About Samantha Goodwin:
Samantha Goodwin has written professionally for her business career as a Chartered Marketing Manager for over a decade before turning her hand to fiction. As an avid crime fiction fan, she regularly participates in the renowned Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate and completed their prestigious Crime Writing Creative Workshop. She also relishes attending literature festivals across the country as well as engaging in numerous online writing communities.
Keen to support upcoming authors, Samantha recently launched the #IndieWritingWisdom initiative on Instagram to collate and share inspiring, original quotes from a wide range of different writers to encourage others.
When she is not writing, Samantha enjoys reading, countryside walks, movies, musicals and almost all chocolate (but controversially not Oreos). She lives in Leeds with her husband, Chris, and son, Jack.
Murder at Macbeth is her first novel and was longlisted for the international Flash 500 Novel Award. She invites readers to join her World Book Tour on Instagram by sharing photos of them reading Murder at Macbeth from where they live or travel and she will repost.
What inspires you to write?
I’ve always written stories, ever since I was about 5 years old. I find it to be a really positive creative outlet, it makes me feel so alive! Murder at Macbeth is my first full-length novel, before that I mainly focused on short stories and poems.
I’ve always wanted to write a book and it was my husband, Chris, who finally convinced me that I could do it.
Tell us about your writing process.
I always start with a rough one-page outline that details the overall story arc and then from there on I tend to go with the flow and let the story grow naturally. I definitely find the beginnings the hardest, so much so that I actually wrote my novel out of linear order and finished the second half first which was much more exciting to create as there are lots of twists and turns and unexpected revelations. Then I backtracked to write the beginning to set the scene.
Also I handwrite everything as I find my ideas flow better! It’s great because it means I can write anywhere, my favourite location is outside on those rare sunny English days. It is however, not the most time-efficient way of writing as then I have to spend time typing everything up as I go along and start editing!
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Absolutely! I always develop all my characters’ dialogue by talking aloud to myself – which my husband finds hilarious! I think it’s really important to enter the mindset of each character and consider how they would speak – verbalising that helps me to better describe their interactions in writing. I take it to the next level too and make a music playlist for each character to help bring them to life.
What advice would you give other writers?
Believe in yourself, and surround yourself with positive people who will spur you on. Writing groups and online communities are great for when you need advice. I started my author Instagram account quite late during the editing process after I had already finished writing the bulk of my novel and I wish I had connected with other like-minded authors earlier on as I have found them incredibly inspirational.
Also don’t worry about getting it right first time. One of my favourite writing quotes is from Shannon Hale who said, “I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shovelling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.”
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I decided to go down the indie author route and published my books through Amazon KDP. I loved having compete creative control of every aspect of the book and it was important to me to do everything to my own timescale because I recently became a new mum, so was having to balance everything around looking after my new baby! I love being an indie author, but the best advice I can give to others is to ensure that you pursue quality in all that you do. I worked closely with an editor, proof reader and a graphic designer, in addition to a fantastic team of beta readers, and found all their input so valuable.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think it will continue to gradually become more digital, with a growing emphasis on ebooks and subscription services such as Kindle Unlimited. The great thing about that is it is very much a global marketplace, which is a fantastic way for readers to discover more books from different authors. I’ve already been amazed how my book, Murder at Macbeth, has been read by book bloggers and readers all over the world!
What genres do you write?: Crime Mystery
What formats are your books in?: eBook, Print, Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Samantha Goodwin Home Page Link
Link To Samantha Goodwin Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Instagram
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
