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

How Bestselling Thriller Writer Samantha Downing Writes

08.04.2021 - By Kelton ReidPlay

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#PodcastersForJustice 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.

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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

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