Interview with Author Samantha Cade

The author spotlight shines on one whose novel, Assassin in My Bed is set to release next week on August 15th. Today, EA: Creatively Creative sits down with author Samantha Cade.

EA: Congratulations on your upcoming release next week. Assassin in My Bed is a very intriguing title. The name alone should draw readers. What is the concept of it?

SC: The concept is quite simple: A hired assassin and his target fall in love. With romance, I like to concoct situations where the two main characters have to fight high stakes, life or death obstacles to be together. It begs the question, how far will two people go for love when they know they’re destined to be together?

EA: What motivated you to write it?

SC: With every book I write, my main goal is to entertain the reader. As a reader myself, I look for stories that keep me compelled, guessing, and up all hours of the night turning pages. With Assassin In My Bed, I loaded the plot with twists and turns, surprises, and, of course, steamy romance. My hope is to give the reader an engaging, satisfying experience from beginning to end.

EA: Who, if any, were your influences to becoming a writer?

SC: I’ve always loved to read, and have admired many authors over the years. But the person who gave me an appreciation for storytelling is my mother. She has an innate ability for picking out structure, and knows what makes a story tick. Instead of reading bed time stories to me, she’d recount the plots of movies like E.T., Star Wars, or Jaws. In these condensed plots, she’d hit all the major story beats, and include just enough detail to make the events compelling. That early education has been very helpful in designing my own plots.

EA: Would you say that writing a novel is easy?

SC: No. It’s very difficult, from start to finish. I anguish over concept, to outline, to the words themselves. But if it was easy, I wouldn’t love it as much. I know I’ll truly never master storytelling, and to me, that’s just so beautiful. I’ll always find something new to learn. It’s a lifelong pursuit that will never cease to be exciting.

EA: Aside from Romance, are there other genres that you write about or would like to write?

SC: I love science fiction, specially hard Sci-Fi that’s grounded in reality. I think the Netflix show, Black Mirror, does this incredibly well. Imagining technology of the future, or near future, is a very interesting prospect to me, and I’d like to try it someday.

EA: What's next for Samantha Cade? What is your primary vision as an author?

SC: For my readers, I’d like for the name Samantha Cade to be a name they can trust. When they pick up one of my books, they’ll know they’re in for a high quality story with characters they can root for.

EA: What's your advice for aspiring authors?

SC: First thing’s first, write your butt off. That’s the only way you’ll get good at what you do. Train yourself to be able to write for long periods of time. Have a daily word count goal, and increase it incrementally. Writing requires tremendous mental exertion, and no one is going to have the stamina right away. You have to train yourself, just like you would for running a marathon.

Find someone you trust to read your work. Make sure they will be honest with you and not just tell you you're a genius. Develop a thick skin, and remember, negative feedback is the most helpful.

Oh yeah, and don’t wait for the muse to show up. Get your butt in the chair, and TRACK HER DOWN yourself.

EA: Finally, tell readers why Assassin in My Bed will be a must buy.

SC: Assassin In My Bed is a toe-curling, heart-pumping book of romantic suspense that will keep you guessing until the very end. It’s also hot, hot, hot!

Epilogue

Writing does require a mental discipline because it's very easy to get side-tracked by other distractions. You have to stay focused. Having a daily word count goal isn't a bad idea, either. I say even if it's 5, 10, or 15 minutes a day, get something down on paper or the computer. If you stick with it, you'll be amazed how it will eventually add up.

To me, it's similar to collecting coins or putting a certain amount of money on the side. Some quarters here and there, or putting away five dollars a week, if you consistently do this, eventually you will be stacking.

As I said before, the title alone (Assassin in My Bed) is intriguing enough to draw readers. I've always been kind of a sucker for assassin stories, and they tie right into the genres I usually write, whether it's Crime, Drama, Suspense, or Action/Adventure. I'm very tempted to give this book a try, just off the name alone.

I would like to thank Samantha for speaking with me. For information on Samantha, and her novels, you can visit her website at https://scaderomance.com. Here's other ways you can keep in touch with Samantha:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaCadeRomance/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/scaderomance
Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/cOvthr