A Pound Foolish, Penny Wise or Counting Words Doesn't Work For Me

I, like most of the nation and likely, the world, have been watching the debt negotiations on Capital Hill.  One side wants to cut defense and one side wants to cut aide to the needy.  They won't compromise and meet each other in the middle and so in one day many people who depend on government assistance won't get it.  I'm one of them.  I'm receiving unemployment for the first time in my life and I'm not too proud to say that my family would be in a world of hurt without it.  The people in power spend all day long haggling over their various points and at the end of the day, they are nowhere.  You might be wondering what this has to do with writing, but I think it is a current and timely illustration of how wrapped up a writer can get in the machination of writing and lose the soul of it.  Let me explain.

So many writers get overly focused in how many words they write in a day or a sitting.  I'm guilty of that myself.  I tweeted last night about writing 2600+ words yesterday.  The difference is this morning, I didn't delete any of them.  Every word counted.  Every word was meaningful and had punch and moved the story forward.  I don't think this is always the case with a writer overly focused on the quantity of the product and not the quality.  I am just as happy if I produce 500 words, but those 500 words do the same thing, ie: are meaningful, have punch, and move the story forward.

Early in my writing life, I would write prolifically and then read it back over at a later time and realize it was  verbal throw-up.  Just too words regurgitated on paper.  It was back story, unnecessary and didn't move the story anywhere.  It stagnated it.  I would end up pounding the delete key.  And think that the time spent writing those words wasn't time well spent.  That part would be wrong.  Maybe I wasn't going to be using those words, but I was learning a valuable lesson nonetheless.  I was teaching myself word economy.  I was learning to be penny wise.  I was learning how to tighten my story and edit myself.  And that is one of the most priceless things a writer can learn.

I'm happy I learned that early.  Tightening my story and editing myself has allowed me to write short stories as well as novels.  I still need editors, desperately.  But, I am so much better than before.  And when I edit, I can see where I went sloppy in some places far more easily than if I never had those early times when I had to delete lines, paragraphs, and more times than I can count, whole chapters.  I strive to never be a pound foolish, unlike my government.  But, I still count words!  I like the way it looks.  Some habits are hard to break.

Things I Think About When I Write Horror

I am one of those writers that genre hops.  I explained it this way one time in an interview I did with a blog site.  For me, it equates to shoes.  I can't wear the same pair of shoes day in and day out.  The same goes for my writing.  I am lucky to be able to switch gears often, from sweet romance, to paranormal, to horror, to sci-fi, back and forth, as the mood strikes, in the same manner as I wake up and the mood or weather dictates what I will wear that day and the shoes that will go along with it.  Or vice versa.  As any shoe-maven worth her salt knows, the shoe actually dictates the outfit.  Shoes first, make the outfit work around it.

This is the same reason I am able to have more than one manuscript going at once.  For instance, currently I am working on these: a paranormal with romantic undertones in the YA category, a sci-fi about aliens, another YA about a vampire hunter, and a demon slayer based on the seven deadly sins.  Depending on my mood, my muse and I decide which one I want to work on when I am ready to write.

Just as I have several loose things I think about when I write YA, I have the same thing for when I write horror.  I was just having a lively discussion with a Facebook friend and decided our topic would make a great blog post.  He agreed.  He called it advice, but I am not that pretentious.  I just want to call it things I think about when I am writing horror.  Again, they aren't set in stone.  They just help me.  Maybe they might help you, too.  Maybe not.  Whatever.

1. The first thing I always do is place my characters in a normal situation.  It's exactly what Stephen King does and why he is so good at horror, because he draws us in with the mundane, the believable, and before we know it, he twists it and swivels it and we didn't even know it was happening because we were so lulled by the normalcy in the beginning. 
2. When I do get to the actual horror part, I try to remember that white space can be a very effective tool. Sometimes just hitting the enter bar and giving the "discovery" it's own line can do more for the discovery than the discovery itself.  Ex:  If I bury "...and then she saw the hand, severed from her husband's arm." at the end of a long paragraph, I have crushed the impact it could have had.  But consider if I did it this way:

         And then she saw the hand. (this is the end of the paragraph).

         It was no longer attached to Richard's arm. 

         A stand-alone line has a far greater impact than one trailing at the end of a paragraph.

     3.  The next thing I try to remember is that writing horror is not always about making it gory and blood-filled.  Sometimes the horror part can be filled with tension or suspense.  I write some horror scenes with the IDEA of horror rather than the demonstration of it.  Oftentimes what the character can imagine can be far scarier to them than what is really there.  The mind and what the imagination can conjure up is far more frightening than anything real.  I think of my most terror-filled nightmare, and I've had a few of those, and work from there.  The fear of the unknown is far more powerful that what we know.

    4.  The last thing I remember is this:  If it scares me, it'll likely scare someone else.

So, hopefully, this tells you at least how I go about it.  And if you like this, please check out my upcoming horror book, The Detention Demon, releasing in October through Aspen Mountain Press' imprint, Aura Speculative Fiction.  Thanks!

