Ask the Author: Samar Reine
Answered Questions (6)
Samar Reine
I'm an organic writer. I may remind myself to take deep breaths, but I never have to remind myself to breathe. I write a portrait. Sometimes, it's a self-portrait, but often it's life's portrait as I know it, and as others have shown me. If you're experiencing writer's block, it's possible you're undergoing a spiritual or emotional stagnation. Engage with nature, loved ones, and friends. The more you make yourself meaningful to others, the more the words will come.
Samar Reine
A good writer is true to themselves. Writing keeps us on the authentic, lush path of mindfulness, growth, and contribution. We start off wanting to share with others. That very generosity boomerangs into a fertile life. Writing is art, and art is water and nourishment combined.
Samar Reine
Write only what you know. Be authentic. Imitate no one. Invest in learning the craft. Read books like "The Elements of Style," by William Strunk Jr and E.B. White, Stephen King's "On Writing," and Roy Peter Clark's "Writing Tools." Learn the art of showing, not telling, and delete ruthlessly. In my novel, "Bake Me a Book," I wrote this: "We become good, not when we get it right, but when we stop getting wrong.” Write from the soul, keep it bare and naked, yet dust it with the glitter of your experiences.
If you have particular questions, I'm happy to answer them.
If you have particular questions, I'm happy to answer them.
Samar Reine
"Bake me a Book." It's a novel about a gifted pâtisserie chef, Lyra, who finds out on her grandmother's death bed, the woman who raised her, that her birth mother had once left her at a stranger's house and disappeared. Her name isn't really her name, and everything she had associated her identity with had been a lie.
Lyra embarks to search for her roots, learn to be enough for herself, reframe the meaning of family, and overcome rejection, especially after falling crazy in love with an aloof writer with a pseudonym he wanted no one to discover.
She plants new roots in breathtaking Carpinteria, California, investigates her mysterious parents, and learns that her identity and life story are what she decides they are. Not shaped by her history or those who had abandoned her.
If you love food, humor, bucolic settings, deep friendships, intense passion, the ins and outs of what it takes to become the person you intend to be, then this book is for you.
Lyra embarks to search for her roots, learn to be enough for herself, reframe the meaning of family, and overcome rejection, especially after falling crazy in love with an aloof writer with a pseudonym he wanted no one to discover.
She plants new roots in breathtaking Carpinteria, California, investigates her mysterious parents, and learns that her identity and life story are what she decides they are. Not shaped by her history or those who had abandoned her.
If you love food, humor, bucolic settings, deep friendships, intense passion, the ins and outs of what it takes to become the person you intend to be, then this book is for you.
Samar Reine
I live. When I observe and self-examine, characters knock on my door and don't leave until I've told their stories. When I have a big enough conflict, a compelling inner struggle to hash out in a character, then I have a new book. I've written ten novels so far, some contemporary, and some historical. They all share the same common thread--massive inner struggles and outer threats, they must surmount with integrity, honor, love, and sacrifice.
Samar Reine
I'm always inspired by strong, actionable people, especially women, willing to do what it takes to help themselves and others. I write about people who work hard to become better humans, while improving the lives of others. What is a person, if they don't make the world better?
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