Type Cast Interview 6: Samantha Evergreen | Scott Gilmore Author

A Series of Creative Writing Blogs To Share Story Ideas And Creative Writing Inspiration From Young Authors And Poets.

Another week has come around and yet another young author/writer has contacted me about appearing in an author interview for my creative writing blog – ‘Type Cast‘. The weather in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has taken a serious turn for the worse! I am typing this blog with an electric heater to my feet and a massive jumper on.

I know I’m soft, but I don’t care!

I have also noticed that spending so much time writing as a freelance copywriter in Belfast is taking some getting used to. As a primary school teacher, I would regularly walk 10,000+ steps a day in my classroom, doing what I could to beat kids at Mental Maths games and the like. Even though I am now a trainer and workshop facilitator in Belfast, the only part of teaching that I miss is working with kids.

The sitting at a computer most of the day, in the heat (apparently) means that I am always cold! Has anyone else out there noticed this? I know I’m a thirty-five year old now, and will turn thirty-six in January, but I should not be falling apart this early in my life! Comment with your thoughts below, friends. Am I getting old?

Anyway, let’s get into the next Type Cast author interview!

This ‘cast’ of young, up-and-coming writers are people who have followed me on social media and have interested me in one way or another. Either how their social media feed is composed, their own writing or simply just being curious about their work/writing process as a fellow writer.

As authors, we are like to find things that interest us online and poke around at it to see if it is of worth to what we do in our writing. We are nosey and love to pick out nuggets of treasure from other artists’ work and see how it can be of use. I love to learn about the craft of other authors’ work to see how their process differs, or is similar to my own.

Being a teacher by profession, I love working and hearing about how young people (between the ages of 16 and mid-twenties) are driven enough to take risks and feel inspired to chase a dream. So many older people are terrified to take that step and do something that scares them. What inspires me about younger people is that their sense of achieving the impossible still burns brightly.

If you are a young writer, between 16 and 25, please follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn and ask me about the Type Cast author interview blog. I would love to hear from you! The response for this blog has been awesome and others have mailed me to say how they would like to appear and continue the series into 2020.

I will be taking a break from Type Cast from December until mid-January for Christmas and New Year. This will allow a series of new writers to contact me. Please share this blog with a young writer who you think would be interested in appearing and also share it around on social media.

One young writer who contacted me is 21-year-old Samantha Evergreen! Samantha contacted me through social media and shared a keen interest in sharing her young writer’s story with me and my followers. Read the author interview below to learn about Samantha and her work. Remember to share this blog around and check out Samantha’s Young Adult novel, Daisy Chains below.

1. When did you first realise that you wanted to be a writer?

Well I have always been a storyteller, I won a writing contest when I was 9 and I remember I had a lot of fun. However, when I was 16, I finally decided it was something more to me. I would come up with stories to help me fall asleep, as they got more and more detailed I realised it was more than a way to fall asleep. They tuned into something that has meaning and to me needed to be told. So I started to look into what it means to be a writer and if it was really the right path for me. To be honest, I wasn’t sure until I finished my first novel at 20.

2. Do you plan or research your writing before you start? If so, what is your process for planning or research?

It depends, I always have a basic outline for my story, the beginning, middle and end. I do research on all I can, especially if it’s a topic that you need to be careful with and get it right.

3. In your most recent work, or work-in-progress, what is the main idea of the story and what inspired you to write it?

For my most recent work, Daisy Chains (pictured below), was inspired by my friend who has schizophrenia. She hates seeing how movies and shows portrays it, “like we’re all the joker.” She was the reason why I wanted to show the condition in a new light. I wanted to let people see a different side to the disorder – that it’s something you can live with.

4. Which person inspired your writing the most? It can be anyone – e.g. an author, a teacher or a family member.

The author Suzanne Collins and her series The Hunger Games was the one to get me into reading which led me to writing. I have always loved her writing style and have reread The Hunger Games over seven times.

5. If you could choose one book from a famous author to publish as your own, which book would you choose and why?

I don’t think I could choose. I want my friends and family to be proud of my own work.

6. As a young author, what do you think makes a good story?

To make the reader think, to make them feel something, to let them see a new world/point of view they wouldn’t have before. I want my readers to come away with something in the end. It may be a lesson, a feeling, a new dream. Something that will stay with them once they close the book.

7. What does your family think of your writing and how do they support you?

I actually haven’t told my family, only online friends. I want to tell them when I have the book in my hands, to show them what I did on my own. I want them to be proud of me.

8. Do you feel there are any challenges being a young author? If so, what are they?

YES, it’s hard to make an impact in a world where there are so many writers out there! When you’re trying to get your first book published, in can be soul crushing.

Trying to get published is not for the weak. I have had over 200 rejects combined on both my novels that I have been trying to get published since I was 20. It also doesn’t help if you a lack of self-confidence and getting an agent for a debut novels is basically impossible.

9. What are your hobbies away from writing and what makes them so important to you?

I’m very into baking and cooking, painting and art, music and video editing, and finally…..don’t tell anyone, but also video games.

10. Are you traditionally or independently published and what title/s have you put out so far?

My debut novel Daisy Chains is being published by the independent publisher, BLK dog publishing this month.

11. You are a young author, what one piece of advice would you give to a budding author who has not quite taken that step?

Keep going! Keep writing! Keep editing! Keep going! Even if it seems like the world is against you, someday you will make it. It may not be not today or tomorrow, but you will make it.

12. In relation to writing, what are your hopes and aspirations for the future?

I want to be someone’s favourite author.

One answer that stood out for me was how Samantha felt it was hard to make an impact in the world as a young writer. This is something that so many younger people tell me, either on social media DMs or my email.

Yes, rejection something that many writers of all ages have to deal with and get used to. Considering the majority of apparently open doors are bolted shut in publishing, there’s no wonder that so many people are indie authors or self-published writers. 

In her author interview, Samantha also shared her thoughts on how she felt inspired by her surroundings, including friends, to pen her first novel, Daisy Chains. I loved how her friend had such a positive impact on her life and, in turn, I hope Samantha’s friend feels the same.

Since compiling blogs for my new website, I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about fellow authors in the #WritingCommunity. I love supporting young writers and sincerely hope more come forward to be included in my Type Cast author interview blog in 2020.

2020 will be a big year for me and SG Fiction. My SG Fiction YouTube Channel has grown a lot, I have changed career from teaching into Digital Marketing for authors and business, and Anna’s Awakening is due to be published in February 2020. The main thing about 2020 is that I plan to seize the opportunities that have been presented to me, just like Samantha, Ania, Peighton, and the other Type Cast members will surely do. Comment below and share your plans for 2020!

We have a new year on the horizon to start afresh, to turn a page, and to write the next chapter of our story. Pick up a pen and get going!