Once I started writing novels, I couldn't stop.

Samantha Woodruff on the roller coaster of midlife publication.

Aaaaaand, we’re back after a short break with another fabulous interview!

As Samantha herself says below, writer friends really are the best part of the writing life. I got to know Samantha through a mutual friend of this kind, Susie Orman Schnall, whom I interviewed here a few months back. This community is just so generous, it never stops amazing me.

Samantha comes to novel writing with a super varied background, having studied Eastern European History, gotten an MBA, then worked in consumer research, strategy and business development at Viacom (Nickelodeon) for a decade. PLUS, she taught yoga! And then she set her talents to writing.

VITAL STATS:

Your age when your first novel published, and the title of that novel:
I published my first novel, The Lobotomist’s Wife, at 47 years old.

Your age now: 50

How many novels you published to date: My second novel, The Trade Off, came out this week, on October 8^th.

INTERVIEW:

1. How many novels did you complete before the one that became your first published novel? (If any of those were near misses—i.e. you were asked for a non-contractual revision that wasn’t accepted, etc—please share!)

The truth…zero. The Lobotomist’s Wife was the first novel I finished.

The first one I ever started writing, which I have about 200 pages of, was for a continuing education class (beginning novel writing) at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College. Unlike many authors, I never even considered writing a novel until I took that class. I always loved writing, but I tended to be poetic with facts and figures; I was good at distilling complex information into a digestible narrative. I wrote an undergraduate history thesis that won a prize and tons of business presentations for senior management at Viacom. I didn’t know I had it in me to write about invented things.

2. What kinds of jobs did you have to support yourself while you wrote?  Are you still doing one of them?

My husband is the breadwinner in our house, so I had the luxury of not “needing” to work. When we had our first child and moved to the suburbs and I began to feel overwhelmed by the obligations of my corporate job in Manhattan, I had the ability to stop. But I didn’t want to. I wanted to be an active and engaged parent AND have a stimulating career. Turns out, after my second child was born, that I had to pick. I picked motherhood. But I needed something for me. I had a long-standing yoga practice so my first job after corporate life was as a yoga teacher. It was another teacher friend (former lawyer) who suggested taking that first class at Sarah Lawrence. And once I started writing novels, I couldn’t stop.

3. What was the writing routine in which you wrote the novel that became your first published? How long did it take to write that book?

In the beginning, I was really just writing the novel as a hobby, for myself; so, I didn’t have a routine. I wrote when I could, mostly midday when the kids were in school. Once I realized how much I loved writing, and that there was a chance I could actually do something with my story, we were into the pandemic. I’m one of those people who loved the lock-down period because it enabled me to have structured and predictable days – I’d exercise, log my kids on to zoom school and then write. It was also amazing to be able to get lost in this other world while my actual surroundings were so limited. All in, it probably took me almost three years to research and write The Lobotomist’s Wife, but I cranked out the majority of it once I had an agent (see below), it in less than a year.

4. What was your darkest moment before selling your first novel?

Being out on submission. I had a stupidly fortunate path to getting an agent. I don’t even want to tell you about it because it is so lucky. And I’m not a lucky person. But I got an agent without querying and before my first draft was finished. (I know, you probably want to kill me for that!) It was amazing, but it also meant I didn’t go through that hideous period of being out there and vulnerable and getting used to lots of rejection. When I finally finished the book, my agent sent it to about a dozen editors. First, I thought they’d respond in, like, a week. HA! I got uncomfortably comfortable with the fact that the wait would be long, but it was miserable. And then the rejections came rolling in. When I started writing, selling the book wasn’t even a concept in my head. But once I was out on submission…anything else felt like it would be failure. Ridiculous, I know.

It took three months and a lot of “passes,” but I did get an offer. And then I liked my publisher (Lake Union) so much that I sold my second book to them as well.

5. What advice about writing helps you stick with it?

Everyone says it, but the things that keeps me going is knowing that the only way to write is to sit down and do it. The “butt in seat” adage.  I also can’t express enough how invaluable it is to have a community of writer friends to lean on. This business is not easy, and having friends in the trenches has really kept me going during those times when I was sure I couldn’t do it.

6. What is your favorite part about the writing life?

As far as process goes, I like editing best. Not that I don’t like to sit down and let the story flow and have those moments when you sit back and say, “did that character just do that?” for the first time. I do.  But I can procrastinate heavily around a blank page.  Once I’m editing, I’m putting a puzzle together and I love that.

As far as my favorite part of “being a writer” it is the community. I always say my writer friends are the unexpected “gift with purchase” of becoming a novelist. Never in my life have I been surrounded by such a smart, supportive, stimulating group of women (my crew is all women). I still feel giddy when I think about my “writer friends” and can’t believe I get to associate with such talented people. I’m an introvert/extrovert so while I need time to myself, I adore meeting people and books is such a great connector. I’ve met so many incredible readers, bookstagrammers, bookstore staff and others through my books and the books of friends.

Thank you for having me and congrats on the paperback for All You Have to Do Is Call!

Thank YOU, Samantha! And no one here hates you - it’s fun to hear ALL the stories of publication. Community is my favorite part, too. I LOVE that about "the “gift with purchase.” So true!