An Interview with Samantha Ferreira - the Author of "Threaded" and "Gravity"


WRIPE-6, the sixth Writing Project organized by Chinthaka Nanayakkara since 2017, has reached nearly forty mini e-books in English language. Like everyone else in the world, he is at home, often washing hands to get rid of corona but he has not yet given up talking to his best performers of the writing project. Online he connects with Samantha Ferreira, his Portuguese Coordinator from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil over a cup of tea, in a quiet evening …






Q - Sam … oh how our lives changed! Hope you are safe at home, right? 


It does! Always unexpectedly… I am, thank God. Hope you are too!


Q -  I am good! But the situation over here in Colombo is quite normal. Compared to other countries we are in a stable situation. But, hey, let’s talk about you Sam! What would you like to have coffee? Tea? Some cookies?


Right now, as I answer you this, my country has around 650k confirmed cases (302k of cured people and 35k of deaths). We’re in a bad situation, but we’ll get better… I’d love some iced tea with some good chocolate chip cookies… You?



Q - My goodness! Brazil situation that bad? Ah yes yes now come to think of it! I saw that in TV! But just don’t worry. Everything will be alright soon! (Pours iced tea and brings up a big tray of chocolate chip cookies) Help yourself Sam! So tell me about your literary life a bit. Let’s start at the earliest achievements! You wrote stories when you were in school, right?


Yeah! People here are doing the complete opposite of what we SHOULD do. Lord help us… Anyways… I was always complimented by my essays at school but I’ve only started to write when I was 19, I guess. At that time, I’d written a short story entitled All This Time and had posted on Nyah!... But I deleted it afterwards to make some changes and make it into a longer story… That one is paused but I’ll finish it one day…



Q -  All This Time? What an attractive title for a short story! What was it about? 


It’s a melodrama! There’s lots of drama and some romance… It tells the story of a girl who, out of a sudden, discovers that her whole life was a lie. Add family secrets and people trying to, literally, get rid of her and you’ll have it! But I’m still figuring out the new title… And I have no idea of when I’ll come back to write this one…



Q - Hey that sounds exciting! And I adore melodrama! This girl is adopted? I mean … she finds her life a lie … Guess she finds out the real truth later on right? You wrote that in Portuguese? 


Well, you’ll have to wait till I finish to find out! And, yeah, I wrote that on in Portuguese… Nowaday I developed a weird habit of first writing in English and later translating to my native language. So, I guess that’ll happen with this story too…



Q - Ha ha okay! We all will be waiting expectantly for that! And … Apart from All This Time, what are your other literary work Sam? Novels, stories, essays, blogs, anything you would want to show around?


Well, right now I have two on-going stories that I’m publishing named “Threaded” and “Gravity”. Both are on Inkitt and Tapas and their portuguese version is available on Wattpad. I don’t have a blog, as I find myself struggling between work, home and my stories… And those two are only the tip of the iceberg… I have over ten projects that I’ll be working on as I gradually finish my books. My goal is to always have two books being published. :)



Q - Hey don't be so modest! You do have a blog! Wripesportugueses! Remember I gave you translation rights? ha ha!


Hey, it’s not my blog! It belongs to WRIPES! I’m merely coordinating it in portuguese. Plus, I’m now posting the stories on Tapas, so I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on having a personal blog.



Q - Ha ha! Thanks! But it is all yours since you have taken lots of effort to keep it alive in Portuguese. Speaking about WRIPES, tell me what do you think about this concept to encourage aspiring writers around the world. Were you excited when I invited you to become my Portuguese coordinator for WRIPE-6?


Yes, absolutely! Back then, I had just decided to get back on writing and I was feeling so insecure about it! I think these kinds of projects are a great opportunity for new writers! Although short, I really enjoyed it! 



Q - How do you think your role as a Portuguese Coordinator will contribute to a literary career Sam? Would you like more Chocolate? 


Chocolate?? Yes, please! Uhm… Being the coordinator has helped me see and experience how it actually works to coordinate a big project. It certainly helped me to be more proactive with my work and more organized. For example, I still don’t have a fixed schedule for the updates but I’m writing more and I’m updating more constantly. I was a mess before, and I’m less of a mess now (laughs)



Q - (Joins her laughter, gets to his feet and brings more chocolate) So before we wind up this interview dear Sam ... You have a message to your fans? Your online friends? People who want to be authors … And also you live in Rio … Your readers might want to contact you … any contact details you wish to share hmmm? 


To my fans out there, if you do exist, please come out! I feel lonely, guys… (laughs)


To everyone who dreams of being an author, seriously, don’t feel afraid of writing. Write it, start with a sentence, then a paragraph. Remember, write the stories you wanna tell and that you’d like to read. I write because my characters live inside my head and all of them are dying to let their story be known…


I live in a small coast city named Rio das Ostras, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. If you’d like to contact me, feel free to do so by reaching out on my IG (@writer.saaaaamc) or you can find me on Inkitt, Tapas and Wattpad (under the username @saaaaamc)...


Now, it’s a secret, but I may have started a blog to rant about life… and maybe give spoilers about my books… I’m just a beginner though, be easy on me ♥



 

Comments

  1. Really grateful for the opportunity to work with you in this project!

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