The Best Kind of Changes

When I was getting ready this morning, I walked into my closet and gazed longingly at my boots.  My winter, to-the-calves, completely-inappropriate-for-summer boots.  Three pairs, all colors, black, grey and tan.  I wished I could wear them.

I got dressed, and only then did I look outside.  And smiled.  It was cool outside!  Overcast!  Dare I say, even dank!  I was thrilled.  Immediately yanked off my stupid skirt and top and gleefully slid into a pair of stretch pants, a sweater dress, and BOOTS!  Okay, true confession is I didn't wear the boots, since my other flats looked way cuter.  Whatever.  The point is the simple change in the weather validates that we are in the middle of change and for the first time in at least a couple years, I am embracing all of it.

Our country is about to change, my life has dramatically changed since I started my new job nine months ago (I don't think I can still keep calling it "new" nine months after the fact, but it still feels so shiny!), and I believe my writing is changing.  It all makes me kind of giddy.

Now, let me explain how monumental this is.  I don't exactly embrace change.  I'll give you a couple of examples:  I never change my mind after I choose my outfit for the day.  At certain restaurants, I have the same exact thing off the menu every single time.  See, I appreciate structure, discipline, control.  I'm a Scorpio.  We may be passionate, yes, but we also crave order.  So, if you were describing an author like this, certainly she would be a plotter, right?  Nope.  You would be wrong.

I have published seven novels and in each one I was a "pantser" of the highest order.  Flying by the seat of my pants, I had NO CLUE at all where the story would start, arc, and finish until I opened the laptop.  My muse, Musina, has tolerated this "blinders-on" attitude for a couple of years, while waiting for me to come to my own understanding with my control, or lack-of-control issues.  Most of this came about due to the unstable nature of my personal life.  Unemployed, bummed out, and financially stressed, writing was an outlet.  I could be as free as I wanted and boy, was I.  I love the stories I wrote during this period; they are indicative of my desire to escape, in a way.  But, as I mentioned, change is in the air, and I have been breathing deeply and craving the koolaid.

My most recent manuscript, and even the one just published this month, are an indication of that change.  With Waterdancer, published the first week of September, I found for the first time, I needed a character roster.  Then I wrote a few "notes" on my iphone to which I referred periodically.  With the current manuscript I am shopping, The Deadlies, I had a character roster, "notes", and even a couple of story arcs written down.  I think there is a correlation to my new found stability and my level of trust in myself.  The Deadlies is different than anything I have written and I am desperately proud of it.  I trusted myself enough to go outside my comfort zone and I am truthfully chuffed with the result.

In my life now, as compared to a year ago, there are daily revelations reminding me of how blessed I am.  I wrote a post before this about waiting on my agent.  I think I may have given the wrong impression.  If I NEVER get an agent, that will be okay.  I write because I love it, and the entrance of an agent in that equation won't change that.  It may enhance it, but it won't change it.  My life has slowly, in the last year, stabilized.  My marriage is back on track (unemployment and depression can smack the hell out of a marriage), my personal relationships are blossoming, and for the first time in maybe a decade, I am letting people into my circle.  I have new friends who are very, very important to me.  And I am writing characters about whom I feel the same.  I am learning to trust myself and my craft.  I think it is okay to say I am a good writer, and not laugh right after I say it.  With trust comes confidence.

Musina knew all that all along.  She wanted to tell me, but I was mentally unprepared for such revelatory information.  Might have killed me, frankly.  Not so much anymore.  Because I am embracing change.  And right now, I am experiencing the best kind...not things that want to change me, but changes I am accepting and want to make.  Trust me, there is a difference.  The lesson I think for me, for 2012, is the best kind of changes are the kind you never expected.  And isn't that the best part of life?  The unexpected?  I finally believe that's true.

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!

Make It Personal

Writing my latest release, Waterdancer, has been a truly eye-opening experience to my own writing process.  Please read about it in this guest post I did for the Waterdancer blog tour over at Letters Inside Out.

GUEST POST: SAMANTHA COMBS (AUTHOR OF WATERDANCER)

5SEPposted by Amanda

Tour Schedule

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.

GUEST POST: MAKE IT PERSONAL BY SAMANTHA COMBS

I recently allowed my muse, Musina to headline in an interview about me. I learned something. I thought I had sprinkled part of my life into my books, but as it turns out, I have been borrowing liberally. Empowered with this epiphany, I truly feel that personal connection is what makes my stories easy to believe and accept, even though I write in the paranormal genre. I make it believable by making it personal.

