Welcome to Samantha!
How did you come to write speculative fiction / spec-fiction romance? What attracted you to the genre?
I don’t remember ever making a conscious decision to go in that direction; I think the simplest answer would be to say I was forged there. Magic is in my bones, dragon’s fire burns in my lungs, unicorn blood pumps in my veins - you know, the usual. While other children dreamt of dolls and trucks, I dreamt of werewolves and spaceships. There’s a famous quote by Roald Dahl that goes something like: “Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” I like to think if I believed in it any more, it might find me for a change! My grandmother taught me to see the fairies in her garden when I was incredibly small, and together we made them tea in tiny, upside down gumnuts. My Mum (hi Mum!) plied me with endless books, from classics like Winnie the Pooh and Martha B. Rabbit all the way through to The Silver Brumby, The Dragonriders of Pern, The Discworld, and The Psy-Changelings. When it came to writing, I wanted to take what I felt inside and share it, hoping, in the process, that it allowed someone else to enjoy the same kind of wonder I’d been able to experience.
Tell us about being involved with the Perfectly Paranormal Anthologies?
Oh! I love all my APPA ladies. What a ride that’s been. We’re fortunate enough to be incredible friends, with a really wonderful spread of not just creative talents but back-end talents too - which has enabled everyone to give the perfect amount of caring and support when it comes time to pull everything together. I think our biggest issue as a group has been keeping Leisl and I inside the word count (heh, sorry, not sorry?) as we have a habit of writing at maximum verbosity at every available opportunity. My challenge for Season One (which is how we affectionately refer to the first four) was to explore deliberately adding comedy to my work for the story as a whole, rather than just in moments. I’d been thinking about it for a while, but I’d been worried about the story turning slapstick or silly and I didn’t want to sacrifice potential depth in either character or plot to gain a cheap laugh. As a Discworld fan, I knew it could be done, and the novella format gave me the perfect opportunity to try it out without the pressure of a full length book hanging overhead! Having a chance to experiment with new things and hang out with close writer friends while we breathe life into something new and amazing on a regular basis has been both an awesome adventure and an honour. I can’t wait for Season Two! (Wait… what?? Spoiler alert!)
Are you a plotter? Panster? Or somewhere in-between?
Oh gods. Haha. So, I never know how to answer this question. I’m like… Indiana Jones. How’s that? (So useful. At least I’m sexy, right?) Okay, okay. It works like this:
- I always have my two main characters fully fleshed out. My ideas usually start with them. If I start with a situation, let’s say, a sudden desire to open a business manufacturing paintbrushes made from unicorn tail hair, then one of the characters will be said unicorn using her own hair to craft the brushes from. Why? She wants to save the sables. Leave them all alone, people. Her brushes are better. Now her opposite is going to be… an artist. He paints tabletop RPG minis on video based social media platforms that shall not be named for copyright reasons for a living, and he needs a new set of perfect brushes. He agrees to trial and error her brushes from conception to finalisation on live stream in exchange for a custom set once they’re done, and she gets free advertising out of it.
- We now have the basis for a plot, characters, and close proximity. There clearly must be a nemesis, obstacles, a happily ever after, a throbbing brattwurst encounter (most likely in a paint studio) and given at least one of the MC’s is a unicorn, a healthy dose of shape-shifting. I’ll also need to decide what, if anything, species or magical abilities our artist has.
- Do I decide any of those things before I start? NO. This is what my mentor at uni used to call ‘writing into the dark,’ and the image upon which I have based my affectionate coinage of the Indiana Jones description. As far as I’m concerned, what I’ve done above is plotting. I’m not really making this up as I’m going along; I fleshed the idea out before I started. Or… the shell of it at least. I think of myself now as Indiana Jones (or Lara Croft, if my boobs were ever so blessed) with a vague idea of the ancient temple in his mind and a flaming torch in hand, illuminating the incredible, intricate labyrinth as he goes. Sometimes, the way is perilous and he has to progress slowly (especially if someone blows his torch out and he has to spend time trying to light the darn thing again) and sometimes, there’s a rock chasing him and he has to run as fast as he physically can while screaming incoherently and flashing a bizarre amount of oiled chest for no apparent reason, but gods dammit, that torch which seemed so fragile before will not go out for ANY REASON, so run while you can! It’s amazing the little offshoots and unexpected surprises that can be discovered in this way; just enough shape to give structure but not so much that I feel bound by it. Of course, this is also how my books end up being long, but hey; I like to think of it as value for money.
Do you have a favourite of your characters?