Things to Remember When Writing YA

I have been asked to be a judge in an upcoming short story contest being held on one of the groups I frequent on facebook.  I consider the request to be a great honour indeed.  Only three authors were asked and of the three, two of us appear to be receiving extremely favorable reviews for our book and one has a huge following for a book due out next month.  One of us is very active in the making of book trailers and all three of us are quite active in the marketing of ourselves, our brand and our published pieces.  We have given interviews, we blog often and mostly about writing, and all that being said, I believe we are all three wonderful candidates as judges.

We are myself, author of Spellbound, Scott Prussing, author of Breathless, and Kyberlee Burks-Miller, author of the soon-to-be released Compulsion.

The contest is a short story contest for a YA short, not to exceed 7500 words, beginning July 30 thru Aug, 6, 2011/  Get details here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=108939899205399.  Anyone who is a member of  YA Reads on facebook is eligible to enter.  Check it out!

I thought it might be a good time to give some of my tips about writing young adult.  These are just my suggestions.  None of these should be cast in stone.

1. Remember at all times that writing for teens doesn't mean write as though they are stupid.  They aren't. In most cases, they are highly intelligent kids, learning about themselves and feeling their way through some of the most enlightening periods of their lives.  Respect that.
2. Don't trivialize what they are going through.  If your think the scene you wrote sounds like a bad after-school special, it probably does.  Treat your characters with dignity, no matter what you have them going through.
3. Don't think the lingo and terminology from YOUR youth will still play today.  It won't.  And your reader will realize it almost on the first page if you try and fake it.  If you intend to write for a specific age group, you have to spend time with them.  Join a library group and read to them, volunteer at a school, or just go hang out at the beach.  But do it A LOT.  One hour at the mall won't do it.  Teens have a whole different language and it will take time and dedication to master it.  There is no Rosetta Stone for teenspeak.
4. Understand a teen's attention span is about the same to us as our life is to the life of the common housefly.  SHORT.  You have to capture it on the first page or they toss the book/ipad/kindle aside and grab a DS/Wii/PSP instead.  There is no world-building/character-study/working-up-to-it-ness allowed in a middle-grade or young, young-adult book.  You have to slam them into the action IMMEDIATELY and keep them there for the whole first chapter.  They have to be asking questions at the end of the first paragraph and wanting answers or you already lost them.
5. Covers are EVERYTHING.  Splashy, gaudy, dripping with color, or with a teen just like them on the cover and they will buy it every time.  Think of every Sarah Dessen book you ever saw.  What's on the cover?  Something that relates to a teen-aged girl, right?  Look at her latest one....back view of low-rise jeans, bottoms covering the feet, hands stuffed in the back pocket in the classic "What-ever." pose.  That cover SOLD that book.  Plus her name of course....synonymous with teen angst and empathy.
6. Here's the plus side:  If you get all that right, teens practically DEMAND books they love get made into movies.  They buy and buy and buy until agents and movie producers sit up and take notice and before you know it Mandy Moore and KStew and Emma Stone are lining up to play your ansgst teenaged heroine in a movie based on your book!  (So I dream.  We all do.  Whatever.  Move on.)

All I'm saying is everyone thinks it's so easy to write YA and I just want you to know, it's not.  Just remember, as complicated as you were when you were a young adult, consider putting all THAT done on paper.  Right?  I rest my case.

Today We Lost Great Talent

Amy Winehouse died today.  Anyone who has read a newspaper, or a gossip column or a tattle rag in the last three years shouldn't have been surprised by this news.  She was a train wreck, a cautionary tale, a disaster waiting to happen and everyone knew it.  We all knew it.  We saw the botched concerts, the pictures of her with red-rimmed eyes and bones with her skin barely clinging to them, and videos of her so addled by drugs and pure excess she didn't know what she was doing.  We saw all of that.

And then we would hear her sing.

For a few minutes, a few bars of a song, and sometimes a whole concert, she would be clear and the clarity and sincerity and truth of her voice would rise us up and take us to that place only a few artists can ever truly take us.  And we would hold out our hands like four year old children and beg to be taken there.  Her voice was a gift and it was simply too big for her to handle.  It is a tragedy told over and over again in the worlds of the truly talented.

As an author, another kind of artist, the news was astonishing.  I first felt a paralyzing loss in my heart at the tragedy for her parents. Then the true depth of the loss sank in.  We have lost her voice.  We have many like her, trying to sound the same as her, but there will only ever be one Amy.  Just as there was only one Curt and one River and one James and one Chris and one Marilyn and one Diana.  Sometimes our world is too cruel and too unkind and too insincere for the truly gifted, the truly precious, the truly special.

So, as an author, as an artist, I mourn Amy.  I mourn the music she would have made and the gifts she had left to give the world.  I know why she isn't with us and I won't pass judgment.  It is what it is.  Many articles will be written, dissecting her life and asking questions and supplying answers.  I won't do that.  I know just how I will feel.  Regardless of what she did to end up where she did, I will still miss her.  I just want to tell her one thing: Join the choir up there, Amy.  I promise, they'll love you.

