Tag: Teddy Bear

Mondays + Writers = finally something to look forward to.

Week seven of The Writer’s Handful welcomes Samantha Hoffman, whose debut novel, What More Could You Wish For, is delightful. And Samantha has a really good story about its origins…but you are going to have to go to her website to find out more. All you are going to get here is Samantha’s gracious answers to my little questions and a nudge from me that you might want to think about this book for your book club.

Welcome Samantha!

1. Did you write today? If yes, what? If no, why not?

I did write today. Yay! My deal is that I write for at least five minutes every day, which means I always get something done. I rarely write for just the five minutes but somehow it seems less daunting knowing that if that’s all I can manage it will still suffice. What’s five minutes, right?

2. What’s the first thing (story, poem, song, etc.) you remember writing, and how old were you when you wrote it?

I wrote a short story in third grade. I lived for years with guilt that I was a plagiarist because I’d read a story I loved and then rewrote it for my class. It wasn’t til I was older that I realized that that’s done all the time and stopped feeling guilty. Anyway, my teacher, Mrs. Allen, read that story aloud to the class. I consider that my first published work, and the beginning of my literary career.

3. What are you reading right now?

The Temple of Air by Patricia Ann McNair. Okay, that’s a lie. That’s called sucking up (actually I read that a while ago and loved it). I just finished Elizabeth Berg’s A Tapestry of Fortunes and now I’m reading Coming Out Can Be Murder by Renee James and Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson, the latter for my book club. For the record, I don’t usually like the books we read for book club so am pleasantly surprised to find this a charming and beautifully written novel.

4. What’s the most important advice you ever received? (Writerly or otherwise.)

My father always taught me to finish what I started and told me I could do anything I put my mind to – advice that has always stood me in good stead.

5. If your writing were an animal, what animal would it be? Because… 

Wacky question but, okay…it would be a giant teddy bear because writing makes me happy.

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SAMANTHA HOFFMAN is a runner, reader, film buff, tech geek, blogging queen, personal assistant, chef, wine enthusiast, volunteer, animal lover, sister, friend, lover of life and…oh yes, a writer. Her stories have appeared in The Corner Magazine (London), Chicken Soup for the Dieter’s Soul and numerous other print and online publications. She also writes a popular blog about life in Chicago. What More Could You Wish For is her first novel.

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→Thanks so much, Samantha, for this conversation! And readers, you can find out about Samantha’s writing space here at View From the Keyboard, too. And as always, thank for reading! -PMc←