A little bit about me...

Samantha Wood, author of Culua, The Bay of Shadows and Under Ten Thousand Stars

I’m Samantha Wood. My first novel, The Bay of Shadows was published in December 2016. It is my first novel, although not my first book. That was a travel memoir, Culua: My Other Life in Mexico published by Random House Australia back in 2003, and was essentially a love letter to my mother’s country. 

I graduated from Monash University in 2005 with a Master's degree in Translation Studies (Spanish) focusing on the translations of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's little-known children's stories where angels crash landed in chicken coops and the world's handsomest man washed ashore. It was this fascination with language and the magic of words that inspired the story for The Bay of Shadows, but my love affair with writing started long before that. When I was a child, I loved nothing more than reading, and never went anywhere without a book. Naturally, when I finished high school, I went to university to study journalism, but my heart always belonged to storytelling. So after many trips to Mexico, I started writing Culua and have never looked back.


My follow-up novel, Under Ten Thousand Stars, a psychological thriller about love gone wrong in wine country was published in May 2019. Earlier that year, I started my own publishing company, Magpie Tree Press, so that I could publish and develop my own books for Australian and international markets and, eventually, for the screen. I love storytelling and, most of all, meeting readers during my author talks where I get the chance to travel around the country, visiting libraries far and wide where I talk about the writing process, what I've learned since starting my own imprint, and sharing tips and tricks for aspiring authors in the audience. And while 2020/21 saw me grounded from travel, I did get the chance to think about new story ideas, and was invited to become an Australia Reads Ambassador, which gave me further opportunities to talk about my love of writing – and books – and share the book love far and wide. 

In late 2021, I completed the third novel in the Coastal Noir Trilogy, The Song of Clouds, a story of hope and second chances, which is set on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. It was released in February 2022 and if you would like to read more about it, click here. I am currently writing my fifth book, Shalimar, which will be released in November this year. I hope you enjoy reading my books and escaping into the world of my imagination. If you’d like to connect, enter your email address at the bottom of the page to receive my bi-monthly newsletter or join me over on Instagram and Facebook.


Thanks for reading!


Samantha

I’m Samantha Wood. My first novel, The Bay of Shadows was published in December 2016. It is my first novel, although not my first book. That was a travel memoir, Culua: My Other Life in Mexico published by Random House Australia back in 2003, and was essentially a love letter to my mother’s country.


I graduated from Monash University in 2005 with a Master's degree in Translation Studies (Spanish) focusing on the translations of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's little-known children's stories where angels crash landed in chicken coops and the world's handsomest man washed ashore. It was this fascination with language and the magic of words that inspired the story for The Bay of Shadows, but my love affair with writing started long before that. When I was a child, I loved nothing more than reading, and never went anywhere without a book. Naturally, when I finished high school, I went to university to study journalism, but my heart always belonged to storytelling. So after many trips to Mexico, I started writing Culua and have never looked back.


My follow-up novel, Under Ten Thousand Stars, a psychological thriller about love gone wrong in wine country was published in May 2019. Earlier that year, I started my own publishing company, Magpie Tree Press, so that I could publish and develop my own books for Australian and international markets and, eventually, for the screen. I love storytelling and, most of all, meeting readers during my author talks where I get the chance to travel around the country, visiting libraries far and wide where I talk about the writing process, what I've learned since starting my own imprint, and sharing tips and tricks for aspiring authors in the audience. And while 2020/21 saw me grounded from travel, I did get the chance to think about new story ideas, and was invited to become an Australia Reads Ambassador, which gave me further opportunities to talk about my love of writing – and books – and share the book love far and wide. 


In late 2021, I completed the third novel in the Coastal Noir Trilogy, The Song of Clouds, a story of hope and second chances, which is set on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. It was released in February 2022 and if you would like to read more about it, click here. I am currently writing my fifth book, Shalimar, which will be released in November this year. 

I hope you enjoy reading my books and escaping into the world of my imagination.  If you’d like to connect, enter your email address at the bottom of the page to receive my bi-monthly newsletter or join me over on Instagram and Facebook.


Thanks for reading!


Samantha

A little bit about me...

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