Received a "Lovely Rose" From Romancing the Book" Review for Spellbound

I hope you'll allow me a little bit of horn-tooting right now.  I submitted my book, Spellbound, for review to the highly influential review site, Romancing the Book, and the responded right away with a nice reply that they didn't normally do Young Adult reviews but that they would certainly see if they had a reviewer who was interested and get back to me if I didn't mind waiting.  I was grateful for the response and replied I appreciated waiting.  I didn't hold out much hope.  There are soooo many talented writers out there and a veritable plethora of books to read.

My muse went on a field trip it seems, because not more than a week or so later I received a followup email notifying me that one of their reviewers WAS interested and with my permission, they would send my book to her straight away.  I said yes, yes, YES!  That was a couple weeks ago and the review came in today. GUESS WHAT?  I was bestowed a Lovely Rose.  In their rating system, that is only one lower than their highest rating, and when it was transferred to Goodreads, it became 4 out of 5 stars.  Good on me!

So here it is, because I am quite proud of it, and because I quite like how the reviewer did her job (thanks to you, Shyla!)  I am loving the review but I am so pleased that the reviewer was entertained by my book.  As an author, that's really all I want to do.  And the fact that this reviewer thinks I have done that is AWESOME!

Romancing the Book's Reviews > Spellbound

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shelf: read

Spellbound 
by Samantha Combs (Goodreads Author), Elaina Lee (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator) 

Romancing the Book's review 

Jul 21, 11

bookshelves: fantasy, paranormal, ya

Read in July, 2011

Reviewed by Shyla
Book provided by author for review

Spellbound starts off and places you into the thick of action. Demons, witches destiny and young love explode across the screen. I wasn’t even a page in, and I had a list of questions I wanted answered. This was a smart move expertly executed by the clever Ms. Combs. As we move on from the prologue we meet our Hero. Logan is a dark haired cutie who’s breezing his way through his senior year of high school. Nothing much happens in the tiny town of Lancaster, New Hampshire. So when he see’s three new girls in the office he stops to say hi, and his heart skips a beat.

Our heroine Serena star has arrived on the scene. Her honey colored hair is a mass of spirals that Logan wants to touch and I can picture vividly. Samantha has a real gift for imagery. She manipulated the words like a pro, and I have no problem envisioning the characters and their setting. From the first day she arrived we get the sense there’ something strange about Serena Starr. She appears and disappears in the blink of an eye and abnormal activity occurs around her.

Logan witnesses it , but remains quiet because to him all that matters is he likes her. Serena is sweet, intelligent and beautiful. She’s the perfect match for well mannered and romantic Logan, except she’s a teen witch, better known as a twitch. Twitches are watched by the council that governs them, and her eldest sister makes it clear they would not approve of her dalliance with a ‘normal’.

I developed a girlish crush on Logan. This is high-school sweethearts at its best. The joyous burst of emotions felt when you meet that special someone is contagious as it jumps off the page. Samantha does an excellent job of staying true to the teenage experience while inserting action, suspense and romance. The twists and turns of the plot kept me off kilter, and I was stunned when the Starr family came clean with Logan. His love interest is a future member of a the council, and it’s no coincidence they landed in Lancaster. There are dark forces at work.

Serena has chosen Logan, and this means he has an important role to play too. But we won’t know how important until further in to the book. The conflict with the council escalates, and the story takes a deliciously dark turn. Once the tiny town of Lancaster is over run by demons, all bets are off.

This story has it all; romance, adventure, myth and a well thought out plot. I loved how Samantha linked the lives of the characters together and gave each one their own time to shine.

The descriptions are magnificent as she breathes life to this strange new world she’s created.

With witches who fly on broom sticks, have the gift of site, transform, and so much more. I would describe it as a Harry Potter for the modern, edgier teen. My one complaint was at times the scenes felt a bit long. I’d have liked to see some of them shortened. I would highly recommend this to YA and paranormal fans

Why I Don't Believe Rupert Murdoch Didn't Know

I've been watching the unfolding events of the demise of The News of the World with great interest.  And growing disbelief.  I knew there would be denials as soon as the accusations of the cell-phone hacking came out, and we all knew the denials would be lame, at best, but I didn't realize they would make me feel as angry as they do.  We've all seen those kind of denials before, from oil officials, from executives at Enron, we've heard them from as long ago from the legal teams of OJ and as recently as the Casey Anthony camp, but hearing them about the hacking of cellphones belonging to murder victims?  Surviving family members of 9/11?  This is a new low.  A low matched only by the denial of KNOWLEDGE of them by executives at News of the World.  Presidents paying bribes to cops?  To officials?  How could top execs NOT know?

Then watching old Rupert get pied in the face yesterday and being defended by his four decades younger wife who volley-ball SPIKED the offender in the face had to be to lowest of all.  It removed the situation from the tragedy column to the tragi-comic division of journalism.  And isn't the first rule of journalism this: DON'T BECOME PART OF THE STORY!

