Samantha March has your ticket to holiday fun...plus a book giveaway

 **Giveaway is now closed**

Today we welcome Samatha March and her second novel The Green Ticket. Samantha March is an author, editor, publisher, blogger, and all around book lover. She runs the popular book/women’s lifestyle blog ChickLitPlus, which keeps her bookshelf stocked with the latest reads and up-to-date on all things health, fitness, fashion, and celebrity related. In 2011, she launched her independent publishing company Marching Ink and her debut novel Destined to Fail. When she isn’t reading, writing, or blogging, you can find her cheering for the Green Bay Packers.

You can find Samantha on Facebook, Twitter, at Chick Lit Plus (her blog), Goodreads and her website. 

Thanks to Samantha we have TWO e-copies of The Green Ticket to give away to some lucky readers anywhere in the world.

How did you get into the world of blogging and eventually create Chick Lit Plus? And then what made you decide to become a writer?
They are all connected actually. When I finally decided to do something about my writing (being an author was a goal I gave myself at age nine) I followed my mom’s advice: It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I thought making some connections in the industry would be valuable, so I decided to start a book blog. Chick Lit Plus was started in October 2009, and I definitely made some great connections! I had a great support group around me that was full of encouragement, advice, and plenty of authors to bounce questions off of when I finally finished my debut DESTINED TO FAIL. My road would have been a lot longer and more challenging if I didn’t have CLP, and I firmly believe that.

Where do you get your ideas from for your novels?
From real life. DESTINED TO FAIL was slightly based on my life, and THE GREEN TICKET has elements from my life, friends’ life, and acquaintances stories that I’ve heard. I love being in places where I can just listen – from a friend’s house to the hairdressers. You never know what you’ll hear and how you can turn that into a novel.

If The Green Ticket were made into a movie, who would you cast in the lead roles?
Fun! For Alex, I would say Emma Stone – as a red head of course! I think Julianne Hough would make a cute Lila. For Hannah, maybe one of the Fanning sisters. It would be fun to see Alyson Hannigan as Allie. And if he was an actor, I would have to Tim Tebow would make a mighty fan Henry ;)

Can you share any writing advice?
The biggest one is just to write – everyday if you can. And that doesn’t have to be for a book. Write in a journal, write a blog post, write an email!

How do you celebrate the holidays? Any family traditions?
Our holiday’s can be a bit tricky, as I live in Iowa with my fiancé and my family is stationed in North Carolina. If it works out (ie – plane tickets aren’t crazy expensive) we travel there for a few days, but usually we celebrate with my fiancé’s family, who also lives in Iowa. My favorite tradition that we started is find the pickle – love the name! My mother-in-law hides a pickle ornament in the Christmas tree, and us six kids have to search for it. The one who finds it wins a prize. I won last year, and received a candy dish with a big ole bag of jelly beans in it!

What is your favorite thing to eat during the holiday season?
Everything? I love turkey and I am really getting into cheesecake lately!

What is your favorite holiday movie?
ELF!

Do you have any new year's resolutions? If so can you share two?
Ooh, let’s see. My first will be to eat better. We are planning on buying a house next year and hopefully it will have a nice big kitchen so I can enjoy cooking meals. Another would be to make sure I get “Samantha time.” Running a business on top of working a full-time job can be stressful, and I want to make sure I get enough time to just relax once it a while.

Thanks to Samantha for chatting with us and sharing her book with our readers.

How to win The Green Ticket:
Please comment below with your e-mail address. (Please note: Entries without an e-mail address will NOT be counted. You can use AT and DOT to avoid spam. Or provide a link to your facebook page or blog if you can receive messages there.) 

Bonus entries (can be listed all in one post):
1. Please tell us: What is your favorite thing to eat during the holiday season?
2. Follow this blog and post a comment saying you are a follower (if you already follow, that's fine too).
3. Post this contest on Facebook or Twitter or in your blog, and leave a comment saying where you've posted it.
4. Join Chick Lit Central on Facebook. Edit settings if you don't want to receive a lot of messages at your e-mail account. Please read our posting guidelines as well. (If you're already a member, let us know that too.)
5. Follow us on Twitter and/or Pinterest.
6. Add a friend to our Facebook group. (Tell us who you added.) Be sure to remind them to edit their settings.

Giveaway ends December 26th at midnight EST

Chick Lit is Not Dead is also doing a giveaway for this novel. (Ends 12/23.)