TANTALIZING TUESDAY

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SAMANTHA GAIL DANCES IN THE MOONLIGHT

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We’re pleased to welcome Samantha Gail into the Moonlight. On her website, Samantha lists bellydancing and writing romance novels as two of her favorite pastimes. She also helps eliminate poverty by assisting women throughout the world with loans from the KIVA organization.

Samantha’s novels include, Trespass of the Heart, Savior in Time, Guarding the Coast, Cherished Invader, Alliance of Passion, She Who Dares Wins, Amanda’s Glory, and Delivered in Time. Spend some time navigating her website. She has some monthly contests and other fun links.

First off, let me thank you for joining us today, Samantha! It’s a pleasure and an honor to have you here. Now, let’s get to the juicy tidbits of trivia about you:

1. Do you have a movie that you must watch every Halloween? What's your favorite scary movie? Do you have a favorite scary character or character type?

The original version of “The Thing” is a Halloween staple in our household.

My favorite scary movie is “Alien” with Sigourney Weaver - hands down the most nail-biting flick I’ve ever seen. Even knowing beforehand how the movie would end, I couldn’t believe she would make it out alive. Aliens was equally scary and one of the few movie sequels I’ve seen that was better than the original.

2. Do you have any Halloween traditions like decorating your house, having house parties, wearing costumes, etc.?

Halloween is our favorite holiday. It's all about celebrating a holiday we dearly loved as kids. The house is all spooked out. We’re all dressed up. Getting to the front door requires braving a gauntlet of ghoulish decorations. Even our pets wear costumes.

3. If you do you dress up for Halloween, what will you be dressed up as this year? What was your all-time most favorite costume that you ever wore? Why?

A belly dancer, because I’ve got so many neat costumes to wear and never enough places to wear them! My personal favorite costume was relatively simple and I’ve attached a picture of it. I was going for the Angelina Jolie look, with mongo red wax lips. What made it so fun was the effect it had on the trick-or-treaters, specifically the younger children. They stared and stared. They knew something wasn’t quite right with my face but were too entranced to say anything.


4. Are you superstitious? Do you find yourself knocking on wood or throwing salt over your shoulder? If not one of these two, what is your superstition?

I might give lip service to the phrase “knocking on wood”, but realistically I’m not superstitious in any fearful or negative way. I think that anything can be explained in a logical/scientific manner. We just don’t have the answers…yet.

5. Do you believe in ghosts? If so, have you ever had a ghostly encounter and tell us about it?

I certainly believe there’s something out there. Call it ghosts, or whatever you’d like. There was an incident when I was about fourteen. We were living in a house in Tempe, Arizona. I was awakened from sleep by the sound of soft humming. My bedroom was situated across and down the hall from my parent’s room. When I opened my eyes and focused, there was a figure floating a few feet above the ground just outside their doorway. It was shimmery white and the only real distinguishing feature was the face – male, with curly dark hair and black-rimmed eyeglasses. I remember thinking what an odd thing it was that this apparition would be wearing glasses. I was NOT dreaming. I kept watch and listened to the noise for several minutes while it slowly disappeared and never came back. I told my parents the next morning. Mom was freaked out and dad chocked it up to teenage hormonal weirdness. We found out later that day that my grandfather had died during the night.

6. Tell us 3 funny or strange things that happened to you, or someone you know, on past Halloweens.

How about one funny and strange thing combined? That would have to be the neighborhood Halloween streaker. It was darned cold outside that year. I heard a commotion, screaming kids and yelling parents. Everyone stopped in their tracks as this guy came flopping down the middle of the street. I’m sure alcohol (and maybe a dare) was involved!


7. If you could be any paranormal creature, what would it be and why?

If I had a choice, I would want to be some sort of flying creature. And I also want monstrously big, beautiful wings. Make me a faery, dragon, harpy, or anything else that has the ability to soar through the air.


Now, let’s get to your writing:

8. Why the paranormal genre? What was the draw for you?

It’s really simple the paranormal genre is rooted in fright and I LOVE being scared!

9. If you could describe your paranormal writing with a word or phrase, what would it be? Please be creative and look beyond words like vampire, werewolf, etc., and delve into the core of your writing to tell us what word or phrase you want readers to take with them when they've finished reading your story.

“A believable mix of fantasy and fact.” It’s my job to make readers fall for the paranormal elements of my story - to make them wish that the fantasy was actually fact even when it frightens the heck out of them.
10. Do you prefer playing tricks on people or bestowing treats? Does that show through in your writing? If so, how?

I’m a very generous treat giver. My life has been blessed and I enjoy passing some of that around. If you’ve ever won any of my monthly website contests, you’ll understand exactly what I mean.

11. Who decides what creatures you write about, you or your muse? What kind of influence do you have over your story, or is the muse always the one stirring the cauldron?

My muse spearheads most everything. I come along for the ride and try to keep her out of trouble. Sometimes I'm successful, sometimes not.

12. What was the creature that you had the most fun creating and why?

I’m working on him right now. Ronan Tiernay is a ghost who died in 62AD during Queen Boudicca’s uprising against the Romans. This story is a collaborative effort with Keta Diablo (we write under the name of Shevaun Basque) and it’s been an absolute blast. Even the research is joyous! The entire process has opened up a part of my brain that has lain dormant since those magical college years.

13. If you had the opportunity to meet just one of your characters in real life, who would it be and why? Which of your characters would you never want to meet under any circumstance and why?

Garth Treece from Cherished Invader. Of all the heroes I’ve scribed, he’s the one who gives me total body shivers, the embodiment of all the traits I adore in a man.

The character(s) I would never want to meet would be any of the Kesh'twa race. They're beyond redemption. Their treatment of all things living goes against every fundamental rule of conduct and morality I live by. Best to stay far, far away from them!

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Amanda’s Glory
Book Three of the FORESTAL series
Extraordinary women tasked with the impossible

EXCERPT:

She sagged against the chair, head back. “Michael, do you remember when Ian briefed Glory’s senior staff shortly after we were all assembled and onboard?”

“Of course.”

Amanda bit down on her lip. “I picked up something from him.”

“It better not be contagious.”

“Possibly worse. He came across as haughty and confident, but I sensed something underneath the façade. An essence permeating far beyond the physical or non-verbal.”

“Are you saying that you read his mind?”

Amanda fidgeted. “I’m saying that he is only mind.”

“What?”

“I mean that he is not human, humanoid, or anything we’d traditionally think of as flesh and blood.”

Michael’s face creased in a frown.

“He’s powerful. His body is a front, a construct for blending in. Ian is some kind of energy on a level I can’t even begin to understand.”

"Malevolent?"

"Not at all."

Michael arched a dark eyebrow. “He's been watching our backs for a long time.”

Amanda felt as though she'd been cored like an apple. “Longer than most would imagine. And if he’s secretly worried that we might lose this war, how can I be expected to believe anything different?”

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~~Samantha will be giving away an autographed copy of GUARDING THE COAST, so be sure to leave her a comment and be entered for a chance to win!~~