Welcome to my stop on the Strangers on a Train Tour!
I am so happy to welcome author extraordinaire, Samantha Hunter. I loved her book Tight Quarters and I know you will too!
Samantha!
We are absolutely delighted to welcome you here today!
Thank
you! I’ve been looking forward to it, too!
Congratulations
on the release of your newest novel. I absolutely loved every story!
Such a neat concept and you have very great company within the
anthology.
I
had AMAZING company – all of the books are so different, and yet I
love them all. I’m so glad you do, too. :)
Can
you tell us how the stories evolved?
It
was one of those Twitter miracles you hear about now and then. ;)
We’re hoping it will bring in as much money as the Veronica Mars
Kickstarter campaign. ;)
I
kid, but truly, that would be great. :)
One
morning Ruthie was tweeting about a Tumblr blog that she’d seen
showing pictures of guys on trains. I clicked the link. It was the
first time I’d ever seen that kind of thing, a photo blog (I
haven’t been on Tumblr much) and I popped out a tweet about how
inspiring it was for books. Sort of joking, I brainstormed a quick
suspense storyline. Ruthie brainstormed back, and then Donna Cummings
joined in the conversation, and soon things went to DM (direct
message) and email, and within a day or two, we got Serena Bell and
Meg Maguire on board (so to speak!) and that was that. A series was
born. It was really just that fast and easy.
How closely did you work with the other authors in the anthology?
We
all worked separately on our own ideas (Ruthie was lightning fast
that I recall; she had hers written before any of the rest of us had
even started.) I was finishing a Blaze at that point, and I know Meg
and Donna were working on other things, and so we had to juggle
schedules a bit, but it caused no problems at all. We set deadlines
and a basic process, and off we went. We were amazed from the start
how there was no overlap – we all came up with very different takes
on the theme.
Once
everyone had an idea of their stories, we shared synopses and
thoughts, and we all adjusted based on each other’s feedback. I
really did hope to do a mini-suspense plot, but there just isn’t
room in that short of a story, so I came up with another idea that
ended up being TIGHT QUARTERS.
Then
we all shared drafts and manuscripts, garnered as much feedback as we
could, and Ruthie offered us all with a final copyedit and formatted
the manuscripts before they went to Anne Scott at Samhain. It was a
very easy, cooperative process, and one of the best group writing
experiences I’ve had. I think the books were all the better for it
as well – I wish I could talk them into working on all of my books
with me this way. ;)
So
tell us honestly....have you ever had a romance on a train?
Alas,
I’ve been on very few trains except for city subways, and sad to
say, I’ve never had a romance on a train. I think trains are very
romantic though, even just hearing the whistles as they speed down
the track.
Probably
the closest I’ve come to a romantic moment on a train (kind of), is
when my husband and I were in San Francisco on a trolley and we had
one of those classic moments where the car goes up a steep hill and I
teetered backwards. He caught me and stole a kiss. It was very sweet
and felt like one of those post card moments. Does that count? ;)
Working
in a library, I’m always interested in an author's thoughts on
libraries. Do you have any fond memories?
I
can’t imagine the world without libraries. They’ve been a part of
my life forever. I do have a fun memory from when I was a kid, being
about 12 and sitting in the stacks of our local library reading all
of the James Bond (Iam Flemming) books, and I LOVED them. I’m
watching all the movies now, in order, and wonder if I should re-read
the books, too.
My husband and I have always belonged to all the local university libraries (where I practically lived as a grad student), and we just rejoined our local community library as well.
It really helped us feel like members of our community! Go Librarians! :)
Maybe
we have to do a series based in libraries next? Strangers in the
Library? ;) We’ll have to see. All kinds of things could happen in
libraries. . . .
I am all for a Strangers in the Library anthology!
Interested in Samantha's fantastic story and the others in the Strangers on a Train anthology? Check out the following links...
Author links
Meg
Maguire on Twitter / Meg
Maguire on Goodreads
Are you ready to win??
Samantha has graciously offered a copy of her new book and a $10 gift card.
Comment with your e-mail!
Winners will be picked April 8th
Comment with your e-mail!
Winners will be picked April 8th
Great Interview! Really enjoyed this series.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great review, and for having me by today. I'll be around now and then to answer any other questions folks might have :)
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks to The Raunch Dilettante for stopping by, too :)
Hello Samantha!! :)
ReplyDeleteDo you have any future plans for writing another anthology with the girls?
I can't wait to get my hands on this one!! :) Sounds like a great group of stories.
ReplyDeleteromancebookluvr AT gmail *d8t* c0m
Hi again!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah -- Thanks for stopping by :)
We don't have any plans, unfortunately -- we have joked about more "transportation" books, but I suspect this was a one-time thing. Of course, you never know. :)
Right now, we're all in the middle of several writing contracts, and so forth, so it would be tough to coordinate, but I'm glad we managed to do it this time. :)
Sam
Great interview! Love the trolley story, Sam! And right back atcha about the collaboration & the company. I couldn't feel luckier.
ReplyDeleteHey there -- just speeding through on my lunch break, but I wanted to say this is a wonderful interview. I loved the group process too, and feel so lucky that I was on Twitter that day. :) Now that Strangers in a Library idea has started to take root in my brain. LOL
ReplyDeleteDonna
Oops, my first attempt at commenting didn't work. Let's try this again!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great interview, and I loved the group process--I'm so glad I was on Twitter that day! And now that Strangers in a Library idea is sounding pretty intriguing too. LOL
Donna
I love the story of the stolen kiss on the teetering trolley -- and am crossing my fingers for a chance to win a copy of the book. :)
ReplyDeleteMorning Connie -- now you guys have me thinking I need to write a trolley story. ;) I actually have a book set in San Fransisco using research from that trip we took, lots of the places we visited in the area are in the book (YOURS FOR THE NIGHT), and I never did put those two on a trolley... just hit me. LOL Oh well. :)
ReplyDeleteSam
I love the idea of this series, but then I've always been a fan of trains.
ReplyDeleteStevie, do you ride a lot of trains? Any interesting stories? ;)
ReplyDeleteSam
I love your inspiration story! And I kind of want to see the Tumblr page!
ReplyDelete