It reminds me of a story I read a while back about a Columbian jourmalist who hosted a popular crime show.  Everyone marveled over his remarkable journalistic instinct at being able to ferret out these horribly gory crime scenes before the competition in order to film them for his true life crime show (Columbia having far less constraints over what is considered appropriate viewing material for the audience, go figure).  He would arrive literally minutes after the crime had been committed, besting his competitors for the scoop of a lifetime.  Internal Affairs investigation later revealed he was actually COMMITTING the murders, then filming them, so he would always be first on the scene.  He would pay off the local police to be in on the scheme.  When the news broke, this "journalist" became the story.

The News of the World story may not be exactly similar but the ookiness factor is the same.  At some point, if only one news outlet is getting the amazing inside scoop time after time, someone has to start asking not the hard questions, just the reasonable ones.  Someone has to say, "Who has his hand way in the wrong cookie jar?"  After all, in order for evil to prevail, all it takes is for good men to do nothing.  Somewhere, in the wreckage of The News of the World, a good man cowers, silent.

I'm just wondering what he's thinking now.

Why Borders Failed - IMO

First thing I want to state is that I was one of the legions that loved to go to Borders.  I remember sprawling in the aisles with my shoes off and a pile of books to my side, reading joyfully, with no concept of time, then taking my tower of treasures to the register and buying as many as my allowance would allow (hence the origin of the word 'allowance') and staggering home with them in the white plastic basket with the pink plastic flowers affixed to the front of my Schwinn.  And this was in my twenties.  I loved that bike.  Me and a roommate bought it for $20 at a yard sale and when we had no dough, would ride it to the shops.  And Borders was one of them.  But I digress.  Let me tell you, in my opinion, the one reason why Borders was doomed.

They never came up with an e-reader.

As an ebook publishing gal, that hurts the most.  When Amazon burst onto the scene with the Kindle, the publishing world lost its collective mind and formed its two camps almost immediately.  The righteous lined up quickly on the right, claiming that nothing would ever replace the touch and feel of good old paper and script, while "early adopters" like Stephen King got busy and immediately began publishing astonishing tomes only available to internet purchasers, angering his literati brethren.

Then Amazon began revealing that their kindle sales were demolishing their print sales and Barnes and Noble went "Pardon me? Can you repeat that?" and shortly announced their own e-reader, The Nook.  Determined to one-up Amazon, they then introduced the Nook Color.  While the e-publishing world continued exploding all over the place, Amazon kept introducing slicker, sleeker versions and reducing the price! 

And Borders introduced......nothing.

And then the Queen of all things literary, J.K. Rowling, went back on her own solemn vow and announced that the Harry Potter books would indeed become available in digital version later this year.  The epublishing world went bananas again and finally Borders said, "We give up."  They forgot a business golden rule.  No one will buy a company in the middle of a literary technological revolution that has refused to acknowledge that it is in the middle of one.

And so we say goodbye to what was once a literary powerhouse, a haven for all the glasses geeks we used to be, and I say it is a sad day, but one that a writer of e-books should rejoice in.  With death comes life.  With termination comes rejuvenation.  With surrender, rebirth.  No longer is the ebook the nasty stepsister or forgotten cousin of the revered and lofty printed version.  Now, the ebook can hold its head high.  Even Harry Potter is digital now, damn it.  Does my book come in print?  No, but you can get it at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and in eleven other digitized formats and they, my friend, they rule the world.

Just pray we don't have a power outage.

Why I Don't "Cast" My Characters As I Write?

I read the blog post of a friend, a dear fellow author, wherein she admitted that she envisioned the Hollywood heavyweights who would play her characters once her book made it to the big screen.  Having read most of her manuscript, I checked out her "cast" and agreed with most of her choices.  I got to thinking about the idea of doing the same thing.  We write differently. I write YA.  Her, not so much, so we wouldn't have to worry about borrowing leads and what not.  Funny thing was, I couldn't do it.

I realized, reading through a couple of my manuscripts, I am not so heavy on the descriptions.  Not like, say, a sweeping historical fiction where the costume is pretty much another character on their own, my descriptions tend to be rather stock.  I'm light on them because I've decided that I want the reader to be able to create their own mental picture when they are involved in the story.  Writing YA is so much about the truth and raw realness about the emotion and the journey, that clothing and hair color, for me, is just so much window dressing.

I discovered something else too, while I was thinking about this concept.  If I did try and cast my male lead at least, they would all turn out to be a cross between my first love from high school and Jordan Catalano.  If you are anywhere near my age and don't have a Y chromosome, you know who Jordan Catalano is.  He was Angela Chase's love interest on My So Called Life and I was desperately in love with him and the unfolding of their love affair for the entire 19 episodes.  He was beautiful, and rebellious and proud and dangerous and accidentally profound and my 22 year old heart beat in unison with his.  Parts of all my characters now have a little Jordan Catalano in them, a little of his quiet dignity and his smoldering sexuality.  And those eyes, those swallow-you-whole eyes.  Oh.  Sorry.  I'm back.

