New Dawn, New Day, New Life (An Intro)

Hi hi!

We're nearly three months into 2013, and a lot has changed. For one, I've changed my pen name. Samantha Anne will be the name under which I publish all my works from here on in. Second, I'm gleefully anticipating the release of my first romance novel, titled Kirby. Thanks to Crimson Romance (an imprint of F&W Media), the world will be able to read a story that was, literally, a decade in the making.

Kirby began as an unfinished screenplay from 2002 that had been sitting in a giant blue bin; comprised of notes, character sheets and random scenes, I thought for sure that the project would never see the light of day. I dusted it off late last year, the story having come to mind when the annual 'So You Think You Can Write' competition came around. After a few changes in plot and characters, I converted the entire packet of paper into a 58,000 word manuscript in just 12 days. The Harlequin contest tested my abilities as a writer, and certainly made me more confident in my storytelling abilities! Kirby didn't make it past the first round, but I wasn't about to be deterred.

Crimson Romance flew into my radar in December and I decided that, after the contest was over, I'd make a couple of tweaks and submit a query letter. The rest, as they say, is history. It feels like it all happened so fast; needless to say, it's been an amazing experience. I'm thankful every day that I remained brave enough to take a chance on my baby, the story that I once thought would never make it to the masses.

Here I am, embarking on a new chapter of my writing 'career'; I'm now learning the ups and downs of publishing, and the need for hard work and consistent promotion! I've already met a few amazing writers with such terrific attitudes - I'm looking forward to being a part of this great community of creative minds and I intend to make contact with everyone, despite how long it may take! So I end this with a quick message to my fellow writers and the readers I've yet to meet and love:

Writers - please feel free to contact me; I would love to support your work and help you out with an honest review and a guest spot on my blog.

Readers - Always, always shoot me a message! If you'd like to offer an opinion or just say hi - I'd love to hear from you!

Stay Creative, ya'll - it's the only way to make it through this insane world.

xo,
Samantha