Samantha M Clark

8 Days to Release: Celebrities You’d Cast as the Lead

THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST comes out in 8 days! And in the #18DaystoMGDebut countdown, the prompt is to imagine who would be cast in the movie version of the book. This one is hard for me. While I love reading character descriptions in books, I get my own idea of what they…
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9 Days to Release: Powerful Pull Quote

Wow! We’re at day 9 of our #18DaystoMGDebut countdown, and the topic is a powerful pull quote from THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST. Funnily enough, the pull quote I’d chosen for this is one I’ve seen showing up in some of the tweets from early readers: Maybe you can’t tell the strength of…
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10 Days to Release: ARC in the Wild

One of the most fun parts of this publishing process is seeing ARCs of THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST out in the wild, which is why I’m so glad that’s the topic for day 10 of #18DaystoMGDebut. There have been a lot of wonderful sightings, with authors, teachers and librarians sharing their photos…
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11 Days to Release: Novel SWAG

For Day 11 of #18DaystoMGDebut, I’m looking at my book’s SWAG, and I do love it. When I was working on the many revisions for THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST, I had an idea for an item I would give readers if this story ever became an actual book. In 11 days, that…
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12 Days to Release: Rejected Titles

For day 12 of #18DaystoMGDebut, the prompt is rejected titles for THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST, and that means I have to make a confession: I’m terrible at coming up with titles. The original title for this story had a spoiler, so I won’t share the whole thing, but it started with The…
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13 Days to Release: Snack That Fueled Writing the Book

I don’t know what it is about snacking and writing, but they go together so well. It’s a good thing I also like to write on the treadmill, because for day 13 of #18DaystoMGDebut, my preferred snack that fueled the writing of THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST are extra dark chocolate chips from…
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14 Days to Release: Strangest Place I Worked on the Book

When I saw the prompt for day 14 of #18DaystoMGDebut, strangest place I worked on THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST, the answer came to me straight away: the Lodge of Death. Twice a year, a group of writer friends rent out a lodge on a lake and spend a weekend silently writing, with…
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Book Birthday Bash: The House That Lou Built

Happy Book Birthday to THE HOUSE THAT LOU BUILT! Everyone, #MeetLOU! Lou’s twelve, loves DIY, and has a big dream: to build her own tiny house. Lou comes from a huge extended Filipino American family and while she loves them dearly, she sometimes longs for a space of her own (what kid doesn’t?!). However,…
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15 Days to Release: Place Where I Wrote Most of the Book

I began writing THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST when we were living in Houston, but to answer the day 15 prompt for #18DaystoMGDebut, I finished the first draft and wrote most of the revisions here in Austin in the same house where I’m typing this now. I’m not much of a coffee shop…
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16 Days to Release: Place That Inspired the Book’s Setting

For day 16 of #18DaysToMGDebut, I’m talking about what inspired the book’s setting. THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST opens in one of my favorite places: a beach, golden sand stretching out against a never-ending blue ocean, with waves creeping up then retreating, creeping and retreating. I grew up in the Caribbean, and the…
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