Interview with Samantha Bryant
I recently had the opportunity to chat with Samantha Bryant, author of:
Going Through the Change: A Menopausal Superhero Novel
Check out our conversation here…..
How did you get your start as a writer and who have been some of your biggest influences?
In the most absolute sense, my first grade teacher, Mrs. Alsdorf, is responsible for my becoming a writer. She assigned a poetry project in which we were to select and copy classic poems neatly and illustrate them for a collection. I’m sure the intention was to improve my handwriting, in which case, it failed. But I fell in love with the sound of poetry and she suggested that I might want to write some of my own. I don’t write poetry as much as I once did, but that’s definitely the start of my itchy fingers feeling.
But my start as a serious writer, or one who finishes and publishes things, was much more recent. When I was about to turn 42, I hit a bit of a crisis moment. For some people, it’s turning 30 or 50, but for me it was 42, probably because I believed Douglas Adams when he wrote that 42 was the answer to life, the universe, and everything. I told myself it was time to either give this writing thing a serious shot or to stop kidding myself. That’s when I took on a daily writing habit using the Magic Spreadsheet as a gamification and motivational tool. It made all the difference. My production skyrocketed, and I began to finish, polish and submit my work. Two years later, I signed my first book contract!
I’ve been influenced by many of the authors I read, but really the most influential writers in my life are the ones I know personally. The members of my critique group are wonderfully critical readers who hold me to high standards and my writing is the better for it. I’m grateful for their voices of reason every time I’m in danger of falling down another rabbit hole.
How would you describe the genre of you?
I’ve written pieces that can be classified in a lot of different genres: traditional poetry, free verse, nonfiction essay, science fiction, fantasy, women’s fiction, literary fiction, stream-of-consciousness, memoir, etc. What they all seem to have in common are strong and flawed women characters and an underlying quiet feminism.
What do you enjoy to read?
I’m an omnivorous reader. Right now, for example, I’m enjoying a series of lectures about WWI as an audiobook, reading a new indie writer’s urban fantasy novel on my Kindle app on my phone, reading a women’s fiction novel in paper, and following a lot of blogs. I recently finished a historical fiction novel and a classic novel and have a great collection of short stories in my bedside TBR pile along with some new comic books. I’m open to read just about anything, though I do tend to fall in love with speculative fiction more often than any other kind. My consistent favorite authors of recent years have been Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman.
Is there a particular lesson that, as a writer, you wish you had learned earlier on in your career?
That writing is work, and that, if you wait around to feel inspired to write, you’ll take a very very long time to finish anything.
You can choose any writer, living or deceased, to be a beta reader for your next book. Who do you choose, and why?
Neil Gaiman. From what I’ve seen of him in public media and that one time I got to hear him speak, he is insightful and kind, two qualities I look for in a great beta reader. I think, if he chose to take on the task, he would do so with a heart to help me grow as a writer.
Tell us a little about your latest release. Where can your readers find the book, if they are interested?
Going Through the Change: A Menopausal Superhero Novel came out in April from Curiosity Quills Press. You can find the Kindle and paper editions on amazon at http://bitly.com/face-the-change . The Kindle edition will be free on August 5th and 6th as part of a BookBub promotion, so the price is right! The paper edition is also available on the Barnes & Noble website and most bookstores should be able to order it for you. If none of that works, contact me directly and I’ll make sure you get a copy if you want one!
Like the title suggests, Change is a superhero novel, featuring menopausal women. I wanted to write a book with heroes I could more directly empathize with: grown women with jobs, families, and issues of their own; people with history and established lives who have to face something new and life-changing. I had a great deal of fun writing it (and the sequel, which I’m hoping will be out next year!).
Is there anything you can tell us about current projects you are working on?
I’ve got a few irons in the fire right now. I’m working on the second book in a trilogy of historical fiction stories. The first book is called Cold Spring and is with an acquisitions editor right now, so maybe I’ll be able to announce its release soon! It’s a tale of two sisters living through the chaotic and changing years of the early 20th century. The second book will pick up between the world wars, so I’m in heavy research mode right now, correcting my woefully poor education about American life in this era. I’m also playing with a middle grades novel about a thirteen-year-old girl who studies witchcraft like science. It’s called Rat Jones and the Lacrosse Zombies.
Is there a genre which you have not written in that you have an interest in trying?
I’ve always had a love of fairy tale, and I’d love to try writing one of my own sometime. I enjoy those back door, revisionist fairy tale stories like the ones Gregory Maguire writes, and new takes on old tropes like Stardust and Ella Enchanted.
Finally, what advice would you have for younger writers, interested in getting into the industry?
Making a living at writing is no small feat. So, plan on supporting your needs with other means, too. A variety of life experience serves your life of words beautifully, so all those other jobs you’ll have to take to meet rent aren’t wasted time: they are research!
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Going Through the Change is going through a change in price for a couple of days in early August. On August 5th and 6th you can get the Kindle edition for free on Amazon. Check it out at: http://bitly.com/face-the-change
Samantha Bryant is a middle school Spanish teacher by day and a mom and novelist by night. That makes her a superhero all the time. Her debut novel, Going Through the Change: A Menopausal Superhero Novel is now for sale by Curiosity Quills. You can find her online on her blog, Twitter, on Facebook, on Amazon, on Goodreads, on the Curiosity Quills page, or on Google+.