Anyway, I think that's why I can't cast my characters.  Because for me, they would always be Jordan Catalano from 17 years ago.  And maybe my readers today want a sparkly vampire with deathly white skin.  Or a boyish charmer whose brother is dead but he goes sailing with him anyway.  Or a hot werewolfy guy who just can't keep a shirt on (and who'd want him to?)  For my reader, the fantasy is theirs.  As an author, it's my job to take them there.  The rest is up to them.  :-)

Why I Choose E-Publishers

As an author, I am often asked why my books aren't available in print.  I have to admit, there is a small part of me that misses what must be a serious rush experienced by sitting at a table with a stack of your newly-minted print book hot off the presses to the right of you, bottles of water and fresh sharpies in a regimented row to the left and a long, impressive line of panting fans in front of you dying, simply dying to have you, and only you, autograph their barely-a-minute-ago purchased copy of your latest tome.  I mean, COME ONE....that has got to be fraggin' neat-god damn-capital-O!

Alas, that is not the path I have chosen.  Yes, I said it, CHOSEN.  Because I continue to submit my manuscripts to e-publishers and in order for you to understand why, I have to tell you a story.

I have a friend, a really terrific writer, and we had been going down the same I-hope-I-get-published highway.  She went a different route than me.  I chose to submit directly to the publishers I liked and found online.  I WILL admit I was rejected by agents, some who wrote me some terrific rejection letters with great advice, MOST of which I took.  Two I will name here because they are awesome:  I respect and am indebted to Louise Fury and Bree Ogden.  One I met and one I didn't, but both offered the kind of advice and encouragement a debut author can only dream of receiving.  But I digress. 

My friend did get an agent, and they did get a publishing deal and when she told me I was thrilled for her.  In that same time period my publisher released my novel with a killer cover in digital format everywhere.  Then I submitted another manuscript to them and received a contract with them for another novel to release in two months time, and I submitted and received a contract for a novel with another publisher, to be released in another two months time as well.  That meant I would be releasing 3 novels in 5 months.  When I asked my friend when hers would be coming out, she said summer of 2013.

Summer of 2013?  I couldn't help thinking all kinds of macabre thoughts.  What happened if she died?  What happened if they went bankrupt?  And my first thought?  Why did it take so long?

I would still love to be at book signing and it would be cool to see my book on shelves at Target or something, but how hard would it be to wait that long?  At the rate that I write, could a traditional publisher even keep up with me?  Anyway, as promised here are the reasons I choose to publish with
e-publishers:

1. My children will not be in college before my manuscripts publish
2. There is great satisfaction in this process flow only taking two months: Finish-cover art-edit-publish
3. I don't get sick of my own work waiting for the publishing process
4. E-publishing does not add to the carbon footprint
5. The ability to publish frequently keeps your name out there and your fans interested

For the record, my awesome publishers, so far:  for my two YA paranormal romances, www.astraeapress.com and for my upcoming MG horror/thriller, www.aspenmountainpress.com for their new imprint, Aura Speculative Fiction.

No matter what you decide or where you are published, there is only one thing anyone can call you when you publish your work.........Author.  Welcome to the club!

My First Review

Hi everyone.  I'm excited and pleased to tell you my first review is in for Spellbound......AND IT GOT 4 OUT OF 5 STARS!  How about that?  I was super lucky that the reviewer really seemed to tap into the inner struggle of Serena and Logan and understand the coming-of-age aspect of their journey.  While it is great to get a high mark in my review, I think my greater joy was my dawning recognition that I have written something that someone "GETS", do you know what I mean?  That, for me, was the greater astonishment, even greater, truly, than the great marks.  Even though it was stellar to get those, don't get me wrong.  So here, for your reading pleasure, is my first blogger review.  Thanks to Sherry Gloag, author in her own right, of Duty Calls, available now at all the usual suspects.  Thank you Sherry, for an insightful and thoughtfully written review!

Sherry Gloag's Reviews > Spellbound

my rating:

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shelf: read

Spellbound
bySamantha Combs, Elaina Lee (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator)

Sherry Gloag's review

Jul 13, 11

Read in July, 2011

Review:
Writing in the 1st person can be restricting, but Ms Combs overcomes both this, and head-hopping, in Spellbound with her masterly use of giving various characters their own sections in the story. Not only does the reader see the events from multiple viewpoints, but each one segues neatly into the next without slowing the pace of the story.
There is a large cast of characters, but the author’s technique ensures the reader never loses track of her main players. I did find keeping track of what the different coven members specialised in a bit hard, but once again Ms Combs kept prompting me as the story progressed.
Logan and Serena’s meeting is the catalyst for change in their lives. For Logan, it is about discovering a whole new aspect of life and coming to terms with it when he discovers the girl he is falling in love with is a twitch – teenage witch – then his widowed mother reveals secrets which tilt his new and topsy-turvy life upside down. That he adjusts copes so well with each revelation and its consequences might have the author turning him into some sort of super-human, but no, under Ms Combs influence Logan grows and matures with a compassion and understanding that never becomes mawkish or unrealistic.
While Serena seems to have her future mapped out for her and her elder and younger sisters around for support, encouragement and sharing, it soon becomes clear that that any reader pre-conceptions soon go up in a puff of demonic smoke. Her new boyfriend is not the only one who finds his life tilting on its axis as revelations aplenty are thrown at her. Serena’s strength of character matches that of her boyfriend, Logan and together with the support of some fun and entertaining characters face their biggest challenge knowing the cost of losing would be death for at least one of them.
The secondary characters all play their parts in moving the story forward and come from different arenas and yet all come together at the end of this fluently written and fast-paced story in such a manner this reader was sad to part company with them at the end of their tale.
For those who enjoy YA, paranormal and romance all wrapped up together, then Ms Combs is an author to watch out for.

