#Authorpalooza2010 Day Guest Author: Samantha Hunter

Herrrrrreeeee's Samantha!!! I am soo thrilled to have Samantha Hunter here! She's one awesome writer and I can be just like one those squealing Rob fan girls if I ever met her in person. (Can't believe I just said that.) V runs away and hides in embarrassment never to be heard from again.

Check out what makes Samantha Hunter tick and enter for a chance to win one of her books!

1. How long have you been writing?

I have only been writing romance fiction for 6 years, but I have been writing in one form or another pretty much since I could hold a pencil or use a typewriter. :)

2. How thrilled were you when you heard your first book was going to be published?

I was very excited, of course, and even more so because it was literally my first book -- the first one I had written ever, submitted and it sold. So it can happen, and when it does, it's pretty thrilling. :)

3. What's one day in the life of Samantha Hunter like?

It really depends on the day. *G* I almost never get out of bed before 730 but rarely later than 830, and I never miss breakfast. I have to walk my dogs and take care of our animals (with my husband, of course), and I usually take care of online things and my freelance work in the mornings, and write later in the morning or afternoon, though in truth it's different all the time. Sometimes I write first thing in the morning, sometimes not until dinner. About the only standard things in my day are breakfast, lunch, dinner, and walking the dogs, LOL. Oh, yeah, and writing. *G* I try to work out and shower in the late afternoon, before dinner, and that usually marks the end of my workday, though once in a rare while I will write in the evening. Then, the evenings are almost always reserved for TV -- I love TV and watch a lot of shows I won't miss, but we also have TiVo, so we can watch whenever. Then, read before bed, and lights out.

4. Do you have a current project you’re working on or something you plan to begin soon?

Always -- usually most writers I know have several projects going at once (the only way to keep books on the shelf) and I'm no exception. Right now, I have two Spring releases, a March Blazing Bedtime Stories, and my May book, MAKE YOUR MOVE. I am finishing up the December Blaze, and working on 3-4 proposals for 2011 books. I have a few of my own books I want to put up on Kindle, and I have a paranormal my agent has been shopping to publishers, and some ideas for new single title books I might get to soon. So there's always enough to do. :)

5. In your opinion, what is the most difficult part of being a published author?

Waiting. Honestly, you wait for everything, and nothing is predictable. Unpublished writers think that the waiting gets better after they sell, and I hate to say, it really doesn't. Waiting is part of the job (which is why you stack up a lot of work so you can be busy while you are waiting on everything else). The most predictable thing is that royalties come 2 times a year, but even then, you have no idea how much they will be. You wait on submissions, wait on editing, wait on being paid, wait often, for very long times (often many months), on things that are ultimately rejected, and wait for just about everything. I am not a totally patient person, so this has been a tough thing for me, and I think it is for most writers, because often you feel you can't move on to new things, or you can't know what your upcoming year will look like, or you don't know if you can afford something until you actually see the check. I can handle reviews, rejections, tough books, etc -- but the waiting never seems to get easier, not really.

6. What’s the most rewarding?

When readers drop me an email or tell me how much they enjoyed a book -- that's hands down the best part. That, and getting a really good cover. :)

7. If you could co-author a book with any of your fellow authors or anyone from anywhere, who would you choose and why?

Wow, that's a hard one, maybe because there are too many I could choose. Right now, maybe Richard Castle (what? You didn't say they had to be real, and he does have a book out.) *G*

8. Describe your writing process.

I really just sit down and start to write. I like to get into the chapters before I have a synopsis, and because of some odd circumstances, I just wrote a book that didn't even have a synopsis, and I loved that. I tend to polish as I go -- I don't move on until I feel what I have is absolutely as I need it to be, and I like to hand my editor what I consider to be a very polished, not rough, draft. I have a pretty solid work ethic, I work every day, but I am pretty unstructured -- I have a loose plan, I know the characters and the basic situation when I sit down, but I don't use outlines, worksheets, or any of that. I like to stay flexible and my writing process is mainly a process of always thinking about the character, and what makes sense for them, and always asking what they would do next. Then I just write, and see where it goes.

9. What is the most interesting place you’ve ever visited?

I love to travel and see things, and so most places are interesting to me in one way or another, but I would have to say the Anza-Borrego desert -- it was a place I didn't expect to like, and ended up loving.

10. What can we expect to see from you in the near future?

Right now, I know of my Christmas Blaze, which is yet untitled, and in July 2011, I will have a 24 Hours: Blackout Blaze on the shelf as well. I have other proposals in, and other things on the calendar, but nothing firm yet. I will have a new Kindle book up, the follow-up story to my first book, sometime in April. This is the story of Gwen, the secondary char in Virtually Perfect. If my paranormals sell, you'll hear about when those might be on the shelf, or you will see them on Kindle or maybe with an e-pub. So, there are a bunch of things coming, you can catch updates at:

my blog (http://samanthahunter.wordpress.com/)

and my website (http://www.samanthahunter)

Samantha Is going to give one lucky commenter (US resident) a chance to win one her books and special surprise goodies as well.

To enter just comment below with links of your tweets (use hashtag #Authorpalooza2010) including link of this post, or share on facebook, myspace, blog or any other social network sites.

And answer either one of the following question(s)

If they made a movie of your life... which actor or actress would you love to see playing you in the movie?

And who would you love to see play your significant other in the movie?