WINGSPAN Cover Release

I am excited to show the cover for Wingspan, designed by the unbelievably talented Elaina Lee. She designed the covers for Spellbound, Everspell, and Ghostly.  As I made my choice to release Wingspan with a new publishing company, esKape Press, I was both surprised and delighted to learn she would be my new artist.  She just knows how I like the covers to look, and she just GETS me.  Thanks, Elaina.

So, I'd love to unveil the beautiful cover here, and entice you with both it and the blurb.  Look for Wingspan, coming early December, from esKape Press!

Chessa Dawning never thought she’d be the kind of girl who’d be on the run.  Yet, here she was, having left the only home she’s ever known, staying two steps ahead of the men chasing her and falling for a resourceful ex-criminal with colorful friends. And that was just this week.

Most of the time, Charlotte Lake can’t believe her life.  The reluctant leader of a rebel faction called the Ginger Nation, Charlie’s days are filled with planning surveillance, rescuing detainees, and exposing government conspiracy.  Surrounded by loyal friends and soldiers, she knows she can never reveal the true nature of her quest: finding her real father.

When a sudden twist in both their lives brings these two girls together, revelations about their past will make them rethink where they came from, and define their future in ways they never could have imagined.  Not every scientific breakthrough is a gift.

Guest blog on A Dragon's Love

Guest Post - Samantha Combs

Write it Down

My stepmother is writing her memoirs. In fact, she is not just writing her memoirs, she is actually reliving some of the best moments of her life and loving every minute of it. Mind you, this may never be a publishable product, but it doesn’t matter. She will always love it, her daughter will always love it and she will have it forever. And the stories from her life will have a voice.

I’ve never written a memoir and I have a deep, abiding respect for anyone who does. There are some amazing moments in my life, sure. My wedding, my children’s births, etc. But there are those times in my life I would NEVER want to relive. Being dumped, having a car accident, the death of a friend by suicide. Yeah, not sure I want to write about THAT stuff just now. But it doesn’t mean I never will. Just as my experiences are important for my kids, the knowledge and experiences of my parents has become so much more valuable to me.

For instance, I have lost all four of my grandparents. I never knew my maternal grandfather, he having died shortly after my parent’s wedding. But, by all accounts, he was a multi-layered and fascinating man. From my mother I have learned he was a pugilist in her native England. From my father I learned that he ran the equivalent of a numbers racket in their London hometown. I knew my maternal grandmother, Nanny, since forever. She was funny and opinionated and my favorite story, she carried about two ridonkulously large purses. Because she needed to lug around so much crap, one bag couldn’t hack it. And she smoked cigarettes and constantly let the ash elongate with the threat of dropping on the carpet. From an early age, we learned to say, “Nanny - Ash!” before it tumbled to the ground. She would make a face and when the ash dropped anyway, we would cackle like maniacs. I miss her.

On my father’s side, I knew both grandparents. Grampa, as I remember, was curmudgeonly. He drank seven and sevens and smoked prolifically. My fondest memory is of him sitting in the worn-out armchair (think, Archie Bunker) with one hand around the ubiquitous highball glass, and the other just dipping into his breast pocket for his pack of smokes. When I got older, he didn’t move much from that seat, or any seat he chose, but it didn’t matter. Any family gathering sort of orbited around him. Like, he was the center of our universe and we were inexplicably drawn to him. And if you are thinking he was our rock, you’d be dead wrong. Grandma was.

Grandma was nothing short of amazing. She bore nine children on a farm in North Dakota. She raised them all with good humor and Catholic values. My father was the oldest. She watched all five of her boys join a branch of the armed service, and all four of her girls marry military men. In the late fifties, early sixties, those were the ways you got off the farm. She sent three of her boys to Vietnam, welcomed all of them home, and started collecting grandchildren early. She never forgot a birthday, she loved all nineteen of us grandchildren equally, and her favorite thing to do, back when we were all older and BIG drinkers, after hearing us all stumble in at an ungodly hour, giggling furiously, was to get up out of bed, storm into the kitchen, and throw the most enormous breakfast together we had ever seen. Those drunken, loud, unruly breakfasts are my most favorite memory of her. Oh, that and her ants on a log. (giggle if you know what I’m talking about).

