Samantha Bryant is a master
at balancing her busy lifestyle. Using her feminine superpowers she makes
teaching middle-school Spanish, raising a family, writing novels and finding
lost things look easy.
Samantha is a winner of the 2016 Jacquis
Award from Legendary Women for her novel, Going Through The Change.
When she's not writing she enjoys watching old movies, baking, reading, and
going places. She lives in North Carolina with her family.
Now that I've introduced you to
Samantha let's get to know her a little better.
Hello,
Samantha, welcome to Lemon Drop Literary. Thank you for agreeing to do this
interview.
Thank you
for having me.
Why did
you become a teacher?
I have a
helping heart and learning new things is my idea of a good time. I also truly
enjoyed school when I was a child. So, it seemed a natural choice to choose to
teach as a career.
Though
it’s been a hard row to hoe sometimes (emotionally and financially), it’s also
been a joy and inspiration and gives me a feeling of purpose. Knowing I have an
impact and make a difference in this world is important to my well-being.
What
grade do you teach?
Currently,
I’m teaching sixth through eighth grade Spanish. Across my twenty-three years
in the classroom, I’ve taught a range of Spanish and English classes, as well
as computers, theater, and even music to people in middle school, high school,
and college.
I’m also
offering creative writing workshops and classes through a local community
college from time to time.
How has
your teaching experience influenced your writing?
I’ve been
able to parlay teaching into a variety of opportunities. It’s given me the
chance to live, teach, and study in some great places: Alaska, Vermont,
Kentucky, Kansas, Spain, England, and North Carolina. All these different
settings feed my creativity and imagination.
Teaching
has also put me in contact with a lot of different people from backgrounds that
differ from my own. Kids tell you everything so teaching is full of
writing fodder.
Spending
time with young people exposes me to new music, media, games, and obsessions
all the time.
Some of my
classroom skills have proven useful in building a writing life as well. I know
how to present publicly, so things like giving talks, taking part in panels,
running workshops, or giving a reading were easier for me than for some of my
writing colleagues who had different day jobs.
Teaching
has also allowed me a great deal of autonomy. I’m used to planning out my own
agenda and schedule and can be very productive even though no one is checking
on my progress. That’s been really important for the phases of the writing
process where it’s just me and my computer.
What
inspired you to become a writer?
I came to
writing through reading. Even before I could read, I was in love with story and
the sounds of language. My mother and I lived at the library when I was little
and read together all the time.
When I was
in first grade, my teacher had us copy famous poems as a handwriting exercise.
It was when I first encountered Emily Dickinson, William Wordsworth, and Robert
Frost.
Mrs.
Alsdorf could see how excited I was by the language, and one day, she leaned
down next to my desk and said something like, “You know, you could write poems
yourself, if you wanted to.”
I thought
this was a marvelous idea, and I’ve been writing ever since. I write more
novels than poetry these days, but I write every single day.
Which
genres do you write?
My
published novels are all part of a single series: The Menopausal Superhero
Series.
These novels are a hybrid of superhero fantasy and women’s fiction.
Going Through the Change, Change of Life, and Face the Change
might best be described as drama-dy because they intermix serious drama with
levity.
However, in
varying degrees of completion, I have a women’s issues fiction novel, a middle
grade urban fantasy, and the first in a women’s historical fiction trilogy.
I’m currently writing a near-future young adult dystopian romance and plan for
my next book to be a gothic romance.
Among my short stories, you’ll find science fiction, literary fiction, ghost
stories, fantasy, and horror.
I’m open to reading and writing a variety of genres and am attracted to many
kinds of stories. I’m in this for the long haul, and plan to pursue a wide
variety of characters through their trials and travails.
What do you
find most challenging writing for these genres?
In writing
superhero fiction, the challenge lies in finding the right balance between
character development and action and adventure, though that might be said of a
lot of genres.
When my work is
at its most effective, readers are drawn in by exciting superheroic fights, but
stay because they are invested in the characters and care about what happens to
them.
What are you
working on now?
My work in
progress is a new novel, working title Thursday’s Children. It’s young
adult dystopian romance and started out as a novella I intended to include in a
book bundle with some author friends.
I love trying out new genres and was
excited to write something aimed at the age group I teach.
I wasn’t able to
keep the story small enough for a novella, though, so here I am several months
later, hoping to finish the first draft by spring of 2019.