Once I realized I had been doing this, it was simple to identify the personal parts in most of my books. In Spellbound and Everspell, even though, no, I am not a witch, I used my past to color the landscape of my story. The street they live on is the same as mine, and the main characters large house resembles one that used to stand at the end of our block. Thick with overgrown brush, we used to call it the “witch house” as kids will sometimes do. In Ghostly, the main protag’s best friend is drawn nearly completely from a couple of friends I had in school, and the school itself is the same layout as my old high school in San Diego. Likewise, the jr. high in The Detention Demon resembles the one I never went to, but my little brother did.

But perhaps nowhere else than in Waterdancer did I borrow so heavily. I was in a high school just like Bailey, having moved to Del Mar the summer before my freshman year. I had a new stepfather, new siblings and was experiencing the first love of my life. Cool, zen, and a serious local-boy surfer, Bailey’s love interest, Jack, also comes from my past. It doesn’t stop there, either. The layout of Bailey’s new condo matches the one I lived in during high school and living across the street from a state beach is the same as well. Even down to the path that leads from the cliff to the beach, the details are just the same. I often wonder if a local may read this book and wonder if I invaded their life.

During those tender, angst-filled teen years, I was also rebuilding my relationship with both my mother, and my previously absentee father. But, just to be clear, Daddy is not an octopus. Okay?

I know many authors write paranormal and make up as much of it as they can. I love that. But, I challenge you as a writer to inject as much of yourself, or your life, as you can. I am tremendously proud of this latest YA for that reason. I feel that the “me” of it shines through. Musina was clearly in charge on this one, because I didn’t realize any of this until her interview. Even after read-throughs, edits and grammar checks, I never noticed it. But, it was there all along. I believe the reason I love it so much is that that it is so close to my “me-ness”. Try it yourself. Use a name from your past, landscape your manuscript with images from your childhood, or pull from your own experiences, even the painful ones. Writing can be cathartic, too. And watch your story come alive! One of my favorite sayings is this: Be bold, for when you are bold, magnificent forces will come to your aid. So, writers and authors and storytime tellers, be bold. And make it personal. Your readers will love you and your stories for it.

Author Bio: Samantha Combs is a young adult/middle grade author living in Southern California. The author of six books, three are young adult paranormal romances, Spellbound, Everspell, and Ghostly, a middle grade horror novel, The Detention Demon, two adult horror collections, Teeth and Talons, and Way Past Midnight, and a new standalone YA paranormal, entitled Waterdancer, which you should look for in Sept. 2012. Samantha hopes to complete and release two other books currently in progress. 2012 looks amazing!

When she is not writing or reading voraciously, Samantha enjoys bloggers, the Food Network Channel, reality television and wandering around the aisles at Target. She recently conquered Facebook and is learning how to use Twitter. She is sure she can handle any situation if she has the right shoes and has a mad passion for totally inappropriate earrings. Samantha believes the movement toward technology is the most exciting thing to happen to publishing and can’t wait to see what the industry is going to do next. Anything that makes kids want to read can’t be a bad thing.

Facebook | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads

Meet Bailey, the Teen Star of Waterdancer

I may have mentioned, Waterdancer, from Musa Publishing, is out this Friday.  So you believe me when I say this book release is NOT all about me, I would like you to know I have given the spotlight over to Bailey, my spunky protagonist, for the most recent interview.  My great fellow author from Astraea Press, Patricia Kiyono, handled the reins for this one.  I won't waste time with useless banter, just please read the following and get to know Bailey.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Please Welcome Author Samantha Combs

   Today I am honored to introduce you to Samantha Combs. Samantha is a

 prolific author, writing Young Adult Paranormal stories not only at Astraea

 Press, but also at Musa Publishing. She is a true cheerleader for her fellow 

authors. She was the first blogger to interview me after the publication of my 

first novella, The Legacy, and so I am glad to have the chance to return the 

favor as she prepares for the launch of her latest release, Waterdancer. Since

Samantha herself is quite busy with all the promo surrounding the release, 

she sent her main character, Bailey Wasserman, to answer my questions.

PK: Thank you for coming to chat with us today, Bailey. Why do you think 

Samantha choose you to represent her?

BW: We are a lot alike.  Most of how I am in Waterdancer is drawn directly from her 

own teen years.  She had the standoffish stepfather, the new home, the new school, 

and the absentee father.  While he wasn’t a sea creature, everything else is the same.

