We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Samantha Skal a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Samantha, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

It was October 2019, and I’d just ended a job I loved with people I loved working with, in order to pursue a long-held dream: writing a novel. And particularly, a thriller.

As a long-time lover of the genre, many false starts on previous novels, and with a two-decade-old degree in English Literature, I was ready to dive in and tackle finishing a novel-length project. I had that thought every author has when they start: “How hard could this be?”

Hard, as it turns out.

The first draft came easily. Looking back now, I know it’s because I had the confidence that’s possible only before we put in the hours needed to learn what we don’t yet know about what it takes to be good at something. But then? Then I was sure I was writing something that would surely need very little editing. Agents would immediately say yes. I’d have a multi-book deal in short order.

That early-stage confidence is heady. And fun. And oh so incorrect.

The risk I took was a risk I didn’t even know I was taking, such was my confidence. I signed up to attend ThrillerFest (https://thrillerfest.com/), THE conference for thriller writers, and when it pivoted to online due to Covid, I confidently pitched my novel to eight agents during PitchFest, an event where writers can pitch agents in the hopes of signing with one of them. All eight asked to see my manuscript. This is it, I thought. I’m mere days away from achieving my dream. This is so easy!

Within a few weeks, I’d been (correctly) rejected by all of them. Still not getting it and mystified, I looked for help and, via an ad in Jane Friedman’s excellent blog (https://janefriedman.com/), discovered Author Accelerator (https://www.authoraccelerator.com/), a company that trains and certifies book coaches. I hired a book coach, who very kindly and thoroughly explained everything that made my manuscript not work in its current state. That was when I finally understood the risk I’d taken.

That risk was jumping in with unearned confidence before my manuscript was even remotely ready. Those agents I pitched would perhaps not ever look again at that same project, because often, a no is a no.

But, because life is about making mistakes and learning, I don’t regret any of this. It led me to ThrillerFest. It led me to revise that novel (and revise it again, and again, and again), and write another. It led me to Author Accelerator, and my certification as a book coach, a soul-fulfilling job I adore. It led me to some incredible people – other writers and coaches – who are now among my best friends and colleagues. Most of all, it reminded me that I was not a special snowflake and I needed to learn how to do the thing like everyone else. And doing the thing – in this case learning how to improve as a writer and a coach every chance I get – is so incredibly fulfilling, I’m forever grateful to my previous self for taking that risk.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I love the mystery-thriller-suspense (MTS) genre. I love the twists, the puzzle, and the psychology of the characters. I love getting to be a part of bringing those stories to life, because there will never be enough books in the world. That’s the core around which every job I currently have rotates.

I’m an Author Accelerator (https://www.authoraccelerator.com/) certified book coach, which means I’m a trained independent editor who also helps you plan your novel (and can support you as you write it.) I specialize in MTS (and horror, because it’s delightful), and my superpower is brainstorming twists. I think of thrillers and mysteries as the villain’s story, as experienced by the protagonist. Twists are therefore simply the reveal of what’s actually going on. The protagonist has made some logical assumptions as they move through the story, and when they encounter the truth about what’s actually happening (by confronting the villain, for example, and learning what was happening and why), they learn their assumptions were incorrect. This reveal of incorrect assumptions is what makes a good twist. Although I do manuscript evaluations, developmental editing, query package preparation, revision coaching, and novel planning, my favorite place to be with a writer is when we’re brainstorming what makes these villains tick. It’s an honor to get to be a part of bringing a writer’s vision to life, and the moments where we have breakthroughs in solving tricky plot issues are magical.

I’m the Executive Director of ThrillerFest (https://thrillerfest.com/), the premier conference for thriller enthusiasts. I get to work year-round with an incredible team of people at International Thriller Writers (https://thrillerwriters.org/) (the not-for-profit organization behind ThrillerFest) to put on an annual jam-packed week of events in New York. We’re an organization made of authors for authors, and it’s such an honor to get to be a part of it. My first ThrillerFest was 2020, and I knew no one. Although it was online, I knew I’d found my people the second I started talking over Zoom to these other authors who loved MTS as much as I do. When I attended my first in-person ThrillerFest in 2022, I got to help as the Assistant Director of PitchFest, then as Co-Director of PitchFest, then as Co-Director of ThrillerFest. Now, we’re working on ThrillerFest 2026, and I’m hooked. There’s nothing like being able to support thriller authors and this genre, to talk about thrillers with other thriller writers, and witness the magic that happens at a conference where we all love the same thing. It’s an absolute blast.

I’m the Co-Founder of Shadows & Secrets (https://www.shadowsandsecrets.com/), a company I founded with my good friend and fellow book coach, Kerry Savage. We do an annual writing retreat (2024 and 2025 were both in a haunted hotel in Salem, MA), focused on plot-level coaching and brainstorming for MTS writers. And in 2025, we launched an online membership called The Society, where we unpack and deconstruct our favorite thrillers, have hot-seat coaching where members can work through plot problems and brainstorm twists, and do group write-ins.

And finally, I’m also an author. I have an agent, and I’m working hard on my debut thriller novel.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In the fall of 2024, I was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. I had no symptoms, and they caught it on my very first routine mammogram. So, everyone: get your screenings. Early screenings save lives. I’m a prime example of that.

I’m forever grateful to the excellent medical team that got me through surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and continues to support me in survivorship, and to my incredible circle of people.

While that journey was and continues to be challenging, I bring it up here because of the unexpected lessons I took and continue to take away from it. The one that resonates in terms of resilience is the power of taking things day by day, step by step, action by action. As Anne Lamott famously put it, “Take it bird by bird.” I understood this logically before this whole unexpected journey, but it hit very differently when I had to dig deep to find the strength to face down and tackle it head on. I found it empowering to go to treatments and tick them off, because I was taking an action against the thing I was scared of. It was something I could do in a situation where I felt like I had relatively little power over the outcome.

The realization around resilience that carries forward was that taking an action directly combats fear. And facing your fear is how I now think of resilience, especially when that fear is of the variety of “I’m not sure I can do this”, as it often is in creative pursuits or starting a small business. Be scared, but also decide what the next step is and take it. And then do it again.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

There are so many reasons why authors write the books they do, but in the circles I run in, it’s largely about entertainment. We seek to thrill, to distract, to make a reader feel something. And it’s pure magic when we learn we’ve achieved that goal and our work has touched a reader. So, don’t be shy. The best way to support artists – particularly authors – is to buy their books. And if you can’t buy their books, then borrow them from the library. If you love an author, tell your friends. Post about what you loved on social media. If an author comes to your local bookstore, go to their book signings and talks. Say hello, and let them know you appreciate that they wrote the book they did.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.samanthaskal.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorsamanthaskal
• Other: https://www.shadowsandsecrets.com/ https://thrillerfest.com/