically and prepare for the next step in your journey - deciding what to do!

I hope this series of postings has been useful. All the best on your journey to publication!

Love Quote 2

"Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering.

The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep-burning, unquenchable."

(H.Ward Beecher)

I'm a Sheila finalist!

Is it possible to dance while seated in front of a laptop? You betcha, 'cause I'm doing it now.

Andrea Romero, contest coordinator, rang to inform me I'm a finalist in the RWA® Valley Forge Sheila contest (fantasy/futuristic/paranormal section) ... with all three manuscripts that I entered into the competition! Gob-smacking news. :-D

And even cooler news is that Sharon Fisher, a fellow RWA 2010 Golden Heart® finalist, has also finalled in this section! Congratulations, Sharon!

The top five entries in each section advance into the final round of judging. Alicia Condon from Kensington is the final judge for this round - another editor I've been aiming to get my work in front of.

When I decided to test the waters in the US contest circuit, I never thought that this year would reap these sorts of results. Am I thrilled? Yes, indoodee-deedy ...

TOPIC: Rejection Letters: "Nearly There" (Part 3)

This week several letters highlighting responses from agents and editors on what you might expect if you're "nearly there". You'll notice that most of these have a mix of positives and constructive feedback, as well as highly personalised comments.

EXAMPLE 1

Two brief, succinct responses to query letters to two different agents. 

1st - Sounds intriguing!  Please send me the first 50 pages + synopsis at my address below.  I look forward to reading your material.

Agent X
Agency X Literary Agency

2nd - Sounds like you’ve got what it takes.  Please email me the first three chapters and a synopsis (1-2 pages) and I’ll give it a look.

Agent Y
Agency Y Literary Agents

 EXAMPLE 2

Dear Kylie

I liked Manuscript A a lot.  I’ve been looking for futuristic/military romance for quite a while and haven’t found anything even close.  But I liked Manuscript A enough to read the whole thing.  Since you’re in Australia, can you email me the full manuscript?  A brief synopsis as well. 

I’m mired in the last days’ chaos of putting on a world-class writers conference in Big City next week, so I probably won’t be able to read the full until late February/early March.  I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know if another agent requests the full before I can get to it.  

Manuscript B was not as exciting to me as Manuscript A.  At this time I’m not going to ask to read anything further.  Maybe down the road.

Thank you.

Agent Z
Agency Z Literary Agents

This is one of the letters you hope you get once you start looking for representation with an agent. I took a chance and pitched two manuscripts to her. As you can see she chose to see only one. The next example is her follow-on letter from this one.

EXAMPLE 3

Dear Kylie,

Manuscript A is a good read.  In my earlier days as an agent I would have taken you on and worked with you to prune this manuscript so that it screamed from the first page to the last.  Unfortunately I am so busy now, I no longer have the luxury to do a major editing cycle with a writer before I sign them.  However, if you can work with a critique group or a book doctor or by yourself to edit Manuscript A I’d definitely reconsider it.  Seriously reconsider it.  You’re very close.  I got all the way to where Heroine declares her love for Hero after she learns he’s a former RACE Patrol officer, saw that there were more than 100 pages to go to the end of the book and gave up.  That’s a long way through a big manuscript and even though I threw in the towel the curiosity is still tickling my brain—how will they trick VILLAIN?  How will it all end?  So that’s great news.

Now, what do you need to edit, you ask?  First, the story is too long.  Not so much in word count, but you’ve added a lot of scenes that do not move the plot forward and have extended scenes where the dialogue or action needs to be pared because it is repetitious or non-essential.  You need to go over each scene, scene-by-scene, and if it doesn’t slam the plot forward, delete or prune it.  For example, too much chit-chat occurs frequently.  We don’t need a play-by-play when they are stuck in the asteroid crack waiting for nightfall so they can deliver the weapons to the rebels.  Move forward.  No dancing on Dagara.  Etc.  Lots of that.  I flipped through the rest of the manuscript even though I’d stopped reading critically.  (HERE SHE LISTS CERTAIN SCENES AND WHAT DIDN'T APPEAL TO HER.)  I’m hoping these scenes jump out at you.  If not, well, that’s a whole other problem.  (Also, for the American market you’ll have to change the “our”s to “or”s...flavor, favorite, etc....and there are a few other Aust/NZ idioms...doctor’s office is what we call it in the states, not surgery...that will need cleaning up...minor, minor things, but need correction.)