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New Interview I Did!

I am reposting a terrific interview I had the pleasure of doing with a fellow author Iris Blobel from over at Astraea Press.  Her book is Sweet Dreams, Miss England, found on the Astraea Press website and Amazon. Check it out!

Interview with Author Samantha Combs

As many of you know I have recently signed up with Astraea Press. One reason for my excitement was that I am now amongst a wonderful group of very, very talented writers.

Today I have the pleasure to introduce you to Samantha Combs, author of "Spellbound". The blurb reads:

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?

Q: Tell me about your book. How did you come up with that?

A:  My five year old kept telling me she wanted to marry Edward the vampire! LOL. I got tired of hearing that so I asked her what if mommy wrote a book, what should I write about? Without hesitation, she goes “Witches, momma!” So I sat down and intended to write her a little story for bedtime. I guess the muse was lurking and waiting to pounce. Once I started writing, she grabbed me, unleashed the characters, they all got in the car and took over.

Q: How did you get interested in writing this particular genre?

A: I don’t feel like a forty-something mom. In my head I feel like a teen so I guess that's why the genre, YA, comes to me naturally. Also, there is absolutely nothing paranormal ANYTHING in my life, so the idea of something supernatural and fantastical is so delicious, its so fun to write about it.

Q: Did you have to do any kind of research for this book?

A: This book is set in Lancaster, New Hampshire and I visited there once (to visit an old boyfriend, whatever, move on), so the only research I actually had to do was remembering the names of some of the places and street names. Most of the rest of it I have personally visited. And I have actually been to the Old Man in the Mountain before the natural accident caused the face to fall off. (now those of you from the Northeast know I am telling the truth about my age!)

Q: What is the hardest part of writing for you?

A: Sometimes it is giving myself over to the idea that I don’t know where the story arc is going. I am what is called a “pantser” writer, or a seat-of-the-pants writer, meaning I don’t outline or plot my story. I basically think I know where I want the story to go, sit at the laptop, then sort of come to a couple hours later. I read over what I wrote and am amazed the story went NOWHERE where I thought it might, yet I am thrilled with the direction. Sometimes I think that sounds slightly insane, but aren’t all writers a bit nuts anyway? As solitary an endeavour as writing is, don’t we all pace, and mutter to ourselves and celebrate our victories when no one is in the room? (Please all say yes!)

Q: What’s the best thing about being an author? 

A: Having a thought or feeling or idea and being able to express it so perfectly in words that it almost brings you to tears.

Q: What are you working on now? 

A: Two YA paranormals at once, one about a vampire hunter (not done to death yet!) and one about a girl whose father was a sea creature. I write in whichever one I feel like. It’s like shoes. I decide which one I want to put on that day. Otherwise I get bored and start to hate the one pair.

Q: What advice would you give aspiring writers?

A: If you don’t write every day, don’t beat yourself up. It means you’re not supposed to. If you force it, you will just end up deleting it the next day and be that much farther behind. I write when I am moved to. Happily, I am moved to a lot. My muse is a bitchy, slave driving sort. LOL

Q: Do you have any favorite authors or favorite books?

A: I love Stephen King. My current favourite book is Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, by Beth Hoffman. I screamed with laughter.

  
Q: What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?  

A: I always wanted to be asked in an interview what would be the most wonderful thing to happen to you as an author? Here is the answer: To be in a book reading attended entirely by children and have a mom come up to me and say “My child never liked reading until he/she read your book. Thank you for introducing my child to books.”

Thank you very much, Samantha, for taking the time to take part in this interview. I love your last answer - it is so true!

Samantha Combs' "Spellbound" is available at Astraea Press, Amazon and other online bookstores. Please spare a few minutes to check out this wonderful book - I'm sure you won't regret it!

I would also like to congratulate Samantha on her second book (WIP - Juice and the High School Ghost) which is going to be released with Astraea Press as well and selling another book to Aspen Mountain Press, through their new imprint Aura Spec-fic.

The Detention Demon will be Published!

I am excited to share that The Detention Demon is going to be published!  Remember that I submitted the manuscript to a brand new imprint of Aspen Mountain Press called Aura Speculative Fiction after I asked them to friend me on Facebook?  I had been looking for a home for my little horror book for a while, I didn't think it was because it was not good, I hoped anyway, but because Middle Grade horror is very hard to place.  When I read about the new imprint I got quite excited.  They sounded perfect.  I asked them straight away if they were considering YA and for that matter, MG to YA and they said they would, on a case by case basis.  I queried immediately.