But I digress. I want to make a case for the memoir. Right, so I’ve never written one, but I know the value of one. Since all my grandparents are gone now, their stories went with them. I don’t want that to happen again, so last Christmas I gave both my mother and my father blank life journals. I am encouraging them to write their life stories down. I want to know them, and share them with my children. Every family is different. Most think that their family is the most dysfunctional. Prove it is! Prove it isn’t! Just write it all down. I think, it’s possible, your kids may thank you for it. I know I will thank my folks. If I ever get them back. Um, excuse me now, I have a couple phone calls to make.

Samantha Combs, Author

Check out all 6 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

Coming in September from Musa Publishing: WATERDANCER, a new YA paranormal

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!

Everspell is now touchable

I wanted to find a new way to make my announcement, but I'm sure every single way has been done to death.  In any case, here's my big deal:

Everspell is now available in print!

Get the touchable reference now?  Like pages and such?  *sigh*  Just excited.  Sorry.  Anyway, in case you either haven't seen the book or forgot the beginning, here is a piece to chomp on.

EVERSPELL

Book Two in the Spellbound series continues the love story of Logan and Serena.  Having previously dispatched Christophe, the dark demon trying to capture and kidnap Serena for her special witch DNA in Book One, the two lovers believe they are now free to plan and live their lives together.  Or are they?

When an innocent mistake made by their newlywed friends frees the way for Christophe to return, their idyllic attempt at happiness is marred by the nightmare they must outsmart, finally, to achieve the happily ever after they deserve.

They know they can rely on their coven to be there for them, and some new friends and additions to the family, as they once again embark on an epic battle that will secure their life, their love, and their future together.  Once, they were Spellbound, now their story continues.  For love, forever, for Everspell.

Musina Hogs the Spotlight!

This was such a great interview, I am double-dipping it and posting it here from my author friend Joanna Fay's blog.  Is it me, or does Musina sound like a spoiled teenager?

Meet Samantha Combs…and her Muse (up close and personal)

Samantha Combs, fellow author at Musa Publishing and awesome creator of Paranormal YA novels, stretched the boundaries of author interviews recently by posting an interview with me…by my budgie. Now it’s Samantha’s turn! And her feisty Muse-with-an-Attitude, Musina, has kindly (I think) stepped in to give us an amazing window into her pet author’s creative journey.

Welcome, Samantha and Musina. The floor is yours:

Hi, Musina. When did you first meet Samantha, and did she recognize you straight away?

I first came into Sam’s life when she was ready for me.  She had been writing since she was a small girl, but I never sensed the right time.  If you get it wrong, you can totally harsh the gig.  Like the human has creative overload and goes all postal on you.  So I waited.  One night, when she was having one of those conversations you can only have with a four-year-old, I introduced myself.  She didn’t know who I was until long after that, but she knew something had changed.  The writing became more than a hobby.  It became a passion.  She felt me compel her and we wrote her first published novel in 2 months of only writing at night and on weekends during nap time.

What is your favourite way to ‘appear’?

I like the “compelling” thing.  I start as an urge, almost like the human need to go pee…insistent, increasing in strength and just not going away!  She used to hate it, but she gets it now.  Now, she likes it when I compel her to open the laptop, and then we settle in together.  We have reached an easy alliance, her and I.  She knows I am there, and she knows I will run with seed, if only I allow her to plant it.  Most of the time, I try not to interrupt her regular life.  Well, some of the time.  What?  I have a job to do.  Whatever.

Which is your favourite book of Samantha’s? 

I have a special place in my heart for two of them.  The first is Ghostly.  I think more than anyone I resemble the sidekick friend Sixx from that book.  Without her knowing or really understanding, she wrote that character as me.  Smart-assed with an awesome fashion sense.  Yeah!  I also love the one about to release, Waterdancer.  I have always dropped bits of Sam’s life in our writing, but this time, she let a whole lot more in.  When we re-read the final draft, we cried.  We understood so much of Bailey, the main character, of her life.  A lot of it is in that novel.

Can you tell us the sequence of Samantha’s novels and why you chose that order to inspire her with? 

I must admit, I mess with her a bit on that score.  She wrote Spellbound, then I interjected the idea of another two stories before we broached the idea of the sequel.  Plus, those damn characters wouldn’t shut up!  Waking Sam in the middle of the night and making her poke ideas into her smartphone is MY job, damn it.  I couldn’t compete with their insistence, so I finally compelled her to write the damn sequel.  And now the greedy twits want another one!  *sigh*  A muse’s job is NEVER done!

