414: Interview with Samantha Frye

Tonia interviews Samantha Frye, author of Playthings. We discuss MFA programs, genre writing, story inspiration in cartoons, and Southern Black culture.

Samantha Frye is a writer who grew up in south Alabama listening to classic R&B and stories about hanks and other-worldly creatures. Born in San Antonio, Texas, she moved to Alabama with her parents after her father’s retirement from the Air Force. Samantha graduated from Xavier University of New Orleans with an English degree and earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University. By day, she continues a tradition as a third-generation educator at Coastal Alabama Community College where she strives to foster students’ care of and respect for the art of writing. By night, she’s baking, reading, or working to breathe life into characters and worlds on the page. She’s in a constant struggle to properly entertain her Morkie, Pebbles, who can be a task master at times, even for a lap dog. Some of Samantha’s musings and a bit of her writing can be found at http://eccentriccricket.blogspot.com.

Books discussed:

Pattern Master: Octavia Butler

The Vampire Who Drinks Gospel Music: Peter Harris

I Tituba, Black Witch: Maryse Condé

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