Interview with Samantha Lee Howe

from Q Magazine - Autumn 2022

Religiously writing by author Sarah Sheridan

“THE INSPIRATION CAME FROM A FRIEND OF MINE. SHE TOLD ME ABOUT A FRIEND OF HERS - A GIRL HAVING AN AFFAIR. SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH SOMEBODY WHO CONVINCED HER TO LEAVE HER HUSBAND AND WHEN SHE TURNED UP AT THE MEETING POINT, HE DISAPPEARED! I GOT GOOSEBUMPS WHEN SHE WAS TELLING ME ABOUT IT.”

USA Today bestselling author Samantha Lee Howe began her professional writing career in 2007 and had been working as a freelance writer for small, medium and large publishers ever since.

Samantha’s breakaway debut psychological thriller, The Stranger In Our Bed, was released in February 2020 with Harper Collins imprint, One More Chapter. The book rapidly became a USA Today bestseller.

In August 2020, Samantha signed a deal with production company Buffalo Dragon for the option and screenplay for The Stranger in Our Bed. The feature film went into production in November 2020 and is currently available on digital platforms.

A former high school English and Drama teacher, Samantha, has a BA (Hons) in English and Writing for Performance, an MA in Creative Writing and a PGCE in English. Samantha lives in South Yorkshire with her husband David and their two cats, Leeloo and Skye. She is the proud mother of a lovely daughter called Linzi.

When did you start writing? I started writing when I was aged 11. I was a bit obsessed with watching Dracula/Christopher Lee late at night on TV with my sister. I would pen short stories which were fan fiction, although we didn’t have a name for it back then. I started writing in a professional capacity from 2007

Is that where your fascination for thrillers and fantasies came from? Definitely, my mother was a prolific reader, and she was always buying books or at the library. There were always stacks and books hanging around the house that my sister Adele and I would pick up. The very first book to inspire me was John Fowles’ The Collector, which was amongst the books my mum had that made me think, yeah! I want to do that! I want to become a writer!

You then went on to become an English teacher and a drama teacher, is that correct? I did, yes. I got an MA while still teaching; I was head of drama by that point at the school I was working at.

Which do you prefer, English or drama? It’s a tough one as we ran our little drama school along with a friend of mine. We would put on shows for charity, which I loved. I’m also a classical singer, so I taught vocals too. But of course, I have a great love of English, being a writer - sometimes I prefer to do a bit more drama, sometimes I like to do a bit more English.

Out of your 25 novels, why do you think The Stranger in Our Bed was the first to make it to the big screen? I think Stranger has something in it that I think most people can connect to. Many people have been in toxic relationships or have friends in toxic relationships. When I was writing the book, it was about approaching the subject with a great deal of sensitivity. I have been in a couple of bad relationships; a previous marriage which was very abusive, more emotionally than physically and growing up in a house in Plymouth, my mother was a drunk and an abuser. So it was a subject matter that had to be speaking the truth, if you know what I mean? Not everyone loves the book, to be fair. Those people that have been in that situation can relate to Charlotte the lead; because she’s in this manipulative relationship with her husband, who always has a way of twisting things back on her, and that’s what abusers do. They make you feel like you are always wrong, and you question everything. That makes it so very, very hard to get out of a toxic relationship and see it for what it really is. Even once you do see it, it’s still not that easy to leave. I feel the story genuinely connects with people on an emotional level.

You have written a few novels under the pseudonym Sam Stone; why did you write under a pseudonym, and what made you choose Sam Stone? It just seemed to have a nice ring to it. Also, when I was writing horror and fantasy, it wasn’t always attractive to be a female writer. I wanted it to be ambiguous, which is what many writers like JK Rowling did. We didn’t know if she was a female or male. Men dominated the horror and fantasy industries, and when I first started writing, I had many male writers say to me, “Oh, you write horror stories? I suppose that’s about romance”? No. I wrote proper horror, and you know why? Because I like horror!

Your horror story, The White Witches of Devils End, was a spin-off from Doctor Who and was released on DVD. How did you find the adaptation to the big screen versus the adaptation to the small screen? Well, writing The Whites Witches of Devils End was very much a project of love for Realtime Pictures, who made it. They are a micro-production company, so there was no actual budget. They did this very much as a labour of love. It was magical to see my words up there on the big screen for the

first time. The experience of working with Buffalo Dragon and, in particular, Terri was completely different. It was a far more professional experience because we were working very much in a collaborative way. I’m very aware that adapting a piece of fiction to a different media has to change in some way. It wasn’t a problem for me because my degree in English was in script writing and performance, and I specialised in screen. That didn’t faze me, so I loved that collaboration as it gave you a different insight into what you can do.

Do you envisage characters in your mind? For example, did you see Charlotte as a brunette or blonde? Do you have an image in your head? I saw her as a typically attractive woman who isn’t being taken seriously for the educated and intelligent woman she is.

And was she blond in the final edit? In the film, she was more of a strawberry blonde with dropped-out curls that looked so glamorous. When I heard they had cast Emily and saw her hair, I knew it was Charlotte. She was everything. Beautiful with an almost innocent quality that Emily has.

How long, on average, does it take for you to write a novel? Anything between 6 weeks and three months.

Is that quick? Yes. The first draft will be around six weeks, so I would put it aside for maybe a week if I’m not on a massive deadline. I will re-read it and re-edit. I usually let my husband see it first - he reads it and gives me feedback. At that point, I’m quaking in my boots, convinced it’s utter rubbish, and then he comes back and reassures me that it’s not. I then give it to my agent, which makes me more anxious, thinking she’s going to hate it, but she never does; she always loves it!

You’ve written 25 novels already. Do you ever run out of ideas? Where do you find your inspiration? Well, that’s a difficult one because it comes from various places… When I was writing Stranger, my inspiration came from a friend. She told me about a friend of hers - a girl having an affair. She fell in love with somebody who convinced her to leave her husband, and when she turned up at the meeting point, he disappeared! I got goosebumps when she was telling me about it. It can be the opening line of a book, and I know where it will go. Other times I have very vivid dreams. Some of my vampire books were heavily based upon dreams I had. I woke up from them and thought, that’s what that book is about! I then build on that dream in the space of a night. Other times it’s just conversations or watching something.

What’s next for Samantha Lee Howe? I’m currently working on a pilot for the House of Killers, which is my trilogy. I’m hoping it will become a TV series, so I’m now doing the screenplay pilot. I’m also in the middle of writing a new book. I watched a lot of the Amber Heard and Jonny Depp trial, which made me want to write a book about liars! So, the book is about serial lying! Somebody who lives another life by deceiving everyone. The sort of character in the Talented Mr Ripley or the Great Gatsby. There is so much more to come.