Interview with Samantha Arthurs
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Samantha Arthurs is set to release the final book her Rust Series, The Way Home, with the fourth and final book releasing in April! This YA series follows the story of a young man named Alec, although he’s not always the central character in the stories.
Alec is the main thread that ties the series all together and I am completely fascinated and I can’t wait to see what happens!
HEA Novel Thoughts: What is your favorite thing to do when you aren’t wearing your author hat?
Samantha Arthurs: I’m a very voracious reader. I typically read well over a hundred books in the course of an average year, so that’s one of my favored activities. I also love to travel, when it’s safe to do so, and lately I’ve taken up hiking with my dog! I actually have two dogs, a beagle named Lord Vader and a German Shepherd named Ronan Lynch, but Ronan is the only one who likes to accompany me on those trips.
HEA: What is the most recent book to make you cry?
SA: The Brothers of Auschwitz. I read it a few weeks ago, and it gutted me. That, to me, is the sign of a truly good story though. One that can move you, and that can stir up real emotions. Not just tears, but any strong emotion.
HEA: What would you choose as your mascot/avatar/? Why?
SA: I can honestly say this is not a question I have ever had to think about before! I’ve have pondered on this for about fifteen minutes, but can’t come up with a satisfying answer. I love animals, and can see myself in a lot of different creatures. In all honesty though it would probably be something small, round, nocturnal, and kind of goofy. Like a raccoon. That’s me. A trash panda.
HEA: What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?
SA: Sometimes it can be hard to get into the right head space, just from the perspective of someone who has lived their entire life female. I was never a girly girl growing up, not even a little bit, but that doesn’t mean I have the life experiences of someone who grew up male or who identifies as male. I just have to pause and think now and then about how their emotions might present differently, or how they might FEEL that they have to be a certain way in front of others so they don’t come off as feminine. Toxic masculinity is real, it exists, and it brings a sad level of realness to certain characters in certain situations as much as it sucks.
HEA: Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
SA: I don’t hide secrets so much as I like to bring back little snippets from previous books to see if readers pick up on those things. Some are not so subtle, like how Wuthering Heights keeps showing up, but some are a little harder to recall. One of my editors actually found one of those small little Easter eggs when editing my newest release! It was a recall to the characters teenage bedroom, and it surprised me that she had even noticed something that minute!
HEA: How long on average does it take you to write a book?
SA: It honestly just depends on the nature of the story. I’ve finished a first draft in less than a week before, but other times it’s taken a couple of months. If it requires a lot of research it typically takes me longer, which I think stands to reason. Usually though once I have the idea I just run with it and it comes out pretty quickly. Polishing it up, however, takes much longer.
HEA: If you could go back and give your younger self advice, what would it be?
SA: Stop getting hung up on things I can’t control. I used to be scared that nobody would want to read what I had to say, and I always felt like I had to compete with other authors. As I got older, I realized those things just aren’t true or they don’t need to be worried about. If people choose not to read, that’s perfectly fine. I would love to share my stories with everyone, but can respect that isn’t how life works. I also have realized that I don’t have to measure up to anyone. The only person I can be is myself, and it took me a lot of years to get to that realization.
HEA: Do you have any tips or hacks that help you stay organized in life, writing or social media?
SA: Use a planner! I know that might sound silly to some, but it helps me SO MUCH. I set deadlines and goals for myself, and it helps keep track of all my word counts and what I’m aiming for. It’s also just a good way to keep track of life in general when things get busy and overwhelming. As for social media….I don’t really have any tips for that. I just try to be myself, and don’t try to present an image that isn’t real to life. I don’t want to ever come off as fake, so that’s a pretty important aspect of that for me.
HEA: Do you relate more to one of your characters than the others?
SA: I think I have a little bit of all of them inside me, so I can relate to them all on some level. I took a lot of Alec’s feelings and emotions from my own past dealings with mental health troubles and how that made me feel. Ramona is this bookish girl who has lofty dreams, and she very much got that from me. She loves words and literature and wants to be a writer, which are attributes from my own life. There’s Bryson who is struggling to find his place in the world, where we’ve all been at one point or another, and Chuck who tries so hard to be a good friend.
I could go on and on, but the long and short of it is that they are all me. In little ways, maybe, and others in really big ways. I create characters that I can identify with, in hopes that others will feel the same.
HEA: If a reader discovers your books today, where would you recommend they start reading?
SA: Definitely start with A Crooked Mile, which is the first book in the Rust Series! Book three, A Narrow Road, just came out a couple of weeks ago, and the final book will be out in April! Though to be fair, you don’t have to read them in that order necessarily. In terms of the story itself, A Narrow Road takes place BEFORE A Crooked Mile, but I personally prefer to read books in publication order. It’s a matter of preference!