PK: Tell us a little about yourself.

BW: I just moved with my mother and her new husband and my awesome little brother 

Landry to a brand new city.  I have to go to a new school, too.  I’m pretty laid back, but 

this is turning out to be a seriously stressful summer.  Even a zen chick like me has 

her limits.

PK: What is your birth date?

BW: Let’s just say my sixteenth birthday this summer will bring more surprises than 

presents.

PK: Where do you live? What is it about that area that drew you there?

BW: We live in Del Mar, California  Pretty ritzy place. This is where my stepfather, 

Warren, brought us to live. Before my Mom married him, we had a great little house

 in a totally not expensive area.  We were happy.  I’m still working out if I like being

 here.  Secretly though, I have fallen in love with the beach.  Never had that before!

PK: What do you wish people would know about you?

SC: If they knew about the mermaid tail, they would think I was a freak, or creepy.  

So I DON’T want them to know about that.  Except for Jack.  He kind of found out

by accident.  And he still likes me!  Unheard of.

PK: What is your perfect evening?

BW: Since I learned how to surf, the perfect evening is riding the waves with Jack 

until the sun goes down, and watching that sunset with him on the sand.

What do you do to relax?

BW: Surf.  And I’m a teenager.  We don’t relax, much.

PK: Tell us about Jack. What drew you to him?

BW: He is seriously cute and for some unknown reason, he likes me.  Besides, 

I wasn’t drawn to him…he kind of stalked me at Registration.  Thank you, Jesus,

because he was the cutest boy in that whole room.

PK: What about the girl on the cover? Is that a fair representation of you?

BW: Yes.  She is a bit wistful, and you can sense her awakened desire for the

ocean.

PK: What’s your biggest turn ons?

BW: Surfing with Jack, spending time with Landry, people telling me the truth.

PK: What are your biggest Turn offs?

BW: Deception.

PK: Do you believe in ghosts?

BW: Well, I didn’t believe in sea creatures before this summer, so I guess I 

need to change my mind about ghosts, too.

PK: What is your biggest fear?

BW: That something will happen to Landry because of me.

PK: Why should the readers be interested in your story?

BW: Because I’m just a normal teenager trying to make my way in a life that 

has just been turned upside-down.  Because my story could be any girl’s story, 

maybe just not with sea creatures as parents.  And because I am honest, and 

real, and sincere.

Thanks for coming today, Bailey!

Readers can find Waterdancer at your favorite online source beginning 

THIS FRIDAY, September 7. You can find Samantha on Facebook, her 

blog, or on Twitter:

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

Waterdancer Blog Tour

I have never done a blog tour before, but I need to send a shout out to Megan from http://readingawaythedays.blogspot.com, who has put together an amazing blog tour for me for the new YA paranormal release Waterdancer, releasing this Friday, Sept., 7th from Musa Publishing.   She even made this far-too-cool  banner, using the same colors of the book cover.

Because I am stupidly new to this, she took me by the hand and walked me through the whole process.  I provided links and interviews and blog posts, oh my!  I just did whatever she asked me to do and I am so surprised by some results.  I have new blog followers, new likers, and, music to an author's ears, reviewers who are enjoying my story.  I have posts and tweets and google-y stuff, too!  Megan just does it all.  

I would be remiss if I didn't thank her specifically, and the other blogs doing a thingy on me as well.  So, here is a list of these wonderful reviewers/bloggers.  Please check them out, and not just for this tour.  I have found each blog to be well-thought out, engaging and entertaining, and best of all, informational.  Once again, I am reminded that were it not for these reviewers and bloggers, us indie authors would be way more indie than we would like.

So, please join me in joining them!

http://readingawaythedays.blogspot.co.uk/ 

http://worldsawaybookblog.blogspot.co.uk/

http://we-do-write.blogspot.co.uk/

http://aboveaveragebelowspecial.blogspot.co.uk/

http://jbarrett5.blogspot.com/

http://www.lettersinsideout.net/

http://littlepocketbooks.blogspot.co.uk/

http://thecoverbybrittany.blogspot.co.uk/

One other thing I want to mention...this blog tour was offered to me for free.  These great bloggers do this for the best reason of all, love of books and a great desire to introduce authors to you that you may not have even heard of.  I can never, ever thank them enough.  But you can do what I have done.  Follow them.  They are worth it.

