Interview with Samantha Young

Hey all you readers and writers! Emma Michaels here to introduce our guest author of the day:

Samantha Young!

Hello Samantha and welcome to The Writers Voice!

Have you ever cut a scene out of one of your novels that you wanted to keep? Why did you do it? Can you tell us about it?

I haven’t ever cut out an entire scene but I have diluted a scene. There’s a particularly dark scene near the end of Slumber – it’s violent and disturbing and the content is definitely more mature young adult/adult. I spent a lot of time editing this scene because the first attempt couldn’t be marketed as young adult, it was too graphic. Sometimes I get carried away in the moment :-s

What was the trigger for your last novel? Your aha moment that sprouted its idea?

I was actually looking to write a series with a refreshing take on the paranormal and I thought to myself “Jinn!” As far as I’m aware no one in young adult has touched on Jinn, and by that I mean the real legends of the Jinn. So I bought non-fiction research books on the subject and trolled through those and what I could find on the internet. I wrote down everything that could be useful. I was reading one book and it discussed a certain part of the Qur’an and I was like ‘Aha! This is my plot!!!” Fire Spirits was born not long after

Is there one novel in your life you love to re-read? Do you continue to learn from it every time you re-read it?

I have four books I’ve re-read numerous times. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera – for such a beautiful, philosophical and existential novel it’s an incredibly easy read. Schindler’s Ark (List) by Thomas Keneally – my copy is falling apart. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead – It takes my mind off of the real world. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – just had to buy a new copy, the old one is burnt out.

How do you know that your plot will hold the weight of your novel? Do you write more plots that novels then pick and choose?

I know the plot will hold the weight of the novel because I write entire chapter summaries out before I begin the actual writing of the book. I can tell in those chapter summaries if I’m just filling a weak plot with fluff and dialogue – if I am, I scrap the idea and go back to the beginning.

Is the way you structure your novels a choice or does it come to you organically?

I would say the structure of my novels come to me organically as I write out the chapter summaries. I use the basics for a first novel – intro to characters and location, but from then on anything goes

Have you ever used or gotten ideas for dialog from conversations you have overheard or had with others?

Oh definitely. If someone in my family or one of my friends makes a particularly smart ass comment that I really love I’ll say ‘ooh, can I put that in my book?’

To all our readers out there, thank you for following The Writers Voice and happy reading!