I like different characters for different reasons, but there are a few who like to jostle around near the top position. I’m very partial to Raiden, from ‘The Heart of a Shadow.’ He’s strong and soft, and incredibly dedicated almost to the point of naivety. I love him for that. I’m almost equally attached to his opposite, Lyria, and her perfect inhumanity. I also adore Fenris and Flare, from the ‘Sorcery and Stardust’ series. Fenris is my dark and broody, and Flare is all about being threatened with a good time on the outside, with a marshmallow interior. There’s another character in this series, too, who you haven’t met yet - but I can’t wait until you do. Honestly, there are so many - I could go on and on and on and on!
What are you currently working on?
Currently I’m working on book two in the Merged Worlds series, which follows on directly from ‘The Heart of a Shadow.’ It’s in the very early stages yet, but we’ll be following some new characters on their journey as well as hanging out with some old favourites! :)
What can we expect from you in the future?
That’s a great question. When I work that out, I’ll let you know! (Runs as fast as possible)
Haha.
On a more serious note, I’ve recently had a fair bit of time off (or very much slowed down) due to my health, and it’s forced me to take a bit of a step back and re-evaluate the way I was doing things, and what both my short term and long term objectives are. I felt like I’d grown up surrounded by magic, but that somewhere along the way, I’d let someone (nameless, faceless someone, don’t worry) convince me that it was time to ‘grow up’ and be a ‘real author’ now, and in order to do that, I had to let the magic go. And… if I don’t have the magic inside me, then how can I share it? I’m made of magic - if I banish it, what’s left of me?
(Oh dear, she got serious. Quick, someone rewind!)
It’s been an interesting period of introspection, to say the least; and no, I haven’t been as kind to myself as I should have been, but I think sometimes that’s part of the purging. What’s important is that I came to the decision that whether or not it might be deemed fundamentally correct, I am the magic and the magic is me, and going forward, that will be at the core of who I am both as a person and a writer.
So, eventually, you can expect books, obviously.
In… a magical way?
I don’t know.
Glitter!
Do you have advice for emerging writers?
- Believe in yourself.
- Never stop practicing.
- Remember that an author’s career is a marathon, not a sprint.
- Ice cream is a valid meal choice.
What are you currently reading/watching?
- Watching Halo, Season 2 with my husband
- Reading the Breed Series, by Lora Leigh
(Mum recommended these to me to try. ((Hi mum!)) I’m up to about book seven, I think? Anyway, the earlier books haven’t aged particularly well and tend to be a bit chauvinistic which grates on my nerves, but the premise is interesting from a paranormal and shifter perspective. I believe the original publisher was very keen on the domineering male sort of tropes, so there’s that. As the series progresses, the tone of the writing changes and there’s a little less caveman grunting and a little more intelligent conversation, which is refreshing. Anyhow, I’m considering the series a matter of research, as anything that’s 34-odd books long and still incredibly popular is worth decoding in order to try and understand why!)
~~
Check out The Heart of a Shadow
Lady of Shadows.
God of Chaos.
Bound in eternal servitude to the Atlantean royal family, dark fairy Liria Atlannon spends her days bending to the whims of her mistress. When Atlantis’ youngest Princess announces her betrothal to the great Pharaoh Taos of Egypt, Liria has no choice but to follow her Princess across the sea to a kingdom – and a life – unlike anything she has known before.
As Commander of the Pharoah’s honour guard, it is Prince Raiden Horushood’s duty to defend his brother at all costs. He’s never met a foe he couldn’t conquer – until Set the Anarchist, god of war and chaos, attempts to steal the Pharaoh’s fiancee from her own welcome banquet. While Raiden rages helplessly in the thrall of Set’s magic, Liria, the softly spoken handmaiden who spends most of her time staring at the floor, not only turns Set away but injures him in the process.
With the threat of an unpredictable god hanging overhead, Raiden begs Liria to join the Pharoah’s honour guard. Though Liria aches to become part of something greater, self preservation dictates she stay away from the vital, strong, and irritatingly handsome Prince Raiden. For if the warrior angel gets too close, he’ll discover that the biggest threat to Merged Egypt is not Set at all – it is Liria Atlannon, damned by the magic which shackles her soul, steals her free will and shapes her actions… until all that remains is a shadow.
Samantha Marshall
Hello!
My name is Samantha Marshall and I’m an author of speculative fiction, a mother to two tiny dictators, an artist, a keen drinker of chai tea and, in my spare time, a unicorn.
I believe in writing to the best of my ability, breathing life into my characters, always pushing the proverbial envelope, and dragons.
Won't you come on a ride?
You can find Samantha at her website: sliceofsammy.com