What do you do when Samantha is saying ‘I don’t wanna’? Do you have more than one approach? 

She had a bad patch when she lost that silly job she had.  It was harder to get in.  One day I planted a seed more like the size of a watermelon and sort of smacked her stupid with it.  I came to her as her Mum’s voice.  Never fails now.  Also, like in real estate, it’s all location, location, location.  So I have a favorite.  In the shower.  Now, that’s my best  place to jam ideas in…she’s alone there and rarely anywhere else.  Or in her car while she’s driving.  At least there she can take notes.  Thank you, iphone and Siri! (A cousin of mine….distantly related.  She’s okay, just a bit of a know-it-all.  It’s annoying.  Whatever.)

What do you like to do best in your spare time (if you get spare time)?

Untangle traffic jams, find lost wedding rings, but nothing directly related to another individual.  For better or for worse, Sam and I are together for life.  See, once you discover a Muse, she will forever after be your inspiration, and yours alone.  It takes a while for you to find each other.  I’ve had failures, sure.  Vanilla Ice, the movie Ishtar, and Crocs.  But, then, there was Sam.  She’s a keeper.  But, you know, I was like, assigned to her.  I have to stay.  It’s not like I love her or anything.  She just….she gets me.  It’s cool.  Whatever.

Do you have any special advice to other Muses? 

Keep trying to find your person.  It’s really kicky when your seed becomes something that makes others laugh or cheer or cry. That’s when I know she is at her full creative potential.  And I am fulfilling mine.  What’s not to like?  Winner, winner, chicken dinner, everybody gets a prize!  It’s a rockin’ cool partnership, like….like peanut butter and bread.  Most people say peanut butter and jelly, but without the bread, where do you spread it?  Right?  She’s my bread.  Whatever.

Samantha, you’ve got your work cut out for you…and I somehow think Musina’s still got plenty of novels up her sleeve for you. Keep having fun, you two!

Take a look at Samantha’s novels :

SPELLBOUND

EVERSPELL

GHOSTLY

THE DETENTION DEMON 

TEETH AND TALONS 

WAY PAST MIDNIGHT 

And coming in September from Musa Publishing: WATERDANCER, a new YA paranormal.

CONNECT WITH SAMANTHA!

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!

The Story of a Story - My Next Release: WATERDANCER -

One of the most important things I ever read on the Internet was about the toughness and loneliness of the writer's life.  How you are rejected, time and again, and how to beat the discouragement you may feel.  I have even blogged about the ways I shrug off the disappointment and soldier on.  And the single piece of advice that rang true for me was this:  Write a book, try to get published, and while you are waiting for that to happen, write another one.  And another one.

Happily, even though doing that is completely harder than it sounds, I've been able to do just that very thing. I keep at it, knowing that while I may never get rich at this, I am getting good at it and I am getting happy at it.  I now have six published books (six!) and besides my kids, nothing gives me greater joy than looking at them all lined up in a row, like pretty flowers in a garden of my own making.  And as the Head Gardener, (or Landscaper for the PC crowd), I decide what gets planted next, which seeds can be watered with the flow of words, and which lovelies are ready to be dressed up and showcased for all the world to see.  And so, I have a new flower for the yard.

WATERDANCER, published with Musa Publishing house, will be released on September 7, 2012, two months from now.  It occurred to me some aspiring writers might want to know what my whole process for the publishing is, laid out step-by-step.  So, here it is:

I submitted the completed, edited, properly formatted manuscript to the publisher on September 30, 2011.  I had one book already placed with the publisher, so predictably, I felt I had an edge.  But, make no mistake, the manuscript I submitted still had to be ready, in every sense of the word.  I felt it was, and still do feel quite proud of the story.  But, when I submitted it, I was nervous and doubtful, like I always am, of my own talent and ability to entice on a query.

On October 13th, the head editor requested the full manuscript.  A week later she offered me a contract.  I signed and was given my release date of 9-7-12.  It seemed a long way away, but I was over the moon with the acceptance.  I had four others planned for release anyway, to keep me busy.

I released my two self-published adult horror collections, TEETH and TALONS, and WAY PAST MIDNIGHT, and Astraea Press released EVERSPELL, the sequel to SPELLBOUND.  Musa also released my MG horror, THE DETENTION DEMON.  So, I was busy!

