How Bestselling Thriller Writer Samantha Downing Writes

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

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Internationally bestselling thriller author, Samantha Downing, took a break to chat about her "20-year, overnight" success, writing psychopaths, and how to write a novel in six months.

Samantha's debut novel, My Lovely Wife – about a married couple teaming up to commit murder – was a #1 international bestseller that earned Edgar and ITW Thriller Award nominations and an Amazon Best Thriller of the Month selection.

Her latest bestseller, psychological thriller, For Your Own Good, has been called “A perfect summer book,” by NPR and described as "...a twisted and compulsively readable spin on the teacher-student relationship."

New York Times bestselling author B.A. Paris called it, a "... wonderfully dark, twisty and compelling thriller set in a prestigious private school." And the book has been recently optioned by Robert Downey Jr. and Greg Berlanti for a series adaptation at HBO Max.

Stay calm and write on ...

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If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews. In this file Samantha Downing and I discussed:

• Why she chose to showcase the insular world of an elite private school as the setting for her latest
• How psychopaths tend to hide in plain sight
• Her unique creative process and how she cranks out pages
• Why there are stacks of unfinished manuscripts she never goes back to
• And why writers need to love the craft and be ready when opportunity knocks

Show Notes:

• SamanthaDowning.com
• For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing
• Samantha Downing Amazon author page
• A Sickness Spreads, A Parent Dies, And A Mystery Unfolds In 'For Your Own Good' – NPR
• Samantha Downing on Facebook
• Samantha Downing on Instagram
• Kelton Reid on Twitter

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