Samantha Towle: The Brit Who Nails Great Romance - With An Edge!

How much fun is this gal?!?  Oh my gosh! You MUST take time to get to know Samantha.  I knew nothing about her until recently when I picked up her books and found absolutely addicting stories with surprising depth and richness to the emotions and the characters. Needless to say I fell in love. Still, sitting down with her for the very first time surpassed even my expectations. She is funny and warm, extremely easy to visit with, and quite honestly, her strong Yorkshire accent enchanted me to the point that I could listen all day and never get tired! We did have numerous laughs over me trying to interpret her words, however. English coming from an Englishman is never like it is in the movies.  It is so much better!! From kids to love to the challenges of writing American romance, Samantha is a wealth of knowledge and a delight to enjoy.

InD: I’ve read you live in the northeast area of Yorkshire. I have traveled there; it is some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen.
ST: It is really peaceful here. I literally live smack-dab in the middle of fields. There is a huge farmer’s field in the front and in the back, and then there is a forest, so we get lots of deer, squirrels and all kinds of things that are quite cute. I have the view right out of my window of the river. There is so much beauty everywhere in Yorkshire.  
InD: Were you born around there?
ST: Both myself and my husband were born in Hull and grew up there, but we wanted to give our kids something different... more quality kind of life and a little bit more villagey, so we moved about 10 miles outside the city. The schools are a little bit better but the houses cost a bit more, but we always said we would give our children the best chance we could, so if they don't do well, it's not our fault. (both laughing)
InD: What was growing up in the city like?
ST: It was okay. I lived probably closer to the city than he did. I came from the west side of Hull and he came from the east side. I lived about 10 minutes from the actual city center. It was alright when I was younger, but it got a little bit rougher as time went on. I would not let my kids walk down the road now.
InD: Do your parents still live there?
ST: It is just my mum, but yes, she still lives there.
InD: What were you like as a child?
ST: I was sort of quiet. I was a bit of a library nerd. My primary [elementary] school, was literally five minutes from the library, so I spent a lot of time going to the library with my little library card. It was a really old-fashioned library. When I think about it now, I would suspect to see it in a horror movie because it has those dark aisles and stacks that wind around, with the library desk up front where you walk in. It was just a little, cool kind of building. I was always in there.
InD: What kind of books did you read as a child?
ST: Oh, all kinds! I used to like to read “Sweet Valley High” and those teen, Americany kind of books. Where I was in the U.K., we always had this perception of the U.S. being like “Sweet Valley High”. As a teenager, I started reading a lot of the “Point Horror” books that were written by different authors, under an umbrella publisher, but they were thriller/horror books written for teenagers. They were quite cool. I got a bit spooky in my teenage years.
InD: [laughing] I went through one of those during my early teenage years, too! Looking back, that was the cause of a lot of my fears of being alone after dark!
ST: Yeah, things in horror movies don't come out all rosy.
InD: When I was in college, they were talking about a succubus and I was the only one in the class who knew what that was because of those books!
ST: It was really strange, actually, I was having a conversation with my son yesterday. He is 12, but he is in year eight in school. He is in the mood for horror movies, so I am like, what to do? So, I started him off with "Gremlins". Afterwards, he was like, “Well, that was all right.”
When I was growing up, my oldest sister and my next sister (who is eight years older than me) were watching horror movies and I would watch with them. I saw "A Nightmare on Elm Street" at nine or ten. I remember watching "Hell Raiser" and being terrified.
InD: I think I would be forever damaged. My big thing was a TV show called "Night Stalker" when I was a kid. That was where I learned about the succubus and things. But it was still PG-13. When I hit "A Nightmare on Elm Street”,  I tapped out.
ST: And now, I don't really want to watch them because I live in the middle a forest! [both laughing]
InD: I think we understand more now. Was your mom okay with you watching all of that when you were younger?
ST: I don't think she knew. She spent most of her time in the kitchen and she let my sisters do what they wanted, so I was forced to watch TV with them. They were older and I was the baby and wanted to be tough and watch what they were watching. Just like my daughter, Isabella, who is 10... going on 16.
InD: Did you like to write when you were younger?
ST: Yes, I did. I wrote little short stories but nothing like a full book. I would write in my diary and that kind of thing.

Read the entire interview in the February 2021 issue of InD'Tale magazine.

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