~ Interview with the talented Samantha Towle for her upcoming new release called: Unsuitable.~
Blurb
Daisy Smith has spent eighteen months of her life paying for a crime she didn’t commit. Now out of prison, she has only one focus—to get back custody of her younger brother, Jesse, who is deep in the foster care system. Desperate to rebuild her life and show the system that she is responsible enough to care for Jesse, she takes on the only job available to her—working as a maid at the Matis Estate. On day one of her new job, Daisy meets Kastor Matis, the only son of the owners and her new boss. An enigmatic, handsome Greek god of a man, Kas is closed off, cold, and…well, kind of a bastard. The more time Daisy spends around Kas, she starts to see there might be more to him than just his cold, bastard ways. He may actually have a heart beating in that frozen chest of his. But Kas has secrets, too. Secrets that he’s determined to keep. Secrets make Daisy curious. And you know what curiosity can do…
Interview
Dear Samantha, thank you so much for this opportunity, we are so thrilled, happy, (freaked out! NOT lol) honored and humbled to be doing this interview with you.
1)I'm sure many of the readers already know who Samantha Towle, the author, is… so how different are you in person?
I’m no different to the person that people see online and social media. I’m a what you see is what you get kind of gal.
2) Does Samantha, the author, have an alter-ego taking over only while she writes or your inner personality gets involved with your stories?
My characters drive the story, but I would say in each of my books there is a little part of myself.
3) How long does it take for you to write a book (from the first draft to the last dot on your final version?
It depends. I wrote one book in six weeks, another took me eight months to complete. It really does just depend on the complexity of the storyline, and what I have going on in my everyday life as to how long it will take me.
4) What book took you the longest to write? And what book took you the shortest of time to come into the light?
Taming the Storm took the longest to write, but while I was writing TTS there was a death in my family, so of course writing the book had to take a back precedence. The book that took the shortest time was…I would say The Mighty Storm, as it’s the longest book I’ve ever written, sitting at around 140k words and I wrote it in eight weeks.
5) One of your biggest hits are The Mighty Storm series. How close do you hold your characters from those series to your heart or mind? Do they still linger around in your mind? Do they interfere when you want to develop a new storyline?
They’re always in my mind, Jake especially, but that never interferes with a new storyline development. When I’m writing a book those characters are always front and centre.
6) How do you get the idea for the new storyline? Is there a relaxation, meditation or hectic process involved? Can you elaborate?
They literally just come to me. Mostly, while I’m listening to music. One I had through a dream, which is Kas’s character in my upcoming book Unsuitable. I was napping one afternoon and Kas just presented himself!
7) In The Mighty Storm series, the background, or better yet the interwoven essence in the stories is music. What do you like to listen to in your spare time? Do you listen to the music while writing? If yes, can you name a few music choices?
I will listen to any genre of music, I’m not fussy! If a song catches my ear, whether it be pop, rap, indie, classical…I’ll listen. I am however a big fan of The Killers, KoL, Adele, Lana Del Rey…I even love T.Swift! I can’t write without music, so iTunes is on every day in my house!
8) And the featured music in those series, is that your personal music influence or did your characters totally took over the music reign?
It was both. I put songs in there that I liked and that fitted with the storyline, and Jake & Tru presented songs while I was writing.
9) In Revved series, the background is car racing milieu. How familiar are you really with the “insides” of a car?
I know the basics!
10) Have you done any research on the car racing field, the rules, the “inside” trade-marks, the tidbits, the whole business machinery behind the car-racing spectacle ?
I had to do a lot of research while writing Revved. I can’t tell you how many car fixing and car racing videos that I had to watch on YouTube!
11) Have you ever been car racing? If yes, wow!!! When and where? If not, would you like to?
No, I’ve never raced a car, or been to the races. But I would love to go the Grand Prix one day.
12) How did the process of preparation go for those series?
It was a lot of online research to understand the race car industry as a whole.
13) Can you give us a little insight into your writing process, research, secret procedures (LOL) or rituals?
I guess my ritual is get up, get my kids ready for school, make coffee, and sit down to work. Boring really! I just write the story as it flows, and as the characters direct. My research is usually online based, or if I do need to speak to a professional in the field that my characters works, then I will.
