Interview with Samantha Ryan

Please join me in welcoming Author Samantha Ryan to Coffee Time Romance & More today. Her first book, Pride, a modern queer take on Pride and Prejudice, was called a “sweet debut” by Publisher’s Weekly and came out in February from Rattling Good Yarns Press.

Bookstore owner Ben Bennett meets Centennial Oil heir Avery Fitzgerald. Ben isn’t looking for love—despite the occasional swipe on Grindr—and he’s definitely not interested in anyone messing with his hard-won peace, but everything changes the moment he crosses paths with Avery Fitzgerald, his sister’s new infuriatingly handsome, ridiculously wealthy friend from New York.

Could you tell us something about your journey into queer romance writing and how it aligns with your own journey of coming out?

I’m an avid romance reader and love romcoms, but I think once I started reading queer romance it really unlocked a new desire in myself to have the opportunity to write about queer joy. I love the nineties/2000s classics, “You’ve Got Mail” or “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days” and have this kind of nostalgic hope to create a queer story that would fall into those categories in ways that I think a lot of queer people would have loved to have seen in that time. Where the queer storyline is not as a sidekick or comic relief but as the main plot point. 

How do you pace your productivity? Do you have a writing routine? Do you ever struggle with writer’s block? If so, how do you get through?

My only writing routine is to try and write regularly. Sometimes I get writer’s block after finishing a project. My normal break can turn into weeks of not being very productive. One of my projects coming out in March is a chapbook “Words my friends have thrown away” and that was a product of writer’s block. When I couldn’t think of anything to focus on, I asked my friends to give me words and of the 27 words they gave me, I created a collection of flash fiction pieces all through a queer lens. I see writer’s block as a perfect opportunity to approach your process in a different way and sometimes that’s where great ideas come from. 

What is your least favorite part of book promotion?

THE WAITING. So much of the work after the book is written is to wait on the next step and when you’re so excited about the project, it can be really hard to be patient. 

What is your favorite way to connect with prospective readers pre-publication?

Social media, specifically Instagram. I’ve been able to connect with readers in really exciting ways – particularly in the queer community and also just finding other writers has been really rewarding. 

Tell us how you created the characters for your rom com. Did they come to you or did you intentionally build them?

All of my novels start with character first and I think I just instantly knew who Ben and Avery were. I did want to allow the influence of Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy, of course, but in a lot of ways they are still their own people. They both felt very familiar to me and it was a lot of fun to get to put them in absurd situations and just watch what happened as a result. I’m obsessed with Ben’s stubbornness and absolutely love Avery’s logical brain and they were so much fun to create. 

How are your early ARC readers responding to Pride?

It’s been a lot of fun seeing the responses. This is my debut so I really didn’t know what to expect and it’s been a huge learning curve. But some readers have taken the time to seek me out on social media to tell me how much they loved the book and that means so much to me. I love these characters and to know that other people love them too was something I wasn’t really expecting. One reviewer said they were sad they were so early because I didn’t have other books out and that really brought tears to my eyes knowing that meant they would be looking forward to other work I put out. I never dreamed anyone would love this world in that way and I’m so grateful to know the words resonated with others. 

A shout-out from Joyce Carol Oates…wow…what did that do to your forward momentum as a writer?

A writer friend of mine, Jes McCutchen – one of the editors of that anthology – was the first one to send that to me and I didn’t believe it when I saw it. This is someone I studied in college and to know she not only read my work but said nice things about it really shocked me. I think it was kind of a luck of the draw that she happened to read that piece in “Fish Gather to Listen”, which was one of the first printed publications I had. That anthology is a really incredible collection of stories and I’m honored to have a piece included. 

What are you working on now?

I have another novel coming out later this year with Truborn Press titled, “These Are Not My Final Words”. It follows gay screenwriter, Johnny Goodwin, after the suicide of his best friend and writing partner, Jace Van Noy, when their animated TV character, Dick – a duck, shows up at Jace’s funeral using Jace’s voice to talk to Johnny. It’s incredibly absurd and a little funny, while still dealing with the often heavy reality of grief and mental illness. Tonally quite a bit different than “Pride”, but I’m so excited to share these characters and all my marketing for the book gets to include little rubber ducks, so how fun is that? 

Any plans to spin off other rom coms based on Jane Austen’s novels?

Not at the moment. I have this back burner idea of a lesbian Emma where she’s the creator of a queer dating app. There are about six books ahead of that one that are in the works, so, it may be a while. But maybe someday. I’m open. 

I notice you mentioned your pets in your bio. How do they inspire you?

My little Baxter is my number one boy. I intentionally went on a search to adopt a black cat when I got him because of the unfortunately high euthanasia rates of black cats in shelters. So, I had the opportunity to honor the tradition of witches and pick up the best boy ever, which was a win/win for me. My pup is a very chunky German shepherd and husky mix and 100% acts like a little human. They both are so sweet and make great beta readers when I read my work out loud. 

Your favorite place to hole up and write?

