Introducing Samantha Sommersby!
Samantha Sommersby was first published in 2005 and has now left what she used to call her "real life" day job to pursue writing and working in the publishing industry full-time. Sam's background in the psychiatric field is apparent in her work and allows her to bring a unique perspective to her characters and stories. She loves to spend the day in her office creating, spinning rich tales and weaving together interesting plots. Her aim is to create a hero that will literally sweep a reader off her feet.
She currently lives in Southern California with her husband, her son, and her cocker spaniel, Buck. Her husband is a social worker who works with abused children. He's an avid sailor who loves to surf, and you'll find bits of him in every hero that Sam has ever written. Her son is wonderfully sensitive, with a sarcastic sense of humor. He plays the piano, composes his own music, is a competitive fencer, and worships video games.
On the rare occasion when Sam manages to set aside some play time for herself, you'll most likely find her reading a book, at the movies, or out wine tasting.
Behind the Scenes of Sam's Forbidden series
We asked San what inspired her to write the Forbidden series…
"The Forbidden series, which I've been working on for the past couple years, was conceived during a flight back from London. I'd ended up having to extend my stay there because I'd fallen terribly ill. I'd thought at the time that it was food poisoning or a horrible flu. I was still in a very bad way during the flight home. I slept on and off. I was in the middle row on the plane and there were a bunch of seats across so I could stretch out. There was only one other passenger sharing the row with me and he was busy watching gay porn on his portable DVD player. Orlando Bloom was on the cover of the American Way magazine and I started thinking that he'd make a great mild-mannered vampire. Between naps I jotted down notes. By the time I landed in San Diego I had the series laid out. It turned out I didn't have food poisoning. I was severely anemic and ended up in the hospital for blood transfusions. Did my anemia inspire my vampire series? Hmmmm." ~ Samantha Sommersby
Book 1 Forbidden: The Claim Book 2 Forbidden: The Awakening
New Release!
Book 3 Forbidden: The Revolution
Experience the magic…
Twenty-five years ago Dell Renfield's father started a revolution. Dell plans to finish it. Sorcerer, sexy vampire, secret weapon, he's spent his entire life training for what he believes to be his fate. The one deterrent he isn't equipped for? Special Agent Alexandria Sanchez.
Alex is quick-witted, hot-tempered, and strikingly beautiful. Normally focused on getting the job done, she's completely unprepared for her new partner, Dell, and his mysterious ability to drive her to distraction.
Posing as lovers, Alex and Dell infiltrate a dangerous culture where the macabre seems mundane and passion is power. Unable to deny their attraction or resist temptation they begin a journey, entering into a torrid affair that will forever change their destiny.
An age-old secret, a consort held hostage, a curse demanding to be broken, and an unforgettable battle with a mercenary master mage will have you holding your breath. Let Samantha Sommersby lead you into a world like no other, a world where vampires are real, where magic is possible, and where love still conquers all.
Indulge in the Forbidden, because sometimes giving in to temptation can be a good thing.
Forbidden: The Revolution Trivia!
1. The cover inspired a scene in the book rather than being based on a scene in the book. After seeing it I had to go back and add the scene.
2. The spells are poorly translated ancient Sumerian. I figure that there aren't a lot of folks out there that speak Sumerian, so I'm probably safe.
3. Originally the villain of the book was supposed to be Malcolm, but he wasn't evil enough. The book was 80% finished when I realized Malcolm wasn't up to the task and I created Basta.
4. Basta's name came from a timeline that I saw at the San Diego Museum of Man's exhibit on the Copper Age.
5. Dell's conjuring of Sparky when he was around six was told in a short story that I wrote for a free read titled It's Magic on ARe. You can read it on my website.
6. My husband's favorite scene in the entire book is the first shower scene. Guess why?
7. I drove to Las Vegas and spent a couple days there so I could get the feel of the place. Part of the story is set in a hotel/night club in Vegas and it had been a few years since I'd been there. None of the hotels there seemed right and in the end I made the hotel and nightclub setting up.
8. I wrote much of the story at a local coffee shop in San Diego called Lestat's and named the virus that Dell and Alex insert into Raif's computer after the coffee shop. I drink their tea—Earl Grey is my fave.
9. The book is dedicated to my son, Max.
10. The werewolf who Dells' father tries to recruit, Jake, is going to get his very own book - Forbidden: The Temptation. I'm hoping it will be relesed in the winter of 2008.
What's Next?
Forbidden: The Temptation
Sometimes…giving in to temptation can be a good thing.
Enjoy this free short story, Breathe, written by Samantha Sommersby and based on the characters from Forbidden: The Temptation.
Breathe , I told myself. Just Breathe .
