Authors in the Limelight: Samantha Combs

I want to thank and welcome author, Samantha Combs for sharing her personal writing journey with us on my blog today. Her book, The Detention Demon, can be purchased from MusaPublishing, Amazon, and other on-line bookstores.

How long have you been writing, Samantha?

I’ve been writing my whole life, but I only got serious about it in 2010.  That’s the year I wrote Spellbound, in about 2 ½ months.  In the same year, I wrote Ghostly, and began Everspell.

 Where did you get your idea and inspiration to write The Detention Demon?

The Detention Demon was born of my son’s love of the Goosebumps series. I had written three books already and he complained he was too young to read them.  So I set out to write a book he could relate to.

What sets The Detention Demon apart from other books in the same genre?

What sets The Detention Demon apart in the middle grade fiction world is the fact that it’s a horror story.  With the exception of R.L.Stine, and his Goosebumps and Mostly Ghostly series, there aren’t many horror books for the middle grade.  My son wanted me to write a scary story, so I did.  It didn’t hurt that he had recently received a couple detention passes!  LOL

Well, necessity is the mother of invention!

As an author, Samantha, what is your writing process?

 My writing process has remained pretty much unchanged.  I get an idea, either from my kids, or something I see in passing on TV or at work or even on the way to work, then I jot notes in my iPhone.  Each time I get a new idea, I put it in there.  Once I write or tap it out, it’s in my head.  It marinates, then the seed, well, it becomes a flower. I’m happy that the ideas come all the time and currently, I have three manuscripts working.

How long did it take for you to start and finish The Detention Demon?

Writing The Detention Demon took very little time. By the time I was actually writing it, the whole story had nearly unfolded in my head.  I couldn’t write it fast enough.  It took three weeks.

Do you have any advice for other writers, Samantha?

I always give the same advice. Write when you feel it. I never force myself and don’t subscribe to the notion of making sure I write something every day.  I also follow my own rules, dance to my own song.  Sometimes, I write a scene that is bursting to be written and then write a novel around it!  I’m doing that right now.

Now that’s sage advice! What’s next for Samantha Combs the author?

The Detention Demon releases on Feb 10, 2012 and another YA paranormal novel is contracted to release in Sept. 2012.  This one is called Waterdancer and is about a teen girl who discovers her real, absentee father has recently returned to tell her he is part sea-creature, and she may be too.  And I’m currently working on a mean girl book, about a group of girls who have been possessed by the seven deadly sins.  Working title:  The Deadlies.

Okay, here’s one for me, since I’m writing a time travel series – If you could time travel anywhere into Earth’s past, where would you go and why?

Time travel is so fascinating to me! If I could travel back anytime, my answer would be here, in The United States, in the 1950’s. I love the clothes, the music, the manners. I loved that women wore gloves in public and men wore hats.  I love that it was a time of rejuvenation and experimentation. We had come out of a world war, battered but not broken, and were rebuilding our lives, our country, and our families, at break-neck speed. I would have loved to be a part of that wonder of discovery.

Samantha Combs is the author of YA witch fantasy Spellbound, which won the Global Ebook Award for Speculative Fiction-Fantasy, and the sequel, Everspell, YA para-ghost story, Ghostly, her first horror outing, Teeth and Talons, A Horror Anthology.  The Detention Demon, her middle grade horror, releases Feb 2012 and Waterdancer, an aquatic YA paranormal, will be available in Sept 2012.

If anyone would like to connect with her, check out her blog, www.samanthacombswrites.blogspot.com, Twitter:  https://twitter.com/#!/samanthacombs1 and facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/AuthorSamanthaCombs.  She loves to chat with new aspiring, and experienced authors.