A few years ago I participated in the three day novel contest, which I highly recommend for all writers, but my story was about a bar and since I was writing nonstop for three days, I ended up spending hours over that weekend writing in a bar. At first it was kind of weird to be in a bar on a Saturday night with my laptop sitting to the side, but bars are such incredible people watching spots. Since then I’ve found that when I know I need to get through a huge chunk I will head to a bar that has a good Old Fashioned and hole up there to get through it. 

How many publishers did you query before you got the call?

For “Pride”, I did query quite a few agents first. I think the querying process can be a little more challenging for queer authors. A lot of agents represent romance, for instance, but then won’t necessarily take on a queer romance. It’s certainly a much smaller market share and if they don’t know the market that well, it makes sense they wouldn’t feel confident taking it on. I had one agent tell me there was no room on the shelf for queer romance, which I found ironic because in the majority of bookstores, there isn’t even a queer shelf to begin with. My reaction to that was “Well, let’s build a bigger shelf?!” But Rattling Good Yarns Press is exclusive to LGBTQIA+ stories and it was immediately a different kind of conversation when it was with someone who knew the market so well. I’m so excited to see queer publishers owning that space in the market and building that shelf through sales numbers to show those who only read data points that there is equal value in queer dollars too. To everyone who buys “Pride” – you’re supporting an LGBTQIA+ press and I’m incredibly grateful for that. 

How do you pump yourself up after rejection?

I cry. A lot. Sometimes it feels like every rejection is the worst possible rejection but the only way to respond is to realize that there will be another one and just hope that it hurts a little less. It’s all part of the process. So you have your moment of grief and then you move on to the next. 

How long have you been writing?

I got my degree in English Literature and Creative Writing and I think I thought I was just going to jump into the world as a novelist, but I graduated college in 2010 when people weren’t getting many jobs of any kind, let alone dream artistic jobs, so I took a really long detour and then came back within the last few years. I think, like many, the pandemic was a real wakeup call in so many ways, but one of those ways for me was to realize that I really wanted to see those dreams come to reality and it was time to try again. 

How was your experience of working with an editor? – the good? The bad?

I had nothing but the best experience working with my editor. I think there’s a lot of trepidation with the idea when you’re just starting out of like how much of this are they going to change, but the best editors aren’t interested in changing the work itself, only making sure that the best version of that idea is realized. I know I’ve heard the horror stories of other authors and having negative experiences but I really was able to step back and see how invaluable that level of an outside view is and it was incredibly helpful. 

How do you refill the well after a long stretch of writing?

Reading. I tend to not read while I’m in the middle of project just to not allow outside influence but then I’ll get through several books in between projects. I think reading reminds me of the joy that I have for words and the power that they can bring. I recently finished “The Nightmare Before Kissmas” by Sara Raasch and was so impressed with the world building and the character development. It was really inspiring as a writer, to see something like that executed so well with Christmas magic and Halloween magic in really delightful ways. 

Any advice for aspiring authors?

I think it’s a little cliche, but write for you. I think when I first started writing in college, I was too preoccupied with writing what I thought others wanted to see and didn’t even know my own voice. At the time, I didn’t know myself either, but the more you learn about yourself and find your own voice the more readers will resonate with the writing. There’s such a vulnerability that comes with honest writing and I think readers can tell right away what’s authentic and what isn’t. I’m definitely still working on that myself, but I think with that in mind, it only makes your writing stronger. 

Do you have a formula for splitting your time between writing, social media, and other marketing?

No, I probably should. I’m new at a lot of that and still trying to figure it out. I’m awful at marketing so it’s been something I’m trying to get better at learning. 

Who was the first person in your life who encouraged your work and made you think you could make a career out of writing?

This is also probably the most cliche answer possible, but my high school English teacher – Mrs. Chambers. She introduced me to William Faulkner and I’ll forever be grateful for that. It kind of became this pivot in high school, before that I was very convinced I was going to go into film in directing or some kind of production but after seeing how Faulkner used language, I was hooked. And Mrs. Chambers kind of opened my eyes to the idea that it was possible to pursue writing on my own. Thank goodness for English teachers. It seems like every writer I know jumped into this path because an English teacher somewhere exposed them to the power of what words could be and that’s such a wonderful thing. Thank goodness for all teachers, but especially English teachers. 

What’s something most people would be surprised to know about you?

I don’t know if surprised is the right term here, but one thing I don’t often talk about in writing spaces is that I’m obsessed with fanfiction. I think slash fanfiction was one of my first exposures to queer writing – particularly the OG Kirk/Spock, I’m a huge trekkie – and of course, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. I feel like fanfiction allowed me to explore a queer space in a very safe way. The history of fanfiction and specifically queer fanfiction is really interesting and goes back to the queer bookshelf idea. There have been fan driven queer stories since the inception of fan driven stories. In the sixties fans of Star Trek: The Original Series were creating fan zines that included these Kirk/Spock romantic short stories and was an outlet for queer people to see themselves in these kinds of characters in a world that wouldn’t permit them on television. I think there’s also an anonymity associated with fanfiction that also allows the space to seem more safe for those who might be at the beginning of exploring their own identity. So it shouldn’t be a surprise, really, that “Pride” is – in my mind – this kind of realization of my love of old romcoms and fanfiction all in one place, since it is technically very loosely based Jane Austen fanfiction.

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