My edits for WATERDANCER began in May.  I completed two rounds of content edits and the manuscript has now gone to the last edit round, Line Edits.  Next step will be the cover design.  I'll keep you updated as to how this goes.  I have submitted my own ideas and some free images that embody my ideas.

I have experienced a couple different ways of being published, and I am happy to answer any questions you may have.  Funny thing about being an author, after the joy of typing The End, its pretty much perfunctory following that.  The steps are always the same: Proof, edit, proof, edit, tighten, organize, format, then proof and edit a couple dozen more times.  Have people read it, people NOT related to you (trust me here, Mom will love everything you write...not a good foundation for truth there) and then proof and edit it again.  Also, spell-check is NOT your friend.

I will next update after the Line Edits and cover designing.  And look for WATERDANCER coming 9-7-12, and any of my others that might interest you.  And tell me about yours, too....I read as well!

Why I Thought I'd Never Write a Series.....Until I Did

Witchie and Ghosty YA’s

Posted on March 21, 2012 

Today I’ve got my dear friend Samantha Combs visiting. She the author of a YA series which features witches. Um, did I get the right which, or is it witch, where it’s suppose to be.

Why I Thought I’d Never Write a Series…..Until I Did

The first book I ever wrote was intended to be just that….a single book. I had read plenty of series and I had problems with them. I felt as though I had been roped into them, as though the writer was purposefully leading me on and making the end of each one a cliffhanger, so I was forced to go out and get book after book, just to get to the end of the story. It kind of made me mad. So when I was writing my first book with Astraea Press, Spellbound, I had every intention of writing it as a stand-alone. I was going to be the writer that captured my reader, then freely released them after my book finished. Kind of like the saying, “If you love them let them go, if they love you, they will return to you.” At least, that was the intention. It is definitely not what happened.

What I didn’t count on was the fact that I wasn’t really in control of the story, the characters were. Selena and Logan were telling THEIR story through me. And by the time I got to the end, 300 some odd pages later, I had a startling revelation: This was a series. Dear God, there was almost no way to control it or stop it from happening. I had embarked on a story, not just of two people, but of a family of people, more than twenty in all, and this opus I had written would go on. Not because I particularly wanted it to, but because they did.

I would wake up in the middle of the night with ideas. I would be driving and characters would have whole conversations in my head. Whenever my mind meandered, it drifted back to the lives of the Daniels’ and the Starrs’ and this fantastic, mystical, magical family of witches I had created. Or thought I had created. I didn’t know Musina well that first year (my personal muse), and wasn’t aware she was there even back then, guiding and gently nudging me in the creative process.

I know right about now you are thinking I should be committed, but honestly, if you write as well, you know exactly what I am talking about. It was about this time that I started making small notes on the side about the continuation of the story. Soon, I realized, these notes were the beginnings of the second book. When I succumbed to that realization, I gave in and took those notes and began writing a follow-up, with no idea what it would become. It became Everspell, Book Two to Spellbound. And it is what it was meant to be all along….a perfect continuation of the witch family’s story. But it’s not over.

Yes, against all my better judgment, even against my own preference, there will be a third book. There has to be. Loose ends must be tied up and important characters have way more life to live. At least, that’s what I have been told. Musina is definitely in the house on this one, too, as evidenced by the furtive note-taking I have recently found myself doing. I only recently gave the notes a name: Spellbound Three. *sigh* I seriously am not in control.

Samantha Combs is an author of YA/MG paranormal and supernatural fantasy, and adult and MG horror. She has five books published, three of them with Astraea Press: Spellbound, Everspell, and (a true stand-alone) Ghostly. Check out her blog atwww.samanthacombswrites.blogspot.com to learn about all five of her books.

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

Announcing a Freebie!

Hey all, I'm announcing a bit of a giveaway! You have really embraced the new book in the Spellbound series, Everspell, and it seems you loved getting the other new one, Teeth and Talons, A Horror Anthology, for FREE.  So, in an effort to keep the great momentum going.......I have a great offer for you: Anyone who buys both Spellbound and Everspell and sends me their proof....I will gift them with a copy of Ghostly! Get it while its hot , or until I remember to change the deal! Remember: Buy two, get one free! For the unbelievably reasonable price of $5.98 you'll get all three!