However, as I said before, you are very close.  If you do a major rewrite of this manuscript to eliminate the dross and fine tune it so that every single word pulls its own weight, I think you’ll have a manuscript I can sell to a large New York publisher.  As it stands now, I couldn’t sell it.  An editor would have stopped long before I did and politely said, “I think Ms. X writes very well, but I just didn’t fall in love with the manuscript.”  I don’t want to see that happen.  You do write very well.  You just need to “kill your little darlings.”  If you don’t know what that means, Google the phrase!

Your thoughts?

Agent Z
Agency Z Literary Agents

This response was heart in your throat stuff when I received it - a rejection but oh, so close! Agent C gave copious amounts of feedback about what appealed to her and what didn't work and how I could fix it.

And, the two killer statements - can you pick them? "...if you can work with a critique group or a book doctor or by yourself to edit Manuscript A I’d definitely reconsider it.  Seriously reconsider it." and "If you do a major rewrite of this manuscript to eliminate the dross and fine tune it so that every single word pulls its own weight, I think you’ll have a manuscript I can sell to a large New York publisher."

So, guess what I began working on after that? :-) I also responded to her question and gave her my thoughts on the comments she'd made.

EXAMPLE 4

This from another agent after pitching in a query letter two manuscripts she might be interested in, a request for the partials of both and then a submission of them to her.

Hi Kylie,

The manuscripts are in the right format, thanks!

I'll read Manuscript A first; I'm very interested in your work.  If you hear anything from another agent, before I get a chance to write back, which may take me a week or so, as I'm attending a conference this weekend--please, let me know immediately.  I want to get a chance to offer you representation too, if another agent offers it first.

Best,
Agent A

EXAMPLE 5

This was the end result of an editorial pitching session at an RWAustralia conference. The editor requested a partial during the pitch, liked it and requested the full manuscript. She rang me to say she liked the full and was taking it to the board. Then she emailed me to say they were undecided and so she'd passed it on to the head offices in the UK and US. This letter was the culmination of that roller coaster ride.

Dear Kylie,

Thank you very much for your patience. Finally I have to tell you that we have decided we don’t think (Publishing House) would be the right list for your manuscript. It was read here and in the Orbit offices in the UK and the US, and everyone enjoyed your writing but felt the story was geared more towards romance than to sci-fi/fantasy. It would be better suited to a romance list.

I am sorry it has taken a while for us to come to this conclusion, but we gave it a lot of thought and talked about it across three continents.

I would like to wish you all the very best with your writing.

Regards
Editor A
Publishing House A

Another near miss. But so encouraging. The correspondence was very positive even though, ultimately, it ended in rejection.

As a nice aside - the editor contacted me months after this, just after I'd won the RWA Valerie Parv Award to congratulate me on my achievement. She'd remembered me from all those months ago!

Next time I'll share the bee's knees; the holy grail of all letters - the offer of representation!

What's Coming Up?

Conference season is just around the corner for RWAmerica, RWAustralia & RWNew Zealand.

If you haven't thought about it yet then get your mind into gear as attendance numbers are filling fast. The RWAmerica and ROMAUS loops have been busy reminding us that there are only a limited number of places left, so both look like they're going to be a sell out! Wow!

First on the calendar is RWAmerica® 30th Annual National Conference.

July 28th-31st, 2010

Gaylord Opry Hotel

2800 Opryland Drive
Nashville, Tennesse 37214

Keynote Speakers:

Nora Roberts

Jayne Ann Krentz

Sherrilyn Kenyon

Sabrina Jeffries

Notable Events:

RITA® Awards for published authors

Golden Heart® Awards for unpublished authors

Next is RWAustralia at scenic Coogee Beach, Sydney.

13th-15th August, 2010

Crowne Plaza, Coogee (in Sydney)

Australia

Keynote Speakers:

Debra Dixon &

Vicki Lewis Thompson

Visiting Agents/Editors:

Jennifer Schober from Spencerhill Associates in New York

Bernadette Foley from Hachette Australia

Workshop speakers:

Nalini Singh, Valerie Parv & Alexandra Nahlous, Erica Hayes, Tracey O’Hara & Vanessa Barneveld, Kate Forsyth, Denise Rossetti, Amanda Ashby & Sara Hantz, Alison Stuart, Melanie Milburne,

Jessica Hart, Kate Cuthbert, Dr.Ella Sugo & Terri Green.

And to finish the conference season, the RWNZ 20th Annual Conference in Auckland, New Zealand.

