It is such a pleasure to have you visit with me over the next few days, Samantha. You are the first Silhouette author I have had as a guest so this is such a thrill! I am sure you will have lots of comments and questions so shall we get on with the interview?
Welcome!
Q1: When and why did you decide you wanted to be a published author?
A1: I lived in Los Angeles and worked in television production. I was very serious about my hobby of photography, to the point where I had my own darkroom (this was in the days of film rather than digital). In trying to market my photographs I found I had a better chance of selling them if they were attached to magazine articles. So, I started writing non-fiction magazine articles solely as a means of marketing my photographs. I had friends and co-workers telling me I should write scripts since I worked in television and had access to producers and directors. I took a screen writing class at UCLA and discovered I did not want to write scripts, but I did want to try writing a novel. So I seriously turned my hand to fiction writing.
Q2: What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given as a writer?
A2: Don't let rejections get you down and don't take them personally. Everyone gets rejections and they are not about you as a writer. They are about the specific manuscript you submitted to that specific publisher on a given specific day.
Q3: What is the best thing you have learned from an editor/agent?
A3: If an editor requests a specific change—telling you how to change something, not just that it needs to be changed—and you believe the change the way the editor has asked you to change it doesn't work for your story, you shouldn't be afraid to offer an alternative way of making the change that won't compromise the intent of your story. Many times the editor's suggestion on how to make a change isn't important. What is important to the editor is fixing whatever dynamic in your story it is that bothers her.
Q4: And the worst?
A4: Saying there is only one way of doing something.
Q5: Share your blurb or short excerpt from your latest release with us.
A5: DESIGNED ENCOUNTER, a novella by Samantha Gentry, is scheduled for release tomorrow (Friday, December 10, 2010) at The Wilder Roses (www.thewilderroses.com) the Scarlet Rose line of erotic romance from The Wild Rose Press.
BLURB: A temporary building project has kept architect Trent Reynolds and interior designer Maddie Sloan from acting on a sizzling mutual attraction. As the assignment comes to a successful conclusion, business makes room for hot, scintillating pleasure. But while Maddie has designs on a long term commitment, Trent has blueprints for a no-strings-attached deal. Can a weekend encounter at a romantic seaside inn persuade Trent to Maddie's way of thinking?
Excerpts from DESIGNED ENCOUNTER are available on my website at www.samanthagentry.com
Q6: Who would you cast to play your hero and heroine in a movie?
A6: I've thought about this and I just don't know. Everyone I think of is either too old or too young to fit the parts. Hero is 38-39 and heroine is 34. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has some.
Q7: Did you plan this book? Or write it as it came?
A7: Ah…that goes back to the question of plotter or pantser. I used to create it as I wrote. I'd have a basic story line in mind, a couple of major plot points, but nothing beyond that. However, when Harlequin/Silhouette started contracting me based on a proposal (synopsis and three chapters) rather than a completed manuscript, I had to learn to plot it all out so I could do a complete synopsis without having written the book. So now, even with a novella, I know the beginning and the middle and the ending along with all the major plot points before I start writing.
Q8: What surprised you the most when you became a published author?
A8: That it was as difficult and time consuming to sell my second book as it was to sell the first one.
Q9: Do you have a dedicated writing space? What does it look like?
A9: Yes, the front bedroom in my house is my office. It's a corner room so it has two windows, one looking out on the front yard and the street and one of the side with a view of the neighbor's driveway. Right now the room looks like a cluttered mess. Hmmm…actually mess isn't necessarily correct as in a bunch of junk and I don't know what half of it is. But cluttered definitely fits. Bottom line—the room is too small for all the stuff I have in it.
Q10: What's next for you?
A10: I'm working on some new manuscripts, both erotic contemporary and romantic suspense.
I'm also pleased to announce that Harlequin is reissuing some of my Silhouette Desire backlist written under my other pseudonym of Shawna Delacorte in ebooks, available at the Harlequin website (http://ebooks.eharlequin.com), also Barnes and Noble for their Nook Books (www.bn.com) and at Amazon for Kindle.
IN FORBIDDEN TERRITORY is currently available. HAVING THE BEST MAN'S BABY will be available in December 2010. AT THE TYCOON'S COMMAND will be available in January 2011. All twenty-one of my Harlequin Intrigue and Silhouette Desire backlist covers and blurbs are shown on my website (www.samanthagentry.com) on the Shawna Delacorte page.
In addition to that, I'm anxious to get back into my photography, only now it's all digital rather than the film I've used for years. My "point and shoot" digital camera is easy, but my new digital SLR Nikons are a new learning experience. They're much more complex than my old film SLR Nikons. And, of course, my darkroom is now another new learning curve with the digital darkroom being new photo and graphics computer software.
Readers can find out about me and my books at my website:
www.samanthagentry.com
I also have a blog where I do a new post every Sunday morning:
http://samanthagentry.blogspot.com
You can also find me on Facebook.
Profile: www.facebook.com/SamanthaGentry.author "friend" me
Fan Page: www.facebook.com/SamanthaGentry.Author1 "like" me
I want to thank Rachel for having me here today and allowing me to ramble on about various topics, including my upcoming release of DESIGNED ENCOUNTER and my reissues from Harlequin/Silhouette.
Q1: When and why did you decide you wanted to be a published author?
A1: I lived in Los Angeles and worked in television production. I was very serious about my hobby of photography, to the point where I had my own darkroom (this was in the days of film rather than digital). In trying to market my photographs I found I had a better chance of selling them if they were attached to magazine articles. So, I started writing non-fiction magazine articles solely as a means of marketing my photographs. I had friends and co-workers telling me I should write scripts since I worked in television and had access to producers and directors. I took a screen writing class at UCLA and discovered I did not want to write scripts, but I did want to try writing a novel. So I seriously turned my hand to fiction writing.
