Thank you for guesting on THoR. Please will you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a married mother of two, and I live in Southern California
Why writing and not something else?
I can’t stand the sight of blood (no medical profession) don’t think I’d pass the bar (no legal profession), and don’t like guns (no military career) Writing seemed a natural fit. I can write about blood, bypass the legal part (not many shapeshifters and paranormies go to jail) and learn all I need about guns from Law and Order and CSI on tv.
Where do your ideas come from?
Any time someone cuts me off on the freeway and I wish I had supernatural powers to wipe them off the face of the earth….shazam! There’s an idea. Living in Los Angeles provides me with a boatload of ideas. Daily. Hourly. Almost by the minute. Basically every time I leave the house and face the great uncivilized and super-rude masses I am stunned by an idea. Also, a five and an eight year old come up with them all the time. “Hey, mommy what if this toy was a blankety-blank and it could blank all the blanks in the world? Wouldn’t that be neat?” You know what kids? That WOULD be neat. Run and get Mommmy a piece of paper.
Do you base your characters on people you know, and if so, would they recognise themselves if they read your books?
I hope not, because that law career would have sure come in handy.
Do you base your characters on any famus people, if so please will you include a pic of them with your hero and heroine interviews?
I decline to answer on the grounds that it may tend to incriminate me. (LOVE when they do that on television! You just KNOW they are hiding something. Not that I am. Whatever. Move on.)
What is your favourite flower, and why?
I love the snap dragon, because its neither a dragon, nor does it snap, but it wears that name fiercely, damn it!
If you could spend a day with any celeb who would you spend it with, and why?
Easy. Hands down I would spend the day with Kathy Griffin. In disposable diapers. Because I scream with laughter when she even opens her mouth. And I am sure I would pee a little if her mother was around because that woman is hysterical.
Who influenced your writing and how?
Stephen King, James Patterson, JD Robb, Nora Roberts, and all for one reason. They all have tremendous pacing and believability. There is truth in their writing even though they write fiction. Truth in fiction is a gift.
What is the most important peice of writing advice you've ever been given?
Don’t force details. Feed information to a reader like you are feeding an infant; one small spoonful at a time, too little and he wants more, too much and he will choke. You have to find balance.
What advice would you pass on to aspiring writers?
Write because you love to and have to. If you are writing to make money, quit now and go to work at Starbucks. It can happen, and you will make the money but the motivation is all wrong and you are cheating the reader. He/she may not know it now, but will one day find out and your break-up will be brutal. And you will know it.
Are you a 'pantser' or a plotter, and if a plotter, how long does it take you to plot out your book?
I am a pantser, a term, you must know, I only learned AFTER I wrote my first novel. I wrote a blog post where I admitted that for most of the book I would sit down at the laptop and have no idea where the story arc would go, only a vague idea where I thought it might. I was always wrong. You see, I am never really in control, my muse is. I write this sentence and even re-read it knowing full well it sounds slightly insane, yet there is no better way to word it. I simply guide the book, am the driver for the car, it is being navigated by my creative muse. Make of that what you will. :D
Do you do any research for your books, and if not, where do you ideas for the paranormal element of your stories come from?
The paranormal element comes from things I wish I could do, or completing this sentence: wouldn’t it be neat if…….and I fill in the blank. Sometimes the idea s a flop and sometimes I tuck it under my arm and run it all the way to the goal posts. Touchdown!
If you could own and drive any make of car in the world, what would it be?
I’m not picky. I like cars with butter leather seats and rumbly engines I can feel vibrating under my thighs. Oh, excuse me…..I need a glass of water.
Do you let any family members read your books before they are published?
I have two readers. One is a brilliant friend named Cathi I called my FR – First Reader. She calls me out on technical errors, like if I drop my hero a grade by accident or give the wrong witch the wrong ability several chapters in. My other reader I give manuscripts for because she says I’m an amazing writer. Hee hee….who doesn’t want to hear that?
What comes next?
Do you have another book in the pipeline? And do you want to give us a teeny-weeny clue what it's about? :-) Absolutely. I have three WIP’s right now, but I’m closely attached to one with the working title of Waterdancer, about a girl who discovers her dad is a sea creature. And that’s all you get!
Logan Daniels has always led a sheltered life in sleepy, predictable Lancaster, New Hampshire. But when beautiful Serena suddenly appears at school one day, his comfortable existence becomes anything but as he finds himself falling in love with her. There’s something special about Serena Starr. He realizes what it is when he sees her unleash her spells. Soon, a mysterious and foreboding presence settles over his placid home.
Logan and Serena find themselves battling darkness and evil with an ominous mission: it wants Serena and will stop at nothing to have her. Tearing apart Logan’s town, threatening his friends, even causing harm to his family, the demon will spread its doom over every facet of Logan’s once placid life. Logan matures in ways he could never have imagined as he struggles to protect those he loves, including Serena. But he can't do it alone.
Serena hails from a long line of able and powerful women who will aide in the battle and perhaps settle a score of their own. The strength of the coven and Serena's love will be behind him, but ultimately this is Logan’s fight to win. But, will he?
Excerpt:Prologue
LOGAN
My girlfriend’s anguished screams pierced my soul and I spun around, frantic to find her. I spotted her across the barn, struggling against the clutches of the demon, Christophe. He had my Serena trapped in his arms and was headed with her across the party to the gaping tear in the air. If I let him get there with her and go through to the other side, I would never see her again. What could I do? I was only a teenager. But, I was her only hope. Besides that, in the short time that I had known Serena, she had become my world. It didn’t matter that she was a witch. It didn’t matter that in knowing her, I had uncovered startling revelations about my own heritage, my own background. It mattered only that she was my destiny, my future, and that we were fated to be together. It mattered only that I loved her. I’d loved her from almost the first moment I laid eyes on her at school. I remembered every second of that day like it had only just happened. I couldn’t have known it at the time, but that meeting was the first step on the journey that had brought me here today, fighting for our lives. The day my spellbinding life with Serena began.
Buy link: http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662245&mode=product&product=4435577
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Spellbound-ebook/dp/B0055T3D1E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1309285775&sr=1-1
samanthacombswrites@gmail.com
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You have asked a great bunch of questions! Here is just a couple more pieces of information about upcoming releases I have:
September 2011, from Astraea Press, a YA paranormal romance: Juice and the High School Ghost
October 2011, from Aura Speculative Fiction, a Middle Grade horror/thriller. The Detention Demon
Thank you so much Sherry! Let me know when you are ready for the next installments and how you liked my answers on this one!
1 comment:
I enjoyed the interview! I am inspired by the same writers:)
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