My three main
characters Kye’luh Wade, Malcolm Singletary, and Jason Berger are smart, strong
capable kids and I’m loving writing their story.
The
novel takes place in a near future in which a shadowy governmental agency
called the EBC (Ethical Behavior Committee) has been making “troublemakers”
disappear and taking the affected children into educational centers.
When
sixteen-year-old track star Kye’luh Wade and her cousins escape the system and
run off to their survivalist grandfather’s mountain hideaway, they must decide
whether to cower and survive or take on the system and make a difference.
How many
books have you written?
Three are
published. Three others have complete drafts on my hard drive. Two others have
incomplete drafts on my hard drive.
Another exists only in notes and in my
heart. Yet another lies abandoned on my hard drive. I’m also in the middle of a
nonfiction book with a partner-writer.
So, I think I
would count six of those as books I “have written” and three as ones I “am
writing.”
Who knows what the others will become? Not bad when you consider that
I didn’t take it seriously until I turned 42.
What has
been your most rewarding experience since publishing your work?
I’ve been so
fortunate to find support and advice from writers whose careers are more
established than mine. I take great joy in passing this knowledge on to others.
When I teach
creative writing classes, take part on panels, judge contests, or just have a
good conversation with beginning writers, I am so pleased to offer help and
encouragement to others. It feels like a circle of life in that way.
What advice
would you give to authors just starting out?
There is no
“magic bullet.” There’s no right way or wrong way to go about this. There is
only the way that works for you.
Building a writing life will involve a bit of
trial and error, but it’s worth it for the fulfillment of a dream. Stay the
course!
What message
are you sharing in your books?
The
Menopausal Superhero Series isn’t a message-preaching sort of book, but it does have a lot to say
about friendship among women and about issues surrounding aging.
I dedicated the
first book to “any woman who has ever felt betrayed by her own body.”
I hope
that other women recognize their own feelings and experiences in the pages of
my books and find comfort by the images in that mirror.
When you not
writing where can we find you?
Though I love
to travel, I’ve been more of a homebody these past few years. Children turned
out to be a very expensive proposition!
I wouldn’t trade mine for the world,
but it has kept me in a closer orbit in this phase of life.
I find a lot of
close to home joys in long walks in the woods and by the river with my dog and
in attending as many cultural events as my pocketbook allows.
I’m a huge fan of
the Retro series at the Carolina theater, and my husband and I see at least one
live performance of something by Shakespeare every year.
I always say my
favorite gift is tickets—to almost anything!
What are
your favorite books/authors?
I’ve been on a
Shirley Jackson kick lately, revisiting The Haunting of Hill House and We
Have Always Lived in the Castle, and taking on some of her works I hadn‘t
read.
I read classics and contemporary novels alongside a fair amount of
nonfiction. I’m attracted to character-driven work, but I also love an
intriguing setting.
I review nearly
everything I read on Goodreads and would love to connect
with you there!
What are
your favorite TV shows/movies?
I’m chronically
behind on television. There are not enough hours in the day to hold down my day
job, create all the things, and read and watch all the things!
I am an old movie buff, and many of my Hollywood crushes are on people who died
before I was born, like Humphrey Bogart and Gary Cooper.
The Quiet Man
is one of my favorite movies of all time.
I do enjoy a
good superhero movie or show, so am trying to catch up on all the newest DC and
Marvel creations out there. A goodly amount of my television time is spent with
my family.
The youngest and I just finished She-Ra: Princesses of Power, which was
great fun! The eldest and I watched The Haunting of Hill House which
somehow was nothing like the book, and exactly like the book at the same time.
The husband and I recently watched Altered Carbon, which was
mind-blowing.
Is there
anything else you'd like your readers to know about you?
I have the best
and most supportive family. I’d never have been able to make a go of this whole
“writing thing” without their love and encouragement and work.
Do you have
a website/Facebook page?
Are you
kidding? Social media is so much fun! I LOVE being a twenty-first century girl,
with the entire world at my fingertips.
I dabble in a
variety of formats, so there’s a good chance we have at least one in common.
Here’s my stack of current links:
Where can we
find your books?
My Amazon page is probably the easiest way to access them though
many of my publications are also available by request at your favorite indie or
big box bookstore.
You can also subscribe to my newsletter for
updates on my public appearances and new releases (I promise: no more than one
newsletter per month).
Thank
you, Samantha, for spending time with us and sharing your story. We wish you
continued success and lots of luck!
