GUEST INTERVIEW AUTHOR SAMANTHA COMBS

Today my guest is award winning author Samantha Combs. Here's a chance to learn more about her. She's a talented, ambitious and a fun person. Her ninth book, the dark and edgy, YA paranormal, The Deadlies is released today from Secret Cravings Publishing. I think you'll enjoy her interview, I know I did. 

Welcome, Samantha!

1.                     Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?   I consider myself a master juggler.  I write after a long day that includes work, kids and husband.  After all that, I sit down to write with a bitchy muse named Musina.

2.                     What do you do when you are not writing?   I work fulltime, parent fulltime and be a wife fulltime.  There are 28 hours in a day, right?

3.                     Do you have a day job as well? I do.  I am the Corporate Risk Manager for Yellow Cab in Los Angeles.  Demanding is the job on a good day.  But, I love it.

4.                     When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book? Like the whole indie-author world, I’ve been a writer all my life, but I became an author about two plus years ago.

5.                     How did you choose the genre you write in?   It chose me.  Paranormalcy and horror are pretty selective.  I’m proud to be in the ranks.

6.                     Where do you get your ideas?    By opening my eyes every day of my life

7.                     Do you ever experience writer’s block?   Of course!

8.                     Do you work with an outline, or just write?   I just write.  Every time I open the laptop, I wonder if the words will come.  So far, they always have.

9.                     Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?    I started my devotion to horror and sci-fi with the amazing Isaac Asimov.  I, Robot figured prominently.

10.                 Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?    Agents are business people and sometimes they may love what you wrote but can’t sell it.  Or are selling something too similar.  I learned that independent publishers don’t operate under those same restrictions.  Lucky for us.

11.                 If you had to go back and do it all over, is there any aspect of your novel or getting it published that you would change?    I would go straight to a publisher and not try to get the agent.

12.                 How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?    I enjoy social media networking.  Besides getting the book and the brand out there, I have developed some rewarding professional and personal relationships that I now cherish.

13.                 Have you written a book you love that you have not been able to get published?    Luckily, no.  All my work is out there.

14.                 Can you tell us about your upcoming book?    The Deadlies is a departure from my normal paranormal.  I was worried it was too dark and edgy and was delighted to begin reading about the emerging genre of New Adult.  I think I’ll fit in there just fine!

15.                 Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?    All from the brilliantly twisted file cabinets in my head!

16.                 What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?   I am partial to the scene at the stables.  I just love reading something that makes me catch my breath.

17.                 How did you come up with the title?   It’s a play off of the center story arc on the seven deadly sins.

18.                 What project are you working on now?   My current WIP is called Wingspan, another New Adult paranormal, but not like anything I’ve ever written before.  It’s a page turner for me, since I have no idea where its going!

19.                 Will you have a new book coming out soon?    The Deadlies releases April 2, 2013 from Secret Cravings Publishing

20.                 Are there certain characters you would like to go back to, or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with?    I am working on another book, with a working theme of teen obesity.  But not from the preachy side.  From the side of the teen growing up in it.  Working title is Big Girls Don’t Wear Belly Rings.

21.                 What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author?   Revising and editing is always hard.  I have to remember to not take anything personal.  This is where I best remember that writing is a business.

22.                 What has been the best compliment?   That my characters remain with the reader long after they finish reading the book.  That I have perfectly captured the teen voice and angst.

23.                 Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?    Get thick skin.  Know that only if you experience rejection, can the eventual acceptance taste so sweet.  And don’t believe everything you are told.  Research for yourself and be the best kind of author there is, an informed one.
  24.                 Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?   Come on over to the bloggy!  Introduce yourself and take a look around.  I love to hear from fans, followers, readers, and fellow authors.

BIO:

Samantha Combs is a Southern California author with seven published books: Her Young Adult paranormal titles, the Global Ebook Award-winning debut title SPELLBOUND, SPELLBOUND's sequel, EVERSPELL, GHOSTLY, and WATERDANCER, a middle grade horror called THE DETENTION DEMON, and her adult horror collections, TEETH AND TALONS and WAY PAST MIDNIGHT. HELLOWEEN is her eighth book and her third horror story collection. She enjoys writing YA paranormals, both dark and light, and supernatural fantasy and romance, but it is her love of horror that started it all. Thanks, Mr. King.

When she’s not writing, she works full time and enjoys spending time with her husband and two children. Her guilty pleasures include reality television, the Food Network channel and shoes. She truly believes she can accomplish anything if she has the right pair of shoes. And she adores totally inappropriate earrings.

Samantha loves writing and publishing her work and is in awe of the technological advances of our lives. With all of the genres there are for a reader, she has learned that writing paranormal and horror lets her share all the weirdness of everyday life in a not-so-everyday way. The foundation of a good story is all around her. All she has to do is….breathe.

Samantha loves to hear from her fans. Connect with her here:

BUY LINK FOR THE DEADLIES

Samantha Combs, Author

Check out all eight of my books!

SPELLBOUND  http://www.amazon.com/Spellbound-Samantha-Combs/dp/1463787936/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1336187025&sr=8-13

EVERSPELL  http://www.amazon.com/Everspell-Spellbound-ebook/dp/B006Z0LKLC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336187120&sr=1-1

GHOSTLY  http://www.amazon.com/Ghostly-ebook/dp/B005ONM5RE/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336187148&sr=1-1

THE DETENTION DEMON  http://www.amazon.com/The-Detention-Demon-ebook/dp/B0077DTQHG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336187185&sr=1-1

TEETH AND TALONS  http://www.amazon.com/Teeth-Talons-Horror-Anthology-ebook/dp/B006X51I4S/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336187215&sr=1-1

WAY PAST MIDNIGHT  http://www.amazon.com/Way-Past-Midnight-ebook/dp/B0088DXFP8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1338755543&sr=1-1

WATERDANCER  http://www.amazon.com/Waterdancer-ebook/dp/B0096TPBX2%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAJBDF5XQBATGDX4VQ%26tag%3Dspea06-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB0096TPBX2

HELLOWEEN  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009X3N9IA

CONNECT WITH ME!

Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Samantha-Combs-Fan-Page/205186202866933

Email:  samanthacombswrites@gmail.com

Blog: http://www.samanthacombswrites.blogspot.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/samanthacombs1

WRITE, PUBLISH, AND BE INFORMED!