Welcome to Author Samantha Durante
Samantha Durante lives in New York City with her fiancé, Sudeep, and her cat, Gio. Formerly an engineer at Microsoft, Samantha left the world of software in 2010 to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams and a lifelong love of writing. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, Samantha is currently working full time for her company Medley Media Associates as a freelance business writer and communications consultant. Stitch is her first novel.
Links:
http://www.facebook.com/stitchtrilogy
http://www.facebook.com/authorsamanthadurante
http://www.samanthadurante.com/
Interview:
Please tell us in one
sentence only, why we should read your book.
If you’re into badass female leads, tension-filled romance,
and something a little paranormal or sci-fi, Stitch has all that plus a twist
that will knock your socks off.
Tell us your most
rewarding experience since being published.
Reading the first reviews by people who didn’t know me –
WOW, that was flattering! And partnering
with book bloggers, who have proven to be incredibly
generous, both in taking a chance on a completely new author (me!) and helping
me find an audience for my crazy book.
Bloggers have seriously restored my faith in humanity – people are GOOD.
If you were stranded
on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you?
My cat, my fiancé, and my Kindle!
What is your favorite
flavor of ice cream?
Cookie dough, with hot fudge and whipped cream. Mmmm.
If you could jump in
to a book, and live in that world.. which would it be?
Hogwarts, naturally.
Though I would tie in the animal daemon concept from the His Dark
Materials series, and/or the dragons from Eragon. Basically, I want to live someplace where
magic exists and I can communicate directly with my cat. Then my life would be complete.
When you were little,
what did you want to be when you "grew up"?
This is a good one. I
wanted to be a lot of things: first female basketball player in the NBA, the
first female president (WHY has this still not happened??), a lawyer and a
model on the side, a hockey ref in the NHL…
Pretty much the only thing it never occurred to me to be was a writer, lol.
What's the best
advice anyone has ever given you?
This is from one of my little brothers, to reassure me I was
doing the right thing when leaving my comfortable job at Microsoft to start my
own company and become a freelance writer (which, given the disparity in pay
and job security, no one seemed to understand why I was doing…): “Part of being
an entrepreneur is having everyone tell you you’re crazy and doing it anyway.”
Hidden talent?
Haha, if you ask any of my college friends, it’s
writing. (I took a little detour from my
love of writing in college and I’m learning now that no one even knew I had an
interest in it!) But if you ask any of
my high school friends or family members, they’ll tell you I’ve got nothing – I can’t sing, I can’t dance, I
can’t juggle, I can’t do any tricks, I can’t even snap. When it comes to talent shows, I am
completely useless! But at least I can
write. J
What's your favorite
season/weather?
Until this year, I would have said summer, without a
doubt. I was born in the summer, I love
to swim, I love to be outside, and I always appreciated the freedom of summer –
not having to be anywhere or do anything unless it pleased me. I always found that very inspiring. But I think this year (and especially with no
A/C in my apartment…) I’ve had a little TOO much summer. Global warming = BAD.
How did you celebrate
the sale of your first book?
My fiancé and I drank a bottle of Cristal. Baller!
(But not really, because my fiancé’s brother had given it to us as an
engagement present… Thanks Joy!)
Favorite smell?
Onions and garlic cooking in olive oil. Brings me right back to waking up on Sunday
mornings with my mom starting a pot of gravy in the kitchen. Or at the very least, I know that smell
signals the coming of a delicious meal!
TV or Movies?
I love both, but if I had to choose, I’d go with TV. I love to go on rampant TV binges where I
watch like an entire series in some absurdly short amount of time. I recently re-watched all of Buffy the
Vampire Slayer and Angel in chronological order as they aired, and it was
fantastic, even better than I remembered.
Before that it was the first four seasons of Mad Men (until I’d caught
up), and before that, all four seasons (plus movies and webisodes and
mini-series) of Battlestar Galactica over the course of one Christmas break. Heaven!
Pet peeve?
Smoking. Ugh, I HATE
smoking. I hate smoke. I wish it was illegal, everywhere, for
everyone. If I could share one message
with the world, it would be this: Please don’t smoke, especially not in public
places (i.e., the street, parks, or anywhere other people could be present,
ever), and especially not in dense NYC apartments where it seeps through the
vents and walls and floors and makes your neighbors want to die. (And in fact, you are slowly killing said neighbors.
So thanks.)
Coke or Pepsi?
Coke. Diet coke, to
be exact. My housemates in college drank
enough Diet Coke to buy a full-size basketball shooting game (like from an
arcade) with Coke Points. (We drank A
LOT of Diet Coke.) However, I’ve since
cut back to one a day, since I’m worried soda will turn out to be our
generation’s cigarettes. (And you know
how I feel about cigarettes! But at
least when I drink Diet Coke, no one around me is forced to drink it too!!)
Horror or Romance?
Can’t I have both?
Pizza or Pasta?
Ditto.
Do you prefer a bunch
of small gifts or one big expensive one?
Even more ditto!
What is your favorite
way to spend a rainy day?
The same way I spend most of my other days – chilling at
home with my cat on my lap and something delicious on the stove. I love my life.
J
Stitch by Samantha Durante
Her heart races, her muscles coil, and every impulse in Alessa’s body screams at her to run… but yet she’s powerless to move.
Still struggling to find her footing after the sudden death of her parents, the last thing college freshman Alessa has the strength to deal with is the inexplicable visceral pull drawing her to a handsome ghostly presence. In between grappling with exams and sorority soirees – and disturbing recurring dreams of being captive in a futuristic prison hell – Alessa is determined to unravel the mystery of the apparition who leaves her breathless. But the terrifying secret she uncovers will find her groping desperately through her nightmares for answers.
Because what Alessa hasn’t figured out yet is that she’s not really a student, the object of her obsession is no ghost, and her sneaking suspicions that something sinister is lurking behind the walls of her university’s idyllic campus are only just scratching the surface…
The opening installment in a twist-laden trilogy, Stitch spans the genres of paranormal romance and dystopian sci-fi to explore the challenges of a society in transition, where morality, vision, and pragmatism collide leaving the average citizen to suffer the results.
Giveaway Details
1 copy of Stitch
Print copy open to US only, Ebook open Internationally
Ends 9/20/12
a Rafflecopter giveaway