You may know Spellbound and even Everspell, but Ghostly, which is my second book, is a pretty good read too.  Shorter than most novels, I have been told that this YA paranormal about a ghost hottie, a young teen girl and her super-close friends, reads quickly and is a fun, kicky book.  Check out some of the review, if you are still on the fence, on the Ghostly by Samantha Combs fan page:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ghostly-by-Samantha-Combs/144239729004823


You'll see more than 10 reviews if you need convincing.  I hope you don't.  


Please enjoy ANY book of mine you read. And thanks for being a fan!

I Guest-Blogged Today

Today I was proud to be the guest blogger at Seriously Reviewed.  I talk about the difficulty of getting started and what I do to conquer it.  I'm re-posting the blog here.  Let me know what YOU do when you get "stuck".  Open the link here:  http://seriouslyreviewedarchive.blogspot.com/2012/02/samantha-combs.html?showComment=1328331064675#c8366555517035218445  or read below:

I want to write about an unpopular subject in the writing world…..starting.  After you have the first book under your belt, you sit back, try to relax and wait for the next amazing idea to hit you.  But before that happens, I won’t lie….it’s murder.

I still treat every manuscript the same way I did with the first.  I don’t open the Word document and stare at a blank page.  No way.  That would make me insane.  And I don’t start in the beginning, either.  I realize that might make you insane.  But I couldn’t, and still can’t, force what won’t come.

You see, I’ve been a writer my whole life.  Oh, yes, I’ve written notes, and checks and To-Do lists.  I’ve written addresses and reminders and hate mail to the cable company.  I’d even written short little tales for my kids.  What I had never done was write a novel.  I knew I had one in me, and back then I could only think as far as that one.  Then one day my four year old daughter announced she wanted to marry Edward the Vampire.  Really?  A cold-as-ice interloper with abandonment issues?  Hell, no, that was not going to happen.  I decided I needed to give her a role model who was a real man, someone I would be proud if she brought him home.  Someone with heart and valor and courage.  I jotted a few words down, then a couple sentences, and soon, several paragraphs.

As I was enjoying shaping my characters and world-building, I suddenly realized…..OMG, I was writing a novel!  The very idea scared me so much that I closed the computer and didn’t open it again for two weeks.  The laptop sat on the couch, blinking it’s lights at me in an accusatory manner.  I would glance at it, longing to be drawn to it, but never quite feeling the pull.

I turned to the one person in my life who would know what to do.  My mum.  Not a fellow writer, an editor, or even my husband, patient as he tried to be with my dark looks across the living room at an innocent piece of technology.  “You’re not writing tonight?” he would ask.  “No.” I would snap, closing the door on further conversation.  I was confounded, stymied, misunderstood.  What was the problem?  What could help?

My mum knew.  I asked her over the phone if “it” had left me.  The elusive urge to create, the need to divine, the absolute requirement to spill my imaginary worlds onto my laptop keyboard.  I could hear her laugh over the phone.  “You always do this,” she said.  “You get overwhelmed by the task.  Just do the next thing on the list.”

She was right, of course.  I always over think things.  It’s the curse of the perfectionist, the detailed, the

life-long list-maker.  And I’m a Scorpio, just to complicate matters.  But my mummy’s words rang a bell of understanding, of acceptance, even of empowerment.  Damn right!  I was the writer and I would not let a little story take me down.  I hung up the phone and marched into the living room.  I flipped up the laptop and told it, “Okay, then.  Bring it!”  It took me only six weeks after that to finish my book.

Next time you are facing the same situation, don’t go as long as I did.  When Mum gave me the key to continue writing, I did.  I wrote one chapter at a time.  I set tiny, easy goals for myself.  Write one chapter.  Write 500 words.  Write 500 words that aren’t edited all to hell the next day.  And one more goal….never force myself.  And I always think of the next scene, the next chapter, the next book, in the exact same way.  Just the next thing on the list.

BIO:  Samantha Combs writes YA and MG and currently has four books  available.  Her first, Spellbound, a YA paranormal fantasy, has won the Global Ebook Award for Speculative Fiction-Fantasy.  The follow-up, Book Two, called Everspell, released in January.  There will be a third.  She has another YA paranormal called Ghostly and a self-published horror anthology entitled Teeth and Talons.  Two more books are scheduled for release in 2012, The Detention Demon, a Middle Grade horror, and Waterdancer, a YA fantasy.  She is a proud author for Astraea Press and Musa Publishing.

Samantha loves to connect with new and aspiring writers and authors.  Please visit her blog at www.samanthacombswrites.blogspot.com or her facebook page www.facebook.com/AuthorSamanthaCombs.

