Samantha M. Bailey's edgy debut...plus a book giveaway

We're so excited to have Samantha M. Bailey here today! Her debut thriller, Woman on the Edge, recently published in print in Canada and as an e-book in the US (and will be available in print this spring). Melissa A. loved Woman on the Edge and will be reviewing it soon. All you need to know for now is that it will keep you up late at night because it's impossible to put down! She's also fortunate to have met Samantha a couple of times at Book Expos and had the chance to bask in her warmth and kindness. Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada, we have one signed copy for a lucky reader!

Samantha M. Bailey is a Toronto-based novelist, journalist, and freelance editor. Her work has appeared in Now Magazine, The Village Post, and Oxford University Press, among other publications. She was a writer-in-residence for Kobo Writing Life at Book Expo America 2013 and is the co-founder of BookBuzz, a promotional and interactive author-reader event held in New York City and Toronto.

Her bestselling debut psychological thriller, WOMAN ON THE EDGE, is published in North America with Simon and Schuster Canada, and the UK with Headline. It will also be translated in seven countries world-wide, including with Garzanti in Italy, Roca Editorial in Spain, Heyne in Germany, General Press in Hungary, Euromedia in the Czech Republic, Ikar in Slovakia, and Znak in Poland.

Samantha loves reading as much as she loves writing so if she’s not tapping away at her computer, she’s probably curled up on her couch with a book. (Bio courtesy of Samantha's website.)

Visit Samantha online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:
A total stranger on the subway platform whispers, “Take my baby.”

She places her child in your arms. She says your name.

Then she jumps...

In a split second, Morgan Kincaid’s life changes forever. She’s on her way home from work when a mother begs her to take her baby, then places the infant in her arms. Before Morgan can stop her, the distraught mother jumps in front of an oncoming train.

Morgan has never seen this woman before, and she can’t understand what would cause a person to give away her child and take her own life. She also can’t understand how this woman knew her name.

The police take Morgan in for questioning. She soon learns that the woman who jumped was Nicole Markham, prominent CEO of the athletic brand Breathe. She also learns that no witness can corroborate her version of events, which means she’s just become a murder suspect.

To prove her innocence, Morgan frantically retraces the last days of Nicole’s life. Was Nicole a new mother struggling with paranoia or was she in danger? When strange things start happening to Morgan, she suddenly realizes she might be in danger, too.

Woman on the Edge is a pulse-pounding, propulsive thriller about the lengths to which a woman will go to protect her baby—even if that means sacrificing her own life. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?
This is such a good question. Anyone who tells me WOMAN ON THE EDGE made them feel something—scared, sad, intrigued, excited, compelled—is such a wonderful compliment because that’s what I hope for with every novel I write. To move readers in some way. Also, anyone who tells me they want to read my next book, because this is a long-held dream and a long-term career for me. To have readers stay with me through this journey is all I’ve ever wanted.

What were the biggest reward and challenge with writing WOMAN ON THE EDGE?
The biggest reward is everything I learned in the course of writing WOMAN ON THE EDGE, the people I met along the way, and also, the incredible reception it’s received in the UK, Canada, and the US. I’m incredibly lucky to have such dedicated, phenomenal publishing teams at Simon & Schuster Canada and Headline. And I’m so grateful for the very long path I took to get here, because it’s made the realization of my dream that much sweeter.

The biggest challenge was in writing it. This is my first thriller, after starting out writing rom coms then moving to darker women’s fiction. My agent and I spent years revising the book, draft after draft. Never once did I think about giving up because I’m too stubborn, but I must have done an entire tear-down and re-build of the manuscript at least twenty times. I was very scared it wouldn’t happen for me, but then it did, and in ways I could never have imagined.

If Woman on the Edge were made into a binge-worthy TV series, who would you cast in the lead roles?
A binge-worthy TV series would be a dream! I don’t visualize any one actor or actress, or anyone I know at all, as I write, though I do completely visualize the characters. If I had to, or got to choose, I think I’d love to see Charlize Theron, Rose Byrne, Stana Katic, Nicole Kidman, or Cate Blanchett as Nicole, and perhaps Mila Kunis, Jennifer Connolly, Naomi Watts, or Amy Adams as Morgan.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years from now?
Now that we’ve just started a new decade, this question really resonates with me. In ten years, I’ll be fifty-six years old and an empty nester. That is shocking, and also a bit sad, to contemplate. Career-wise, I hope to have many more books out, to have had the chance to meet readers and authors in person at conferences and events and go to the places I have yet to travel to: Los Angeles, Hawaii, Western Canada, all the countries in Europe in which WOMAN ON THE EDGE will be translated and published. What I hope for most is health and happiness for my loved ones and me.

What did you do to ring in 2020?
I’m very close to my family, so I spent New Year’s Eve with my brother and his family. Every year, we eat, drink, dance, watch our kids hang out together, then we have a big sleepover. It’s low-key and exactly the kind of celebration I love. As the clock struck midnight, I took a moment to appreciate everything that’s happened to me this past year, this past decade, and to savor it because I know how blessed I am.

What is something funny that happened to you recently?
Many funny things happen to me because I’m a bit klutzy and awkward. Something recent that makes me laugh every time I think about it is my Canadian publication day. My amazing, rock star publicist, Jillian Levick, and I spent the entire day together. We started off in the green room for my spot on a morning television show, which was surreal. Then we went to a few Indigo bookstores—one of our beloved bookstore chains here that selected WOMAN ON THE EDGE as their Staff Pick of the Month for December at stores all across Canada—so I could sign stock. It was so exciting. I wanted to leave a message for my readers, along with my signature, so I started writing, “Happy Reading!” At the same time, Jillian and I were giddily chatting away. I looked down at one of the books I was signing and realized I’d written, “Happy Birthday!” We laughed until we cried. Then she bought that copy. And gifted me with a pair of reading socks, which was the perfect end to a perfect day.

Thanks to Samantha for chatting with us and to Simon & Schuster Canada for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends January 21st at midnight EST.