It's funny how things that you normally do without conscious effort become all but impossible when your world crashes in on you. I remembered it being that way when my mother died, I remembered it being that way when I found out that my ex-husband was cheating on me, and I remembered it happening the day that I had the accident in Yosemite, the day that a pack of wild wolves sprang from the woods, cutting across the trail I'd been hiking, the day that he found me. And now, he was here.
"Allison!" he shouted from behind me. I could tell that he was close. I quickened my step, my heart pounding a staccato beat that matched the sounds of my frantic steps. I raced down the stairs in my high-heeled black pumps, praying that I wouldn't trip and fall.
When I rounded the corner to my office I had my keys in my hand. Only my hand was shaking. I couldn't get the key in the lock.
Allison?" he said quietly.
I closed my eyes.
"You said you were from Dallas," I whispered. "You said you were a Lawyer."
The corridor was teaming with students, co-eds in their late teens and early twenties that had come here to learn. Boys and girls who placed their faith in teachers…teachers like me. My stomach lurched. I swallowed down the bile that had risen up in my throat, slipped the key into the lock and opened the door. Before I could close it, his boot was there. Those same God damned black cowboy boots that I saw when I first came to on that trail back in the woods.
"I said I worked for a law-firm in Dallas. It was true. Last summer I worked for my uncle in Dallas and stayed with him. Let me in Aly. People are going to wonder—"
That did it. For better or for worse, I stepped back and Jake Madison crossed the threshold, all six-one and one hundred, eighty pounds of him. Jake was all muscle and sinew. His body was beautiful and hard and I knew it well. I knew how it looked, I knew how it smelled, I knew how it tasted and I knew how it responded to my touch.
I placed my hands behind my back and moved to the far wall.
"I can't believe this is happening," I gasped. "You can't be a college student."
Jake smiled that big lop-sided grin of his and wagged his finger at me. "You said that you taught at a college in southern California. That was a lie, I called every one. None of them had a professor Connelly.
"Connelly is my maiden name, Jake. I used to be Allison Robinson. I was offered this job at the last minute," I explained, "when Deborah Marshall decided not to come back from maternity leave. How old are you, Jake?"
"Twenty-one," he said, moving closer his steps fluid and confident. "Twenty-two in a few weeks."
"Twenty-one," I repeated, trying to let it sink in.
"Yes, ma'am," he said, as he placed his hands on the wall on either side of me. "Now, shut up and kiss me."
I reached out and placed my hand on his chest. I'd meant to push him away, honest I did. But somehow my hand developed a mind of it's own and it took a detour, trailing down over Jake's stomach. It quivered expectantly under his tight white t-shirt.
"I never should have let you in this door. I want you to leave," I told him, my voice was breathless and rough with want, even to my own ears it sounded like a lie.
"You shouldn't have let me in the door? I never should have let you go. You want me, I'll give you that…" he murmured.
His mouth was just a hairsbreadth away from mine. "Jake," I gasped, as he took my hand and slid it down over the bulge in his jeans.
"Kiss me," he demanded.
"You're a student," I reminded him. Or, maybe I was reminding myself.
He deftly moved one of my hands around to the back of his neck and the other around his waist, then he stepped closer still, crushing me to him in a way that reminded me of everything that I wanted, everything that I'd missed for the last few months, everything that I thought I'd never have again and couldn't take now.
"I can't. It's wrong." I closed my eyes. Wishing, praying that things could be different.
"It's not wrong. I'm not your student. I didn't get into the class. I was going to try to crash. I was every bit as surprised to see you as you were to see me, Allison. Our relationship pre-dates you coming here. No one can accuse you of anything," he reasoned.
"You're being naďve. One week of good sex—"
"Great, mind-blowing sex," he corrected.
I couldn't help but smile and agree. "Okay, great, mind-blowing sex. That's…that's not a relationship."
"No?" he asked, his hand gliding down over my hip, past my thigh. He gingerly began to gather up the edge of my skirt.
"No," I replied.
His calloused fingertips were tracing the tops of my silk stockings, exploring. "Maybe not," he agreed, brushing him lips across mine, his tongue darting out to tease my bottom lip. "But it was something, and it could be more."
"More?"
"Much, much more. It could be a great beginning," Jake whispered. "Come on, Aly. Don't push me away. Don't let this chance pass us by. People wait their entire lives for the right person to come along. What if you're it? What if I'm it? I know you're still getting over a bad relationship. I know that I'm asking you to take a big risk here but—"
"Jake? Shut up and kiss me."
"Oh, honey, I'm going to do much more than that," he groaned, the deep timber of his smooth voice washing over me like a warm evening rain, removing the grime from my past and giving me something fresh, something I thought I'd lost forever…hope.
As his lips neared mine, Breathe , I told myself. Just Breathe .