My Dress Code for 2012

I haven't been silent about the suck-ass year 2011 was for me and my family.  My employer went bankrupt, laid me off and closed and still owes me back wages.  I was unemployed for six months and we barely made it through, before I found another job.  I believed this job was the answer, and instead, it only compounded the problem and skewed my whole family dynamic.  I ended up working unconventional hours and undesirable days, an agreement I still don't remember making at hire.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed the job....at first.

It soon became clear to me it was harmful to my children for me to be away at critical hours of the day, namely nights and weekends.  My Mum HATED the job and even though I loved the people working under and with me, I grew to as well.  She fervently begged me to leave it and I began to consider doing that, mentally.  I just wasn't there yet.  I wanted 2011 to be over.

Even though last year was my break-in year, those two books I published through Astraea Press were a small island in a huge ocean of crap.  That being said, you know now why I am hanging my star on 2012.  And its starting out great so far.

I begin a new job on Monday.  A job, I just know, I will excel at and is smack in the middle of my wheelhouse.  I have no less than three new publications releasing this year.  Digital at first, but if I make the sales threshold, I'll see them in print.  Everspell (YA, Astraea Press) in January, The Detention Demon (Middle Grade, Musa Publishing) in Feb and Waterdancer (YA, Musa Publishing) in September.  I also have three (maybe four!) manuscripts-in-waiting that I am writing and am super-excited about where the storyline is headed.

I bought my daughter new dresses and my son a new baseball glove yesterday.  I shouldn't have, but didn't care.  With all the times I had to say "No" last year, it thrilled me to say "yes".  And I wouldn't trade the looks on my babies faces for anything.

So, please forgive me my personal pep talk.  I am happy.  Happier than I have been in a very long time.  Many people have said it, but now I can really believe it.......2012 is my year.  Welcome to my own kind of debutante ball.  My own coming-out, absence only the prom-style dress.  Tapping away on my trusty Toshiba, I'm more comfortable in pink fuzzy slippers, thank you.

I Sold A New Book!

Now that I have received, accepted and signed the contract for my latest publication, I can share the amazing news with you all, officially.  I am THRILLED to announce the forthcoming newest standalone in my portfolio, to be published by the wonderful team at Musa Publishing, coming to readers at the end of the summer.  To give you a taste, here is the blurb:

WATERDANCER

As if high school isn’t hard enough, try being Bailey Wasserman.  Try being the new girl in town, navigating a touchy relationship with your flighty mom’s rich new husband in a brand new town he’s just moved you to.  Add to that finding out that your father, a semi-pro surfer who’s just mysteriously re-entered your life after nearly fifteen years of silence, is half sea-creature and you’re about to inherit that particular gene on your sixteenth birthday which is only a few days away, all after you just met the cutest surfer boy you’ve ever seen in your life.

Bailey feels she and her mom have always met life’s challenges as a team of two, more like best friends than mother and daughter.  But her mom’s recent marriage has changed all that.  Having her little brother Landry is all Bailey can find good about that union.  The move to wealthy Del Mar from their humble beginnings has turned Bailey sour, until a chance meeting of surf hottie Jack West changes all that.  Then, when her father reenters her life, with his annoying Zen-surfer lingo and a talking turtle he claims is her spirit guardian, no less, he threatens the only relationship Bailey thinks is working in her world. She soon finds out that’s not all his arrival will do.  His presence and their shared family trait could ultimately force Bailey to make a decision that will alter the course of her own life and those she loves…..forever. 

I am doubly excited about this book, because I drew a lot from my own teen years and somehow it makes the book more personal.  I also feel that I have grown as a writer and my words and world-building is more layered and nuanced.

I hope you think the same when you get to read it!  But never fear, even though the end of summer is a long time from now, I have the sequel to Spellbound coming out in about a month.  Look for Everspell in January 2012!  Logan and Serena would not let their story end there, though, so there will be a third and, I think, final chapter.

Lastly, I have two more completed works for which I am anxious to find a home.  These are both a complete departure from my YA paranormal roots.  The first one is a Middle Grade horror and the second one is a straight adult horror.  I'm excited to showcase another part of my writing brain and the dark side of my moon, as it were.  I also have a new YA paranormie in the primary stages of being a novel.  I like where its going so far and have a working title of Wingspan.  Premise is under wraps until I flesh it out a bit more, but I can say this:  the title is important!

