We were lucky to catch up with Samantha Gibson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Samantha, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I have a lot of goals in my life that I hope to achieve; being an author, an actress, a voice actor, and a content creator where my videos will reach millions. Stephen King always has a spot in my heart, it’s always been so cool to me that his books were made into movies and I hope that one day my books will do the same. A YouTuber like Markiplier (Mark Edward Fischbach) is someone I look up to, maybe one day I’ll be like him.

My friends and family have always been here to support me and I appreciate it a lot–my cousin who’s also my best friend, Aspen, would have to be number one.

Creating a legacy includes a lot of things. With my books, I hope to reach out to my readers and other writers, make a movie in their heads and feel the emotions portrayed through words on a page. My new book “Dear Diary 2020-2022” will hopefully find a publisher and release within the next year, and in that book, there’s a copious amount of emotions in diary form. The readers get an insight into others’ thoughts, ideas, and trauma. My goal with that book is for my readers to either enjoy a good story, relate, learn, and see different anonymous perspectives.

When Hostage came out, it made me experience more of the community around me. Going to events like the Rosemount Writers Festival, being interviewed on Kare 11, and other book signing/selling events, I’ve met a lot of book lovers, authors, creators, and families–experiencing life, you could say. The more you see, the more you can create.

I want to be able to give an image to other creative minds like myself and show kids and teens that they don’t have to wait until they’re an adult to begin their passions. Yes, a high schooler can publish a book, and a middle schooler can too! If you’re between the age of 10-20 in my opinion, that’s the golden years of life where you can experience and find your path. My books becoming movies like Stephen King, me being an actor in movies, people watching and enjoying my content, that’s who I’m growing to become.

I’m so glad that I was able to have the opportunity to learn about my publisher, Sigma’s Bookshelf from a middle school field trip to a Young Authors Conference. I want to be able to continue activities like that in schools because it’s a great opportunity for kids to explore their passions and what they’d like to be in the future. If I’d never gone on that trip, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today.

Samantha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Samantha Gibson and I’m a proud member of the lgbtq+ community. I live in Wisconsin attending New Richmond High School. I’ll be graduating early this year and I can’t wait! Starting from the beginning, I’ve always been a writer since elementary school. During class, I’d always choose to write over reading and write short horror stories–I was a bit obsessed with horror movies as a kid. Going into high school is when everything really started. I never thought I would write an entire book, become an author, or even my name on the school library shelves. On September 8th, 2019, I began writing hostage because I simply was bored in class. By March of 2020, the last record before freshman year ended, hostage had 34,850 words with a goal of 100,000. I completed writing the book on February 12th, 2021 with 80,013 words, and the next day I sent it to my publisher, Sigma’s Bookshelf. The nonprofit arts organization is the first book publishing company exclusively for teen writers. I didn’t have a plan for how hostage would turn out, my fingers just typed on the keyboard as ideas flew through my head and I kept a separate google doc with all of the information/updates about the book. A lot of people come to me with “you must love reading” or “what’s your favorite book?” but the funny thing is, I don’t read. It’s common for authors to be readers, I think it’s cool that it sets me apart from others because it’s not the norm. One of my biggest goals is to grow more followers/fans.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I’ve always told myself that my life won’t become a boring 9-5 until retiring and moving on with the flow of society. A lot of creative careers give me a chance to do the things I love and want to do in life. I want to be able to travel, see the world, experience the unknown, and create content for my followers/fans to come along with the journey. All while making money to be comfortable, not stressed, and bored of the same thing every day. Have fun, live life, continue my passions, and see the beauty of the world, I guess you could say that’s driving my journey.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative?

Personally, there are a few things that feel rewarding being an artist/creative. Being able to get my work out there for the world to see is one of them, the other is being able to grow an audience and get support from everyone. Knowing that people enjoy reading my books, or watching my videos, fills me with serotonin. Also being able to work with my passions and live by doing what I love makes me excited for the future experiences I will have.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samantha.gibson.writes/?next=%2F
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh1mhmuQcIRFgN5R60gNo6w

Image Credits
Photographer: Deena Zauft Link: https://deenazauft.zenfolio.com