I was mildly surprised when they asked me for the full and totally had my socks knocked off when they offered me a contract this morning.  And I must say, I am more than impressed with how together and organized they are.  Already, I have been directed to a WIP website where I have registered as an author, have been assigned an editor and uploaded the information I would like to see on the cover, and had SEVERAL conversations with an art director in preparation for assigning an artist to me AND I already have a release date.....October 24, 2011....PERFECT FOR A HORROR BOOK!  Just a few days before Halloween.  And I didn't even plan it!

So, all I have to say is, if you are looking for a publisher that has it going on, I would so check out Aspen Mountain Press and their new imprint!  And look for me soon near Halloween!

Happy Day! Reviews Might Be Happening Soon!

So, I may not have understood how this whole shootin' match worked BEFORE I released Spellbound, but I think I am finally getting the hang of it.  I realize the optimal thing to do would have been to get all your reviews in before the book is released and them bang, zoom, they line up for miles to buy it.  Did I do it that way.....no.  What-ev.   But I am having a freakin' blast learning how NOT to do it the next time.  I am meeting some of the best people on Facebook and have the time of my life.  Hard to understand how I am not sitting in a bar sipping on a cocktail, because sometimes I am laughing clean out loud at some of the hilarious posts as answers.  I'll say it again......THIS IS FUN!

So, the business behind the bustin' up......I am asking my new friends if they might mind reviewing Spellbound, and to my great surprise, they are not only willing to, some are even excited to do it.  I have to say that I am experiencing a sense of excitement and even trepidation akin to the one I felt when I was accepted for publication.  What will I feel when I get the first review in?  I'm more than a little nervous.  For now, the jury is still out.  I'll check back about it soon.  For all my new friends and followers, I can only say.....stay tuned!

I Will Now Eat The Humble Pie!

Please pass the damn fork!  I am willing now to admit that Face Book is all it is purported to be and more.  Today, I joined two groups for authors, YA Writers Unite and Author Exchange.  In just one day and really, in less than five hours, my blog traffic has doubled.  Now, granted that truly means I went from 11 followers to 22, but I am in insurance finance so lets look at that my way.  That means I have made a 200% increase!  Woo-hoo.  That's some government accounting for ya!

So, I will now take my gigantic helping of crow, thank you very much.  The best thing is, I have read the most fun, entertaining and wonderfully written blog posts today.  Not only did I get some bitchin' new friends, I got friends that can write.  How can that be wrong?????

Happy Anniversary To Me and My Husband!

Today is My 10th Wedding Anniversary

by Samantha Combs on Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 10:59am

Hello everyone. Today is my 10th wedding anniversary. My husband would rather die than be on facebook, but I am wishing him happy anniversary here anyway. Twelve years ago I wondered who the good looking guy was over by the dart board. Ten years ago he stood next to me and told me I looked beautiful. Eight years ago, he kissed my head and told me, honey, he's perfect. Five years ago, he said, Baby, she looks just like you. And three hours ago, he called me from work and said, I'm sorry I forgot, but I've never loved you more. Want me to bring dinner home? He doesn't read my books, I'm not sure where we'll be in ten more years, but he can order food for me at any restaurant in town without me telling him what I want, he NEVER forgets to put the seat down, he's the only person I can close my eyes in the car with, and when I got my first book deal, he was the only person I was desperate to tell. Oh yeah....I'm married and I wouldn't have it any other way. So happy anniversary Husband. Love ya.

Submission Request News!

Today was a good news/bad news day.  Bad news first.  Today, my husband and I made the agonizing decision to take our youngest out of daycare to save some money because I STILL have not found a job and it seemed to make the most sense.  I am home days and our oldest is already home with me since school is out for the summer.  We have fun and I enjoy having them with me for almost all of the day (they ARE siblings and they DO wrangle, let's be reasonable).  I think I just wish I had made the decision for different reasons than economical.  So that was the bad news.

Now, for the good news.  I have had an upper Middle Grade horror story that I've had trouble finding a home.  I have blogged, I think, about how one agent was THISCLOSE to wanting it, and me, but thought it needed reworking.  She was right, of course, and the reworking has made it amazing.  The issue is there isn't many homes for the horror genre in Middle Grade.  I know, I know, you all just screamed at me, what about the Goosebumps series?  So, besides that, and the author of them, R. L. Stine, and also his Mostly Ghostly series, who else or what else can you name?  NOTHING, RIGHT?

Me either.  And therein lies the rub.  Because its mostly an untapped reserve, there isn't a home.  Until today. Recently the supercool publishing site Aspen Mountain Press just opened up their imprint Aura, a speculative fiction site.  I friended them on facebook and then questioned them about their horror requirements.  They responded they would take a look on a case-by-case basis.  So, late Monday night I submitted a query and synopsis for THE DETENTION DEMON, my 17k word horror novella for the Middle Grade boy.  And I am pleased to report I have been asked for the full.  WOO-HOO!