And if you decide to jump on the blog tour, check it out with this schedule:

Today: Book Excerpt & Giveaway @ my blog http://readingawaythedays.blogspot.co.uk/ & Promo @ this blog http://worldsawaybookblog.blogspot.co.uk/

3rd September: Interview @ http://we-do-write.blogspot.co.uk/

4th September: Review @ http://aboveaveragebelowspecial.blogspot.co.uk/ & Review @ http://jbarrett5.blogspot.com/

5th September: Guest Post @ http://www.lettersinsideout.net/

6th September: Casting Couch @ http://littlepocketbooks.blogspot.co.uk/

7th September: Character Interview:  http://thecoverbybrittany.blogspot.co.uk/

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!

Why I Don't Like Five Star Reviews

So, having read the title of this post, as an author you must be thinking I am out of my mind.  Not liking five-star reviews?  Is this bitch kidding?  EVERYONE wants a five-star review!  This is heresy!  Stone her!
Okay, okay, before you drag out the torture table, let me explain:  it's not that I don't want five star reviews, it's more that I am afraid of them.

If I was a fledgling actress nominated for and winning an Academy Award, I'm sure I would have the same crisis of faith.  And make no mistake, it IS about faith.  I think that actress and I would have the same fears, actually.  Namely, that we would never be able to top the excellence, the perfection, the sheer genius that caused the award to be given on her first film. Too many five stars would scare me.

As an author, I have received my share of five-stars.  And since that did happen, I feel as though I am qualified to make these statements.  I am grateful for every one, but here's what frightens me:  To me, the five-star review is the pinnacle of the ratings scale.  So, if I get a fiver, where do I go from there?  Is there six stars?  Seven? Eight?  No.  That's it.  Five is the top.  So my true fear is that too many of them is going to be a slippery slope into complacency.  Maybe not right away, because I seem to have, so far, an endless supply of story ideas and notes, but someday.  Someday, I fear I may sit back on the sofa and breathe out slowly, wondering where else can I go?  Wondering is it worth it to try?

I, personally, LOVE a four star review.  Now this, I can sink my teeth in!  This means you loved it, but you can see where I might have taken it farther.  A four-topper guarantees you liked me enough to purchase my next book, and my next one.  Then, when I have reached the level of success and recognition I only now dream of, then you can lather me with those fivers.  Oh, please do.  Please, please do.

I also appreciate a well-researched and itemized three star review.  This gives me somewhere specific to go. Up.  I can strive for something, and as an artist, that's what I am always doing.  Striving, perfecting, vowing to achieve.

Interestingly enough, in American literature, one's descent into madness is most often preceded by unhealthy obsession.  Obsession over a person, a love, real or imagined, and, Dear Authors, over an ideal.  A willingness to slave and grieve and COMMIT to one thing so totally, so completely, that you will submit yourself to review and comment and critique, by people we don't know and are killing ourselves to impress..  Oh...wait a minute....isn't that what we as authors do?   But, I digress.

Back to the five stars.  I appreciate them, I covet them, yes, maybe I do even like them.  But, I'll be damned if I'm going to let them make me complacent.  Because my intent with my writing is to get better, to correct my mistakes, to tighten my wording and color my descriptions.  And with every book, my intent is to draw my reader in deeper and deeper until the characters become a part of them.

I have a book coming out two weeks from today.  It's my seventh one.  Waterdancer, a YA paranormal, is being released by Musa Publishing.  Check it out and let me know.....am I going in the right direction?

The Kid Interview Series #10 - My daughter puts me under the lights!

When my 6 year old daughter heard that her brother did this interview, she got mad.  Like, tantrum-y and mean-faced mad. She demanded to be given the same chance.  If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that of my two children, in nature terms, one is the cool, island breeze, and one is a goddamn typhoon.  Guess which one my dinky diva is?

You will also remember that I credit her with bringing me to the publishing industry, quite unbeknownst to myself.  She wanted a fairy tale and I wrote her one.  Funny thing is, I never intended it to be a novel, much less a series.  She , of course, is the force behind Spellbound, my first published novel.  Cut to two years later and six pubbies, with one in the wings being released by the publisher in 3 weeks.  All due to the mini-me.  So, it was only fitting she got the chance to do this interview.  That, and it was worth peace in the house. *shrug*

THE KID’S INTERVIEW

Mallory Combs, age 6, interviews her author mom, SAMANTHA COMBS

Q.    Can you name all your Mom’s books? 

Mallory:  Um, Spellbound, Waterdancer….ah, Goosebump….um, ah… did you write down Waterdancer?  Oh, the tattoo one where all the tattoos came alive.  Next question?

