Published Works: The Burning Truth (2025) – A crime thriller due out Spring, The Journey So Far (2024) – Four poetry books in one and The Devil You Know & The Depths Of Murder (2023) – A crime thriller.
Tell me a bit about yourself?
I am an author and poet born and raised in Wigan Greater Manchester where I still live with my husband, Darren and our three rescue cats. I enjoy being outdoors in the countryside and I am a great animal lover. For 24 years I worked in Shevington in what was Richardson’s chemist. I was a pharmacy technician and to be honest, I thought I would be working there until retirement age. However, life had other plans for me.
What sort of literature do you write?
I write poetry, short fictional stories, and crime fiction.
What inspires you to write?
I have always had an innate passion for writing. As a young child, I would write poems inspired by my friends, family, and pets. I read books by Rohl Dahl, C.S Lewis, and Enid Blyton which all lit a fire in my young imagination. These days my inspiration comes from a wide range of influences. From my natural surroundings, and the weather, to coffee shops and my northern roots. The fear of ageing, death and changing times. My writing is inspired by my fears and my regrets.
How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?
Well, if it wasn’t for a chronic bout of sciatica back in 2019, my writing journey may have never begun. It was while off work with the injury that I suddenly had the time available to write once more. After years of literary inactivity, I dug out my old scraps of writing and compiled them into a book. I was suddenly reminded of my love of writing, and my natural talent for the art and so, the river of words began to flow once more.
As I got older, my mind began to ponder on the past and the future. My regrets and lack of ambition ate away at me. The fear of ageing, of losing my parents, of profound change to come hit me like a truck. I suffered from extreme panic attacks and even ended up in hospital with a suspected heart attack. I lost weight, and was even afraid to go outdoors; in short, I was a nervous wreck. This unexpected panic disorder had a huge impact on my job, my family, on my entire life.
After a long road and with medical help and therapy, I felt strong enough to pour the painful experience into my writing. Readers will see the change from very dark to wonderfully light in my book, The Journey So Far.
Tell me what your latest creative work is about?
My latest book is called The Burning Truth and is the third instalment of The DI Lizzie Holland crime series. It follows my protagonist, 49-year-old Lizzie in her unconventional role as a Detective Inspector in major crimes based in Preston Lancashire.
Without giving too much away, Lizzie experienced a terrible ordeal in book one resulting in her joining the police aged 41. Whilst fighting for justice, Lizzie is experiencing some harrowing goings-on in her personal life. This theme is carried throughout the books and in The Burning Truth, readers will finally get the answer to the ongoing mystery.
What do you hope your readers will get from your latest creative work?
I hope readers will get a sense of themselves in my work. I want readers to invest in my characters and to care about what happens to them. With my poetry, if someone can identify with the words and take comfort from them, or realise they are not alone in the way they might be feeling, then this author will be very happy.
What are you working on at the moment or what do you have planned for the future?
I am currently writing book four in The DI Lizzie Holland series, plus my publishers and I are working with a narrator for the audiobook of The Devil You Know & The Depths Of Murder.
The Burning Truth is due for release very soon and I will be arranging a book signing once more in my local branch of Waterstones Wigan. This summer I have plans to organise a creative writing walk and a local poetry performance with my talented friend, Rick Pilkington who is a very talented musician and fellow poet.
What is the most exciting thing and the most challenging thing about writing?
I get so excited when my new books are released to the public. It means the world to me that I get to share my words with the public.
The challenging part isn’t the writing, I find the story comes easily once my fingers hit the keys, but the research for a topic can be both enjoyable and difficult. Promoting oneself can be challenging because authors are but a tiny fish in a gigantic sea of writers. My publishers and I have to work extremely hard to get my books noticed.
What advice would you give to anyone who wants to be a writer?
If you want to be a writer, then write. It doesn’t have to be published or shared if you aren’t ready yet; you will still be a writer! Once you are ready it is free and easy to self-publish with Amazon or Ingram Spark. Use budget-friendly freelancers to proofread and review your work, Fivver is a good platform for this. Or, find publishers who specialise in your writing genre and send them the manuscript. Lastly, rejection is normal. It happens to every author. J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter was rejected 12 times before Bloomsbury accepted it and went on to sell over 600 million copies!
Where can readers learn more?
My website: www.samanthaturner.net
Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samanthaturnerauthor
Hello Samantha, nice to find out a little more about you.
I read ‘The Devil’ straight through in one day without stopping and loved your lively and fresh style.
Waiting patiently now for ‘The Burning Truth’. Keep me posted about the launch and other things. A great pity that the Festival won’t be happening.
Hi Stephen,
The festival will be happening, we are just not sure when yet due to unforeseen circumstances it had to be delayed.
Best Wishes,
Antony