The Same Six Questions - Samantha Warren

Hello there! Welcome to this Martin Luther King Jr. edition of The Same Six Questions. Today's guest is Samantha Warren. In her own words:

Samantha Warren is a fantasy and science fiction author who spends her days immersed in dragons, space ships, and vampires. With her pet dragon, Anethesis, she ventured to the ends of the universe, but the cost of space travel cut into her sock fetish fund, so she sold her ship and returned home. When she isn’t writing, she’s milking cows or trying to feed them Pop-Tarts. She spends a lot of time in her weed patch (aka: garden), watching any show featuring Gordon Ramsay, or posting random things on her blog

The Same Six Questions

1. Have you published a book yet?

Yes, I have one fantasy novel and four urban fantasy novellas. The novel, Blood of the Dragon, is available on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords (be sure to check Samantha's Amazon page for all of her books). The novellas are all part of a series about a vampire named Jane who decides to become an assassin. The first novella is available for free on Smashwords, but it is also available at Amazon and B&N. The other three in the series are available in all three places and I will continue to publish more. All of my books are also available on my website. I'll be finishing a sci-fi novel for NaNo 2011, so that should be out early in 2012.

2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Well, here's a secret. I hated English in high school, with a capital H. I loved to read, always have, but I hated the papers and reading books that they forced me to read. Nothing is worse than being forced to slog through a book that you find completely and utterly boring, simply because someone said you had to. But I devoured fantasy and sci-fi books, especially Star Wars books. I loved those, still do. But in college, after trying half a dozen other majors, I was reading through the Forgotten Realms series and found twelve mistakes in eight pages. Drove me nuts. At that point, I was looking for a new major, so I switched to English. And surprisingly, I loved it. I loved the papers, I loved the reading, I loved the classes, I loved it all. But I thought I wanted to be an editor, so I focused on that. A couple more years passed and I realized I didn't particularly like editing other people's work. I didn't have the freedom to fix what I felt really needed to be fixed. So after a couple previously failed NaNos and no other really hardcore creative writing (I didn't even take a creative writing class), I determined that I was start and finish NaNo 2010. And I've been writing fiction happily ever since. So, long story short, I've known for just about a year, and that's how long I've been a writer, as well. Not very exciting compared to most people's "I've known my whole life", but that's the truth of it.

3. What was your first lengthy piece of fiction (say, >1000 words)? What was it about? When did you write it? Do you still have it?

I usually call my first "real" attempt at writing my NaNo (Nanowrimo) 2009 piece, which incidentally became my Jane novella series (the first book of it, anyway). But if I really think back, I have another vampire novel that has maybe five chapters and was inspired by Underworld. I should hunt that down and see if it's salvageable.

4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

I've always been told I'm a good writer, and I did well in English, when I put in the effort. But the first time I thought "Maybe this would be a good career" was just before NaNo 2010 when I was plotting. I thought, "This is fun, I enjoy it, I wonder if I could do it full-time." I didn't decide to go it "alone", aka: self-publish, until February or March of this year (I wrote a blog about my decision process, so I won't bore you with it here), and after that is when I truly started to feel like a writer.

5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

I would probably meet Jane. She's snarky and can kick some major butt. She's also a lot like me, if I were an awesome vampire assassin chick, of course.

6. It's a dark and stormy night...you're alone in the house...there's a knock at the door...you open it, look out, and proceed to scream like a little girl/boy (they kinda scream the same anyway). What's on the doorstep?

A copy of Star Wars: Galaxies *shudders at the thought*

_________________________________

Thanks for stopping by and sharing with us, Samantha! For more of Samantha and her writing, be sure to check out her Web site, www.samantha-warren.com.

See you on Thursday, when my guest will be Robert Lamb!