So, please celebrate me becoming a Musa author, a distinction for which I am filled with pride.  I loved the contract and truly believe this is the right home for my new, edgy read, Waterdancer.  Thanks for stopping by, and I'll chat with you later.

Write, publish, and be informed!

Samantha

Changes, They Are A' Comin'

Even though this is the end of the year, I have so many changes afoot in my life, it doesn't feel like the end of anything; it feels more like a beginning.  Let me explain.

Just last night I finished the content edits for my next book, Everspell.  This will be the second book to the first, Spellbound.  If you read it, as my editor has, you will immediately understand that there HAS to be a book three.  And so, against all my preconceived notions on trilogys (you know I prefer writing standalones if you read my blog), I am committing to you, Fabulous Reader, to write a last and final chapter in the story of Logan and Serena.  I didn't even make the decision, either....they did.  There was more to their story and they would not get out of my head.  As many times as I would try and write a specific scene, I was guided (demanded, commanded, you choose) to write it differently.  So this is an apology of sorts to you, Fabulous Reader, as it was never MY intention to drag you along and keep you hanging.  But....I am.

Additionally, I am pleased to announce that I have contracted for my fourth published work.  This is another YA paranormal directed to the teen audience called Waterdancer.  The premise is a young girl discovering her absentee real father, once a talented surfer on the pro-circuit, is back to reveal to her that he is half-sea creature, and she may be too.  A story of self-discovery and acceptance, it has family drama and teen angst galore!  I am excited to publish this one because I feel I have grown so much in my writing and my style.  I am doubly excited because I was accepted for publication by my friends at Musa Publishing.  Once the driving force behind the now defunct Aspen Mountain Press, I am thrilled to call myself one of their authors.  They are changing the way the ebook business is handled and I can't wait to be along for that ride.  I now have the dubious distinction of being with, what I feel, are the two best publishers in the digital business, Astraea Press and Musa Publishing.  Look for Waterdancer late summer 2012, and Everspell in a month, in January.

The next big thing in my life can be viewed as a pretty cheesy photo on my facebook page.  Spellbound, already the winner of the Global Ebook Award for Speculative Fiction-Fantasy, is now available in print.  If you know what it feels like to get a contract, then holding your actual paperback in your hand is like that, times ten thousand.  Hence, the cheesy photo....I could NOT get the smile off my face.  I have gifted them and autographed them and the feeling is beyond words.  Ebooks are great for the ability to publish rapidly, since traditional books take so long, but having a paperback has sent me over the moon.

Lastly, there are changes in my personal life that will better my family situation and increase my ability to have more writing time.  I'll share more about this as it develops.  Rest assured, there are MANY more books left in me dying to burst onto the keyboard.  I love writing and I love writing for YOU.

I hope you had a great year (not many of us did) and lets look forward to a great 2012!

My Personal Path to Publication - Samantha Combs

As promised, my new series, My Personal Path to Publication, begins with me.  I can't really ask my author friends to dig into their most personal thoughts and share their journey unless I am willing to do the same.  So, without further ado, lets get this party started!

1.   How long have you been writing?

I turned in a poem instead of a book report in the third grade.  I'm pretty sure that's when it started.  Since then I've written most of my life, short stories, novellas, poems, even comics, but I only got serious about it last year.

2.   Are you published and if so, how long have you been a published author?  If not, what’s your plan?

I am published, with Astraea Press, for my debut novel, Spellbound, which was released on June 14th, 2011 and Ghostly, which will release at the end of September.  I have a third novel, a horror novel called The Detention Demon which was supposed to be released on Oct. 3rd, but I'm sure it won't.  The publisher, Aspen Mountain Press, is in the middle of a spectacular meltdown and implosion.  My book, along with every other book they own rights to, and every author signed to them, is trapped there.  My fourth book, Everspell, a sequel to Spellbound, was just accepted by Astraea this week.  I am a very prolific writer, so I plan to continue writing and publishing at an astonishing rate!

3.   Which route did you choose for becoming published, the traditional route, with an agent, the “indie” route, going directly to the publishers yourself, or deciding to self-publish?