Q.    Which is your favorite and why? 

Mallory:  Um, Spellbound.  Mommy, what are they all about?  Tell me and I’ll remember.

Q.    When does your Mom write?  Where in the house?  Describe her writing area. 

Mallory:  Maybe sometimes on Sundays and Saturdays.  Sometimes in the living room and sometimes in the lounge in her room.  Another writing area is kinda in her bedroom, it’s a big room. 

Q.  What are you doing when Mom is writing? 

Mallory:  Watching tv downstairs or playing with my dolls in my dolly house.

Q.    If Mom got rich and famous, what would you want her to do with the money? 

Mallory:  Buy her a fancy house and get a limo!

Q.   Do you read your Mom’s books? 

Mallory:  No.  Because I can’t even read yet *giggles*

Q.    Do you think you do better in school because Mom is a writer? 

Mallory:  Yes.  Why I am good in the school is because Mom makes me artistic and happy to be creative.

Q.  Do your friends know what your Mom writes?  Do you tell them? 

Mallory:  No, they don’t know.  I don’t tell them.  I keep on forgetting to.

Q.    Do you want to be a writer when you grow up?  If not, what do you want to be? 

Mallory:  No.  I want to be a ballerina.  And Momma, I hope you write a book about one named Isabella. *twirls*

Q.   If you could dedicate a book to your Mom, what would you say? 

Mallory:  To my artistic and beautiful Mommy. I love you so much! *runs outside*

Many of you who read this post already know Mallory, and you will know this is totally her!  I write about my family in a limited manner, but they appear in the posts now and again.  Each of them are THRILLED to see their name in print, and dedications on my books to them delight them endlessly.  She will LOVE this post.

And now, for my shameless plug:  I often think the character in my next release, Waterdancer, is the embodiment of how my girl will be when she gets older.  She is a natural waterbaby and loves baths, swimming, and even playing with the hose in the front driveway.  The character's precociousness and blind self-assurance smacks of my baby girl.  Check out the cover and look in the blog headers for the blurb.  And thanks for stopping by!

The Kid Interview Series - #1 - I am interviewed by my son

As part of a new ongoing series, I have asked some of my facebook author-friends to ask their children to interview them.  Our kids and families are such a huge part of our lives, I wanted to give them an opportunity to tell us all how they really feel about our obsessive desire to put words to life.

I will start the series by interviewing one of my own.  Enjoy!

THE KID’S INTERVIEW

William Combs, age 9, interviews his author mom, SAMANTHA COMBS

Q.  Can you name all your Mom’s books?  

A.  Yes! Spellbound, Everspell, Detention Demon, Waterdancer, um, even the short ones too?  I’ll think about it.

Q.  Which is your favorite and why?  

A.  My favorite is The Detention Demon because I like all of the details that it gives me to give a good picture in my mind of what the demon looks like.

Q.  When does your Mom write?  Where in the house?  Describe her writing area.  

A.  Mostly at night.  She writes in the living room and sometimes in her room.  Well, for the living room, she has a couch with an ottoman that she puts the computer on.  And she also lays her feet on that, too.  And also she uses pillows to rest her arm on.  We’re not allowed to put things on the ottoman.

Q.   What are you doing when Mom is writing?  

A.   I’m mostly quiet and I watch tv or play my DS.

Q.   If Mom got rich and famous, what would you want her to do with the money?  

A.   TOYS!

Q.   Do you read your Mom’s books?  

A.   Yes.  She reads them to me and I read them on her kindle.  But only the scary ones.  And the good parts of    the others.

Q.   Do you think you do better in school because Mom is a writer?  

A.   Yes.  Because she has a great vocabulary and so do I.  And whenever I need a word to be described, she is always there for that.

Q.   Do your friends know what your Mom writes?  Do you tell them?  

A.   Not really, no. I tell them about her working for the cab company.  But, I do tell my teachers Mommy writes.

Q.   Do you want to be a writer when you grow up?  If not, what do you want to be? 

A.   I don’t want to be a writer, because it’s just exhausting for your hands.  I want to be either a police officer  or a firefighter.

Q.  If you could dedicate a book to your Mom, what would you say?  

A.  This book is for my Mom, my wonderful, kind, happy, heartful mother.  I love you, Mom.

Shameless self-promotion: Waterdancer, my 7th book, and my 5th YA paranormal, is out Sept 7th with Musa Publishing.  Hope you check it out here on the blog.