Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Guest Post: Samaire Provost


Thanks for visiting my stop on the Mad World: Epidemic tour hosted by CLP Blog Tours! I hope you all enjoy this great guest post from author Samaire Provost. Make sure you check out the main tour page to see reviews of this novel to see if it might be something you'd like to pick up. Thanks to Samaire for writing this post for all of you lovely readers!

Hello everyone! My name is Samaire Provost, and I am the author of Mad World: EPIDEMIC and Mad World: SANCTUARY. I really enjoyed writing these books for a number of reasons. First of all, I wanted to write a plausible modern day adventure centering on what would happen if the real world were infused with the paranormal. I wanted it to be logical and scientific, and it needed to make perfect sense.

Second, I wanted to write about normal teenagers thrust into this paranormal situation, in a world that was slowly becoming more and more difficult to survive in. What would they do? How would they survive? Would the crisis make them stronger or would they fall apart?

Third, I wanted to write about strong female characters who are heroes. Heroes who are real. Heroes who are imperfect reflections of YOU.

My favorite books to read are YA paranormal thrillers, so that’s my favorite kind of story to write. I strive to write books that make you stay up past midnight to finish.  Books so exciting you take them into the bathroom with you because you want to keep reading.  Books that make you want to stay in and read all day.  Books that are “unputdownable.” Books that scare you, thrill you, and make you feel good inside when your hero conquers the bad guys and triumphs!

Like the character Risa, I have a name that is difficult to tell how to pronounce. My first name is Samaire, and it is old Irish Gaelic for “Rising Sun.” It’s pronounced with an Irish brogue: “sah-m’air-ah” and rhymes with Sahara. My last name is Provost, but it is French and the last two letters are silent, so you say “provo,” as in Provo, Utah. And if you’re wondering about Risa’s name, it’s pronounced with a long “I” and a hard “s” and rhymes with the name Liza.

I find ideas for stories everywhere. I will see something happen when I’m out and about in the village and it will make me think, and then I’ll see something else and I’ll put the two together and - bang! -there’s an idea for a story. Or sometimes I will be surfing the ‘net and I’ll come across an article about something weird scientists are actually doing and it’ll give me the idea for a story. That’s what happened with the Mad World series.

I find inspiration to write when I am reading. I’m sure many of you have had that moment when you’re reading a book and it’s good but you are sure you could do better. I began experiencing that feeling at an early age. The books I read were mostly science fiction but I also read the entire Black Stallion series by Walter Farley and loved them. With those books I didn’t get the “I know I can write this better” feeling. I got the “boy these stories are awesome; I want to write adventures like these too!

Books can really inspire you. We are seeing a huge surge in fan fic, writers so inspired by a story that they want to add to it, and write more adventures set in those worlds.

One of the biggest things I found I had to overcome to write was confidence - or the lack thereof. It is said that “the greatest cause of failure is the fear of failure,” and I have found this to be so true. The story Mad World: EPIDEMIC was so wonderful in my head, that I was afraid to try and get it down on paper imperfectly.

But no first draft is ever the way you want it. You have to go back and forth, and hopefully several people will read the manuscript - fresh eyes to share your vision and fresh voices to tell you where it is good and where it needs work. Every writer goes through this; you have to understand this. So, it is a process. But that process cannot begin unless and until you first put pen to paper and write the first draft. Remember: anything can be fixed. But you must get it out of your head and onto the computer or nothing will happen.

My advice to aspiring writers is: 
Write. Pay no attention to your fears of any shortcomings. Write. Write some more. Finish.


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