(primary conference sponsors Harlequin M&B)

20th-22nd August, 2010

Rydges Hotel, Auckland

New Zealand

Keynote Speakers: 

Christopher Vogler
Stephanie Laurens

Visiting Agents/Editors:

Laura Bradford from Bradford Literary Agency

Diane Moggy, VP Overseas Editorial Strategy & Development for Harlequin Enterprises

So, if you're looking for something to feed your creativity or just want to rub elbows with like minded people then plan on coming to one of these conferences. You won't be disappointed!

(*Click on RWA, RWAustralia & RWNZ in the post to find links to schedules, workshops, conference information and registration options)

Another Writing Quote

"It's by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer."

(G.Brenan)

Missing In Action!

Well, it won't be long now until I head O/S to Italy - the trip is coming up fast (the friend whom I'm meeting up with when I get over there has already left to catch up with rello's! *grin*).

While planning and writing the first draft my next WIP (a very hot sf romance), I've been busy organising and preparing posts that will be featured here while I'm away.

Here's the line up of what's ahead so you can keep an eye out for them.

16 April - Rejection Letters: "Nearly There R's" (p.3)
23 April - Rejection Letters: "The Offer" (p.4)
30 April - Author-Agent Contracts (what do they consist of?)
7 May - Romance Writers Conferences
14 May - Favourite Things
21 May - Italy Highlights (& photo's)!

If I can wangle the time and access to the internet, there'll no doubt be a couple of posts on my travels. I may also have contest news to share as some of the finalist announcements or placings deadlines fall while I'm sight-seeing. Fingers crossed for that!

Now, I'm going to go back to my Italy CD and see what other phrases I can learn in Italian before I get there!

Winter Rose Finalist

Just when I thought the last couple of weeks couldn't get any more exciting than they already have been, I've received an email informing me that my sci-fi romance (which you can find on my website) is a finalist in the Yellow Rose Chapter of RWA 2010 Winter Rose contest in the paranormal section!

One of goals I set this year was to only enter US contests geared towards getting my work in front of agents/editors interested in the paranormal genre.

The Winter Rose has Emmanuelle Alspaugh from the Judith Ehrlich Literary Agency judging the final round of the paranormal section. Results will be known on May 15th (my birthday) - fingers crossed!

Promoting Authors

Ever wondered how you can help your author friends further their cause in a practical way?

Rowena Cherry gives us 25 Free Ways to Buzz an Author courtesy of a link from the RWA Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter.

Options such as: 
... if you have a blog or website, publicize your friend’s upcoming signings/author talks/workshops on your blog 
... drop in on her online chats to say how you enjoyed her book
... buy autographed books from them at book-signings to use in your own giveaways
... offer to take a bunch of her bookmarks to conventions, or conferences, other places to hand out or put in goodie bags, or on promo tables

Check it out! There's heaps of suggestions, some more practical or appealing than others but I'm sure you'll find something to do to help our published friends.

Writing & Driving a Car Quote

"Writing a novel is like driving a car at night.

You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."

(E.L.Doctorow)

GUEST AUTHOR: Cathryn Brunet

Debut author, Cathryn Brunet, always dreamed of being a writer until one day she decided to stop dreaming and just do it. For support, she joined Romance Writers of Australia and Romance Writers of New Zealand and now numerous books, two novellas, numerous short stories and competitions later, Cathryn has achieved her dream of being published.

Her debut book, RITUAL PASSION, published in December 2009 with Samhain, is an erotic fantasy romance novella, and is available as an e-book.

A passion to appease the gods...or call down their vengeance.
The jungle-wrapped city of Challas is dying, crumbling under the weight of its corrupt priesthood and degenerate new gods. But an even greater threat looms on the horizon. Outside the city walls, a pestilence breeds. Unless stopped, it will crawl through the city's decaying streets and destory everyone.
Phalandria wants to see her magnificent city reborn and freed from the perversion of the priests who murdered her father. And she wants Massilis, the man who has stood by her side since childhood. The man who's developed into a magnificent, jungle-hardened warrior...and ignites her unquenchable desire. Although Massilis has always protected her, only once has he allowed his hunger for her to show.
Now the water oracle has called for Phalandria and Massilis to perform the Concubitia, a sexual rite to propitiate the gods. But the priests suspect a conspiracy and will do anything to protect themselves. And Phalandria realises that the priests are not the only ones sabotaging the ritual.
The man she loves has an agenda of his own.

(Click on RITUAL PASSION for an excerpt.) The novella is available from all e-book retailers and as a Kindle download from Amazon.