At first, I had every intention of getting an agent.  Whose idea was it to make it so goddamn hard? Spellbound was rejected 65 times.  I lie a lot about that figure.  It embarrasses me.  No one hears that some of the rejections were handwritten and had some of the most unbelievable things to say, some of the most encouraging "no"s you could imagine.  But then, after they would request more pages, they would still reject it.  What the hell does "we just don't see it fitting on our list" even mean?  I finally took that to mean YOU have a problem, not me.  It means YOU can't sell my fabulous book, not that my book wasn't fabulous.  That was how I forced myself to look at it.  But that got harder and harder to do at rejection #38, and #47, and almost ridiculous at rejection #53.  And then I submitted to Harlequin Teen.  They requested a full.

My husband and I did the stupidest thing.  We were so sure that meant they wanted it we made lists.  Bills To Pay With The Advance Money.  Things To Buy The Kids With The Advance Money.  Big Things to Just Buy With The Advance Money.  I mean, really.....who makes THREE lists?  We did. The rejection letter KILLED me.  My husband came home and found me sobbing.  He seriously thought someone died.  Non-writers just don't get it.  All he knew was, he was NOT getting new truck tires.

4.   How long did it take you to write your first novel?

I write fast.  Normally, it takes me about three months to write a manuscript.  Spellbound took two and a half month.  I write at night and on the weekends when the little one took naps.  She doesn't do that anymore, so I have extended the night hours.  I write from about 930pm to 12 or 130am.  I never give myself a word count.

5.   How long did it take you to publish it?

From agent stalking to actual acceptance, 15 months.

6.   How many times did it get rejected before it got published?

The aforementioned 65 times

7.   Describe your worst rejection letter.

The letter said they could not connect with the character, Sabrina, and that witches and vampires were out of vogue.  There is no vampire in my book and the character is named Serena, not Sabrina.  I was deflated. They had not read it.  I was dismissed by someone who didn't even read the book.  A book which has won the Globel Ebook Award for best Speculative Fiction - Fantasy, thank you very much.  Class and decorum precludes me from mentioning them here, but you would be shocked, my friends.

8.   Describe the best news you ever got in your writing life and how it felt.

When I received the email from Astraea Press from them ASKING me if I would like them to publish my book (ASKING ME!!!), I nearly missed it because I was so pre-conditioned to rejection.  I read it over and over, like you might look at a winning lottery ticket.  I didn't believe that they believed in me.  One small email made me believe in myself again.

9.   What’s the worst piece of advice you ever got?

One rejection letter said I had too many characters in Spellbound and I would confuse the reader.  I felt insulted for the reader.  I write young adult because I love the period of time in my life where everything was in discovery and enlightenment.  I never want to be denigrating or dumb down my books.  By asking me to reduce my cast of characters, I think that's exactly what that agent was telling me to do.  I felt that agent was advising me that my young adult audience wouldn't be savvy enough to handle it.  My reviews have proven that wrong.

10.                Now, tell us the best.

Don't give up.  Understand that every rejection is just one person's opinion and another person will have an entirely different one.  

11.                What’s the one thing you would want an aspiring writer to take away from your personal path to publication?

Writing is a learning process.  If you are not discovering something new every single solitary day, then you are doing it WRONG.  Read blogs, Write blogs, and then when you have written your blog, go back and read some more.  Research everything you can on your genre and the business of writing, because you can never forget that THIS IS A BUSINESS.  You can't just write something and sit back.  You have to learn how to query and logline and write a synopsis and then market the whole damn thing.  Learn how to spot and rely on an expert.  Because if you are a writer, chances are that is what you want to be doing with your time.  You are NOT an editor, you need one.  You are NOT a cover artist, you need one.  If you can, get an expert to help YOU market YOU.  'Cuz, lets face it, wouldn't you rather spend that time, um, writing?
And most of all, LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN.  Learn to listen to those authors who have gone before you and been there and done that AND are selling the t-shirt to prove it.  They have learned the ropes, they have EARNED the ropes, and if you are lucky enough to be in their presence when they start talking, sit down, shut up, and start taking notes.  Go to as many conferences as you can afford and write down everything they have to say.  
Here's a surprising fun fact:  I went to my first conference in September of last year.  It caused me to rework my manuscript for a month after Christmas.(family in town)  Guess when I got a contract?  Yeah, you guessed it.....Feb 2011.  Coincidence?  You be the judge.

So, here will be the part where the sharing author can put all their contact information.  I will assume you know mine already.  

I hope you enjoyed my story.  Please comment and let me know if you did and look forward to the other exciting authors coming soon!