Q2: What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given as a writer?
A2: Don't let rejections get you down and don't take them personally. Everyone gets rejections and they are not about you as a writer. They are about the specific manuscript you submitted to that specific publisher on a given specific day.
Q3: What is the best thing you have learned from an editor/agent?
A3: If an editor requests a specific change—telling you how to change something, not just that it needs to be changed—and you believe the change the way the editor has asked you to change it doesn't work for your story, you shouldn't be afraid to offer an alternative way of making the change that won't compromise the intent of your story. Many times the editor's suggestion on how to make a change isn't important. What is important to the editor is fixing whatever dynamic in your story it is that bothers her.
Q4: And the worst?
A4: Saying there is only one way of doing something.
Q5: Share your blurb or short excerpt from your latest release with us.
A5: DESIGNED ENCOUNTER, a novella by Samantha Gentry, is scheduled for release tomorrow (Friday, December 10, 2010) at The Wilder Roses (www.thewilderroses.com) the Scarlet Rose line of erotic romance from The Wild Rose Press.
BLURB: A temporary building project has kept architect Trent Reynolds and interior designer Maddie Sloan from acting on a sizzling mutual attraction. As the assignment comes to a successful conclusion, business makes room for hot, scintillating pleasure. But while Maddie has designs on a long term commitment, Trent has blueprints for a no-strings-attached deal. Can a weekend encounter at a romantic seaside inn persuade Trent to Maddie's way of thinking?
Excerpts from DESIGNED ENCOUNTER are available on my website at www.samanthagentry.com
Q6: Who would you cast to play your hero and heroine in a movie?
A6: I've thought about this and I just don't know. Everyone I think of is either too old or too young to fit the parts. Hero is 38-39 and heroine is 34. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has some.
Q7: Did you plan this book? Or write it as it came?
A7: Ah…that goes back to the question of plotter or pantser. I used to create it as I wrote. I'd have a basic story line in mind, a couple of major plot points, but nothing beyond that. However, when Harlequin/Silhouette started contracting me based on a proposal (synopsis and three chapters) rather than a completed manuscript, I had to learn to plot it all out so I could do a complete synopsis without having written the book. So now, even with a novella, I know the beginning and the middle and the ending along with all the major plot points before I start writing.
Q8: What surprised you the most when you became a published author?
A8: That it was as difficult and time consuming to sell my second book as it was to sell the first one.
Q9: Do you have a dedicated writing space? What does it look like?
A9: Yes, the front bedroom in my house is my office. It's a corner room so it has two windows, one looking out on the front yard and the street and one of the side with a view of the neighbor's driveway. Right now the room looks like a cluttered mess. Hmmm…actually mess isn't necessarily correct as in a bunch of junk and I don't know what half of it is. But cluttered definitely fits. Bottom line—the room is too small for all the stuff I have in it.
Q10: What's next for you?
A10: I'm working on some new manuscripts, both erotic contemporary and romantic suspense.
I'm also pleased to announce that Harlequin is reissuing some of my Silhouette Desire backlist written under my other pseudonym of Shawna Delacorte in ebooks, available at the Harlequin website (http://ebooks.eharlequin.com), also Barnes and Noble for their Nook Books (www.bn.com) and at Amazon for Kindle.
IN FORBIDDEN TERRITORY is currently available. HAVING THE BEST MAN'S BABY will be available in December 2010. AT THE TYCOON'S COMMAND will be available in January 2011. All twenty-one of my Harlequin Intrigue and Silhouette Desire backlist covers and blurbs are shown on my website (www.samanthagentry.com) on the Shawna Delacorte page.
In addition to that, I'm anxious to get back into my photography, only now it's all digital rather than the film I've used for years. My "point and shoot" digital camera is easy, but my new digital SLR Nikons are a new learning experience. They're much more complex than my old film SLR Nikons. And, of course, my darkroom is now another new learning curve with the digital darkroom being new photo and graphics computer software.
Readers can find out about me and my books at my website:
www.samanthagentry.com
I also have a blog where I do a new post every Sunday morning:
http://samanthagentry.blogspot.com
You can also find me on Facebook.
Profile: www.facebook.com/SamanthaGentry.author "friend" me
Fan Page: www.facebook.com/SamanthaGentry.Author1 "like" me
I want to thank Rachel for having me here today and allowing me to ramble on about various topics, including my upcoming release of DESIGNED ENCOUNTER and my reissues from Harlequin/Silhouette.
What a fantastic interview, Samantha! I am so glad you stopped by and let us know more about you. I think your background in writing will inspire and encourage other aspiring writers so much. I particularly like your advice about discussing issues with your editors - I have a few writer friends who dislike their editors advice but don't speak up about it. Editors are human, not monsters, LOL!
Over to you guys, there must be lots you want to ask Silhouette/Wild Rose author - Samantha Gentry...
Hi Samantha and Rachel!
ReplyDeleteGreat interview! Samantha, my writing space tends to be... cluttered too. ; )
Congratulations on tomorrow's release! Designed Encounter sounds wonderful!
Hi, Lynne. Thanks for stopping by. In reconsidering, I might be forced to admit that "cluttered" was being a bit too kind to myself. I've been looking for two different things this morning that my office seems to have gobbled up. After a couple of hours I finally found one of them (put away in the proper file folder...who woulda guessed), but still haven't found the other one.
ReplyDeleteHi Samantha! great interview :)And as to who should play your hero...Brad Pitt's always a fab hero!!
ReplyDeleteHi, Sylvie: Yep, Brad is always a good choice. Tough to go wrong there. :)
ReplyDelete