Cathryn writes also contemporary love stories, erotic novellas and short stories and lives in regional New South Wales, Australia. She's visiting today to share more about herself and tell us what's next on her agenda.

Author name and/or given name: Cathryn Brunet

Published genre/s: Erotic romance

Favourite Childhood Toy: My horse! I was horse mad from birth and nagged my parents endlessly for one. I hung around with friends I knew had ponies, read a bazillion horse books (Walter Farley's The Black Stallion series was my favourite), demanded my father, brother, aunts, uncles anyone who could still bend over that they play horsey with me, and sighed wistfully each time I came in contact with anything even remotely equine. I still do, come to think of it.

My dream was granted when I was twelve. Misty, as I romantically but unoriginally named her, was a gorgeous bay mare with a white star on her forehead and a wonderfully sweet disposition. I was love at first whinny.

Incredibly, she only died a year or so ago, aged 30. That's a long life for a horse but then she always was one of a kind.

Wow, a horse fan! I thought you might have tossed in The Silver Brumby series or Black Beauty amongst your favourite books as a kid! I bet you DID read them ;-) !

Greatest Vice: Being miss Fussy Britches or, as my darling beloved so charmingly calls it, Feral Cheryl. I can be very anal about things, from house cleaning to writing, and tend to get a bit twitchy when they're not exactly as I want.

Ohh, I can identify with this character flaw, Cathryn! I'm a stickler for spring cleaning when I get in a mood. And heaven help anyone who calls in and interrupts me when I'm on a roll! I've GOT to get it all done then, not an hour or two later after the visitor has left.

Book/s You're Reading Now: To put me in the mood for my latest work in progress I'm reading a non-fiction book by journalist and documentary maker Michael Wood called In Search of the Dark Ages. I love his enthusiasm for history, people and places. He makes even the driest subject entertaining.

But I'm also reading The Amber Spyglass which is the final book in Phillip Pulman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

Most intriguing place you've visited: Intriguing. Hmm, that's tricky. If you asked for the most beautiful or friendliest or which has the best food it'd be easy, but intriguing is a difficult one to answer. Perhaps Berlin. Because of the post-war building boom you get this fantastic collision of past and future. Modernist architecture runs alongside bullet scarred classical buildings and it feels as though there's a new story waiting to be told around every corner. It's a fascinating place. I hope to return one day.

A place you've yet to see: Petra in Jordan. But that's just one of a very long list of destinations. I adore travel and don't do enough of it!

Author/s in your genre who you enjoy reading: Denise Rossetti*. She uses such rich language!

I totally agree with you, Cathryn. Denise is a fabulous writer, her books are so absorbing. I adore her world-building.
(*For those who aren't familiar with Denise Rossetti, she's one of RWOz's wonderful paranormal authors)

Who or what influenced you to write in the genre you're now published in? I honestly don't know how to answer that. One day, as an experiment/writing exercise, I started writing in first person. For some reason the story turned out to be an erotica. Idon't know why!

But RITUAL PASSION has definite strains of the film Apocalypto.

That was a good film, one I've watched several times now. What a great comparison to draw - it helps define the "flavour" of RITUAL PASSION and certainly gives it an exotic feel.

When developing a story who tends to appear first in your mind, the hero or heroine, and why? The hero. I always have a picture of him well before the heroine. I'll daydream about him for weeks and end up developing a bit of a crush. Sad, I know. :-)

Rats, I should have also asked what techniques you use when planning a book, Cathryn. Collage? Journalling? etc. I'm always fascinated by how authors "see" their characters/scenes/worlds.

Writing Milestone/s: I think finishing a book is always a great milestone. Mind you, selling one is too!

Latest release/project: Anything to do with knights is bound to get my attention. It's the romantic in me. The reality is that they weren't all Sir Galahads but it's still great fun imagining them that way.

And I like the conflict in my ms, PUREHEART. The heroine is a creature of goodness and purity who, to defeat evil, is forced to join it only to discover she takes pleasure from the engagement. Whereas the hero is a violence-wrecked but utterly honourable soldier for whom doing the right thing means breaking all the principles he holds dear. Oh, and he's seriously sexy too!

They're great characters to write.

Ohh, PUREHEART sounds like another great story! The plot is intriguing but I feel for your characters! Torturing like that, shame on you ;-) ! I hope you're submitting it somewhere, Cathryn.

Thanks, so much for joining me today on my blog, Cathryn, it's been a hoot having you here!!!

Don't forget to visit her over at her website  - you can find out more about Cathryn at www.cathrynbrunet.com