I was contacted by Samantha Bates, asking me if I wanted to read the third installment on her Silver Series and as u can see I said hell yeah!!!
So I read the book and asked Sam If she was willing to be interviewed by my inexperienced self and she said yes!!!!! So here is the interview
Tell us something about your self
Well let me try and make myself seem interesting. I have three wonderful albeit sometimes crazy daughters; they are very funny and sweet, yet at times they drive me insane. I have been happily married for twelve years and yes I do know that if I had murdered someone I would have had time off for good behavior and would by now be free. In fairness I am not sure how my husband has not only put up with me, but has also remained supportive.
In addition to the writing I also have a fulltime job, I am a practicing child protection Social Worker which means that most of my day is serious and intensive. That being said I love my work and never cease to be amazed at how interesting each day is.
When and why did you begin writing?
In March my family and I faced a huge change, when we moved from the UK to Australia. The lifestyle here is very different to what I have been used to, the pressures very different. For the first time in a long time I had time to do something I wanted, something I enjoyed.
I started writing my first book seriously in March, although I toyed with several ideas for about 6 months before that.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I have always been a day dreamer and thought maybe I could do something with this.
I have read across many genres and although I have enjoyed most of them I always return to romance. Paranormal Romance is a genre I only really started reading about 2 years ago. I love the freedom this genre gives; you have the chance to really use your imagination.
When I first decided to write a book I knew I wanted it to be a paranormal romance, but I was so conscious of other peoples work and really didn’t want to duplicate it. There are so many good books out there I wanted to do something a little different. I have had so much fun; it’s been an amazing experience.
How did you come up with the title?
Rather than start with vampires I wanted to start the series with wolves, they are big and strong animals, yet look sweet and adorable. When I think of wolf shifters, I automatically think of gorgeous, huge, sexy and strong characters. I love a strong male.
When I picture a wolf in my head, the image is sleek and silver, hence The Silver wolf pack. The strongest in the pack is always the Alpha, and the result SILVERS ALPHA.
Who designed the covers?
For me the covers were hard and to be honest I am still not completely satisfied with them, I have now changed them several times. I wanted the whole book to be my own creation but things like Copyrights, formatting, Photoshop and gimp just make my brain explode. However I don’t give up and am determined that one day (possibly before I retire) I will create a professional completely original cover.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
I don’t know if there is a message as such, I just love a happily ever after. I have read some fantastic novels with sad endings, Nicholas Sparks comes to mind. Although I enjoy them I always have to follow with a novel that is guaranteed to have a happy ending.
I also like the notion that good triumphs evil, an order in the world and what doesn’t break us makes us stronger. I hope my novels portray this.
What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Oh god, that easy, remembering descriptions and minor characters. I started with the main characters and introduced others throughout, but later on I would forget their names or add different descriptions. By the time I started the second book I had to go back through the first and write down all of the characters and descriptions.
To make it easier I have named some of the characters after people I know, for example, the boys Ben and Lucky have are named after my nephews, one of Lucky's daughters is name after my niece, a baby born in the second book is named after my newest nephew.
I have to say I have not named any of the children after my own, mainly because these characters will eventually warrant a book of their own and writing sex scenes with characters named after my children has too much of a icky factor.
Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
The one thing I have realized is that if you want something enough you can achieve anything. I was really self-conscious about the writing and to an extent I still am, however my confidence is growing and making me feel more daring, it's very exciting.
Only yesterday I found a thread on Amazon about the Silver Series, it was really positive, I actually checked the readers profile to make sure it wasn’t a family member trying to make me feel good, I was really happy when I realized I had no idea who this person was.
What are your current projects?
Oh this is a good question, at this moment I am writing Darius' story, this involves him reflecting back on his life. There are a few interesting things about Darius we have yet to learn, in fact some of them I don’t yet know.
I have plans to continue the series, I already have some interesting ideas and characters to develop including -
* Vlad * Ice * Shaun * Mitch * Beth * Claire * May * Ellie
However I would be interested to know if readers would like to other characters to develop.
In addition to this my two youngest daughters would like me to write something for their age. My mother has asked me to write something without weird things (vampires, wolves, witches etc), what she would like is a really nice romance with no sex, not sure if I can do that; the sex is half the fun. So at some point I may need to divert for a little while.
Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
I will list some of my favorite authors, however I am not sure how new they are, in fact some aren’t. However when I look for a book I don’t really check out whether they are new, I am looking for something to grab my interest.
My favorite PNR author has to be Sherrilyn Kenyon, predominantly because of Acheron's story; her portrayal of his past was truly amazing.
Stephanie Meyer, my daughter got me into to Twilight Saga and I was well and truly hooked. This was the first PNR series I read. In addition I really enjoyed books by,
*J.R. Ward * Christine Feehan * Christina Dodds * Richelle Mead
There are many more who I will remember as soon as this is posted.
What books have most influenced your life?
I have to say the first adult books I read were Catherine Cookson and Danielle Steel, mainly because my mother collected them and I started borrowing them. Danielle Steel made me cry so much, no-one ever died in Enid Blyton books, I think I should have received counseling to prepare me for this!!!!!
Also inspirational to me was the Diary of Anne Frank, to have someone’s life documented in such an innocent format was truly amazing. I have also read many of stories people have written about their life, their suffering and their triumphs, these are truly inspiring and moving.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
I am not really sure; I think I take something new from every experience I have both in reading, writing and life.
Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about his/her work?
I tend to go through phases and genres:
Fictional crime, Jonathan Kellerman and Patricia Cornwall
The rich and Famous, Jackie Collins
Romance, Danielle Steel
Historical Romance, Catherine Cookson
YA PNR, Stephanie Myers
Children’s, Ronald Dahl, Enid Blyton
Erotica, Black Lace Books
Plays, William Shakespeare
Drama, Harper Lee
What book are you reading now?
I am not actually in the middle of reading anything at the minute; I am too busy working and then writing book 4 in the Silver Series. However I have recently read To Kill a Mocking Bird, I only read this to understand what my daughter was doing for a school project. There is a reason this book is a classic, I really enjoyed this and would recommend it.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I have no formal training in writing novels, when I started I changed the style several times. Eventually I wrote from the perspective of the two main characters. I tried focusing on one but then felt like I was cheating the other character. I hope this works well, I have recently had someone comment that they loved the writing style and hoped it continued, which I plan to.
That´s it for the interview guys, hope u check out her 3 books they´re for sale on amazon.
lets supports Indies
Thx so much for Samantha Bates for all the time she spend answering my Q´s