14) Have you ever considered to write a continuation of the Revved series? I, myself, would be very interested to see the spin-off of Revived?
I have considered it, but I don’t have anything in the pipeline at the moment.
15) About your new book, that’s about to come out in October. Unsuitable. Can you tell us something about it? How would you present it beside the given blurb?
There isn’t really much else I can tell you aside from the blurb, without giving away spoilers. All I can say is that Kas is completely different to any character that I have ever written. He was the most complex and difficult character for me to write to date.
16) How did you come up with the idea for it?
I came up with the idea for Kas in a dream, back in 2014. I started writing the book, but I reached halfway through and something just wasn’t working. So, I ended up shelving the book until I could figure out the problem. It took a while! But finally I realised that I was writing Kas the way I thought readers would want him to be written, and not writing him exactly as he is – which is the worse thing a writer can do. I guess I was nervous (still am!) that people wouldn’t understand Kas. But nerves aside, I scrapped the 60k that I had already written and I started again, and it was the best thing I could have done.
17) Can we expect the same amount of angsty feels like in every one of your books?
Oh, yes.
18) About that. Hmmm…I am not saying this lightly, but you are the QUEEN of ANGST. And I freaking LOVE it. I love the anticipation…it makes me feel alive and vivid, but it also makes me jumpy and itchy LOL, so I guess, the mission is accomplished. BUT while you write it, the angst we read, does it affect you in the same way, or you can back it off, step away from it until you are finished? How about when you re-read the written? Is it the same effect? Or you have non?
I’m more affected by the emotional scenes as I write them. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cried while writing emotionally wrung out scenes! Angsty scenes…I guess they do affect me while I’m writing, especially one scene in Unsuitable, my heart was beating like a mothereffer while I was writing it!
19) Can you pick your favourite book amongst everything that you have written so far?
I can’t do that! It would be like picking my favourite child! Lol. But I will say that I loved writing Unsuitable as it took me completely out of my comfort zone.
20) To which characters can you relate the most?
I can relate to all of them but for different reasons.
21) Do you find inspirations for your characters in the people that surround you? Or yourself maybe?
I would never base a character on someone I know. Too risky in case they realised it was them! But I do tend to, without realising at the time, put a small part of myself—a facet of my personality or past experiences—into one of the main characters.
22) A few quick/jump in questions: Coffee or tea? Coffee Beer or vine? Both! Book or movie? Book of course! Favorite food? Ice cream Favorite drink? Strawberry Daiquiri. We were talking alcohol right? ;) Favorite song? Ooh, this is tough…I would say I have one favourite song. More a collection of songs that I’ll never tire of listening to. Favourite band/singer? The Killers What's one thing you’d bring with you on a deserted island? And why? My phone so I could call for help!
23) What is next to come in your writing schedule?
I do have a couple things in the pipeline at the moment that I can’t talk about.
24) Would you like to say something to your fans and to the new followers?
Let’s hear it! Thank you. I couldn’t continue to do this job that I love, without them.
25) What is the strangest interaction you ever had with your fans?
I don’t think I’ve ever had one…nope, nothing comes to mind.
26) Can you share/describe your best encounter with some of your fans?
All encounters with my readers are the best! I love meeting readers at signings, and receiving emails and messages.
Again, thank you so much, Samantha for participating in this interview, it was such a fun and pleasure beside being a fantastic experience!!! Thanks for making it happen from your side *wink* The interview took place on September 8, 2016. under the supervision of The Sirens Book Reviews
About Samantha Towle
New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and international bestselling author Samantha Towle began her first novel in 2008 while on maternity leave. She completed the manuscript five months later and hasn't stopped writing since. She has written contemporary romances, THE STORM SERIES, THE REVVED SERIES, TROUBLE, WHEN I WAS YOURS and THE ENDING I WANT. She has also written paranormal romances, THE BRINGER and the ALEXANDRA JONES SERIES, all penned to tunes of The Killers, Kings of Leon, Adele, The Doors, Oasis, Fleetwood Mac, and more of her favourite musicians. A native of Hull and a graduate of Salford University, she lives with her husband, Craig, in East Yorkshire with their son and daughter.