Now, I realize this is just step one in the million-writer march to publication, but I am a goof-ball and I insist on celebrating every frickin' step, thank you very much.  So, you'll excuse me while I light the barby and pour myself a cocktail.  Stay tuned for the progress reports.  And it may not hurt to say a quick little prayer.  Go ahead.  I'll wait.

The Anthony Verdict Makes Me Happy My Kids Are Home

Because of my unemployment, my husband and I have had to make a hard decision to take our youngest out of daycare for the remainder of the summer.  Since my son is out of school for the summer, I now have the pair of them home with me now.  Normally, they would be driving me to drink, both underfoot, running around, yanking my laptop cord out and wrangling like two cats in a garret.  That was before the verdict was announced a half hour ago in the Casey Anthony murder case of her two year old.

I am stunned.  There are no words to explain my shock over a Not Guilty verdict.

That sweet, tender little angel was killed, dumped in a shallow dirt grave and no one has to answer for it.  I excused myself for a few minutes and went in the bathroom to cry.  I tidied myself up, then went in the kitchen, hugged my kids and let them eat brownies for lunch.  They aren't bothering me today.  Enough said.

Top Ten Reasons to Buy and Read SPELLBOUND!

10.  With the heat level being "sweet" you can buy this for your 14 year old or a 140 year old and both will enjoy it equally!
9.  You know you need something to tide you over before the next Twilight comes out!
8.  A book full of kick-butt witches?  Do I need to go on?
7.  If the hero is named Logan, you know he'd be hot in the movie, right?
6. With SPELLBOUND moving up in the Amazon rankings so rapidly, you'll be the first of your friends to have the next cool book!
5.  Summer jobs don't pay that much....$6.99 is cheaper than a ds game or a DVD!
4  SPELLBOUND in ebook form is GREEN and saves the planet.....no tree died for its creation!
3.  You can get it all over the place:  www.astraeapress.com, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble, among a slew of others, (email me if you need more)
2.  It's a pretty great story! (seriously, all prejudice aside)

And the number one reason to buy and read SPELLBOUND...............wait for it.........

1.  Of course, I wrote a sequel!  (I did mean wait for it.  I am about 2 weeks away from finishing it.  And I don't want to give it away, but MAN, IS IT GOOD!)

Tweeting Benefits

I now have seen the light.  Today, one day after I started using Twitter, I have gone up 20% in my ranking on Amazon.  Now, I am no math whiz, so I called my father-in-law to do this math for me.  Here's the skinny:  yesterday, I ranked #240,580 paid in kindle store on SPELLBOUND.  This is before I went to dinner with the family for my husband's birthday which was on June 30th.  I wanted to tell my F in law.  Then I looked it up today to see if I dropped, which I had the day before yesterday, from #239 something.  It said that today, paid in kindle store ranking is....wait for it.......#78,860!    WHAT!  WHAT?  WHAT!

So I called my father in law 4 seconds later and demanded he do the math.  Apparently, this means I am in the top 11%.  WHAT!!!!!   In a day?  Only thing I am doing different, besides asking for reviews from my fave bloggers (none in yet, exercising patience, not my best trait), is I joined Twitter.  And am tweeting.  So, now count me as a breathless, drooling, faithful true believer.  I don't know if ANYONE ever reads this blog, but there has to now be irrefutable proof that SOMEONE is reading my tweets.  (Welcome to my world, GeeCarl...loved your talk on humor at the LA Writers Convention last September.  Read every one of your columns!)  So, hope all bear with me while I get the hang of the tweeting thing.  COUNT ME AS A TRUE CONVERT!  And thank you, every one of you who did buy Spellbound.  I wrote it for you, I wrote it for your daughters, I wrote it for everyone who has ever read a whole book on a delicious uninterrupted weekend day when they could read a whole book beginning to end because at the end of the day, the written word is like oxygen......it gets you high!

CONTEST!!!!

Okay, everyone, I am officially announcing a contest on this blog.  I have some followers and I have been advised there are likely some "lurkers" out there as well.  So, this contest is designed to draw out the lurkers and get them to be followers.  This contest is also to celebrate another huge step in bringing this little socially stunted turtle out of her shell.  Yes, applause can begin slowly, people, I have joined the damn conversation!  You read it right.  I am now a member of the insane Twitter Nation!!!!!  I even signed up to do it on my Blackberry which is going to make my husband nuts.

So, here is the contest.  All you have to do is answer ONE LITTLE QUESTION from my recent release, SPELLBOUND, and I will send you one of the new bookmarks I just received for the book.  A beautiful replica of the cover art done by Elaina Lee graces the top half of it.  I will award FIVE LUCKY LURKERS who become new followers with the prize.  So, here is the question:

What is the name of Logan's little sister in the book, SPELLBOUND?  (so easy!)

Answer in this post or email me at: samanthacombswrites@gmail.com.  Be sure and let me know where I can reach you back to get a mailing address to send you your prize.  Good luck and have a wonderful Fourth of July weekend.  And look for me on Twitter.  Follow me! (I think that's what you say!  :-)

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