"The Samson Effect is a…First class thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure."- Clive Cussler
With a quote like that you can´t go wrong. Tony Eldridge´s first novel, The Samson Effect, takes its readers into the Middle East and on an edge of your seat race to save millions of lives. American biblical archeologist, Thomas Hamilton, and his trusted friend and colleague, Israeli biblical linguist Michael Sieff, are on the hunt for a long-lost elixir that is capable of giving those who take it superhuman strengths—also known as the Samson Effect.
When they discover an ancient parchment that not only confirms its existence but the location, Thomas and Michael set off to find the truth behind the Samson Effect´s myth. But they soon learn that they´re not alone and others seek to control the Samson Effect for power. A worldwide catastrophe is on the horizon and the Samson Effect is the key.
Tony Eldridge was born in Indiana and spent his childhood in the farming town of Westfield. Tony holds both an AA degree from Florida College in Temple Terrace Florida, and a BA degree in Communications from the University of North Alabama. Tony has also attended the Harding University in Arizona. He now lives in Texas with his wife and twin sons.
C. L. Vaughn: Hi Tony, thanks for taking part in an Author-2-Author interview. I guess I´ll start by asking where the idea for the Samson Effect came from?
Tony Eldridge: First, I would like to thank you for the opportunity you are giving me to speak about The Samson Effect. I was a minister for 10 years. During that time, I developed a passion about the Old Testament and its characters. As a lover of action/adventure literature, you can't get much better than the stories in the Old Testament. Hollywood couldn't come up with stories like David and Goliath, Noah and the Flood, Joseph in Egypt, Jonah and the "whale", and of course, Samson. I just took that amazing story and found a way to bring it into the 21st century as an action/adventure tale.
C. L. Vaughn: Are your two main characters, Thomas Hamilton and Michael Sieff, named after anyone you know? If not, what process did you take to come up with those two names?
Tony Eldridge: I did not name the characters after anyone I know, though I do know a lot of Mikes and Toms. I played around with Thomas's name until the first and last name came together for me. I wanted an all-American name for him. With Michael, I wanted an Israeli name that was very modern so I went through a lot of the names in the Bible and settled on his. For last names, I researched Israeli names found in news stories to make sure I found an authentic name. I did the same for the Palestinian names I used. In fact, I made a list of Israeli male and female names, and a list of Arabic male and female names and crossed them off as I used them. Here's an interesting note: After the book was published, I Googled the characters names. Thomas Sieff is the actual name for a foundation that helps children. Thomas Hamilton is a mass murderer in Scotland who killed a lot of children. Had I known that, I may have reconsidered his name. Fortunately, sales for the Samson Effect in that area is relatively strong in spite of the character's name.
C. L. Vaughn: When did you first get bitten by the writing bug? And how long did it take to complete the Samson Effect?
Tony Eldridge: I wrote my first fiction story in the 6th grade. However, I didn't do any other fiction writing until 2002 or 2003. I wrote my first novel, The Lottery Ticket, then. It isn't published, but it taught me how to write fiction. The Samson Effect took about three or four months to write and a couple of years to revise. I also put it in the closet for a couple of years before finally publishing it.
C. L. Vaughn: Myself being self published I can attest to the work that goes into promoting your work. Do you have any tips for our readers on how to help promote their work?
Tony Eldridge: Something that has worked well for me has been cultivating the word-of-mouth effect. I spend time on social networks like MySpace and I try to meet other authors. Before you know it, you can have a small, dedicated army of people telling others about your book. These people really want to see you succeed and I'd say that they are the biggest factor in your success. I owe a debt of gratitude to people like Jo in Australia, Char and Julie in Texas, Bobby in England, Kevin in Hawaii, and a whole slew of others that I just don't have time to mention. I mention these because they were some of my earliest supporters. I have never met any of them face-to-face, but I could never have been as successful as I am without them.
C. L. Vaughn: Is there a Samson Effect sequel in the making? Maybe another adventure with the two main characters?
Tony Eldridge: Actually, I am writing the draft of the sequel now. One of the female characters in The Samson Effect also makes it into the next book as a strong, female main character. I am planning on the three being together in other books. And here is an exclusive for you... I have never mentioned this in public until now. The name of the next book is tentatively titled, "The Adam Effect." Unfortunately, that's all I am prepared to mention about the sequel at this point except to say that the stakes are raised even higher in the next book.
C. L. Vaughn: I tend to jump around from chapter to chapter, even story to story when I´m writing. What´s you process for writing a story? Are you the type who builds outlines and pieces together the story or are you the type to start on page one and write to the end?
Tony Eldridge: I tend to start on page one and write through to the end without much of a formal outline. However, I do spend a lot of time thinking about the characters, scenes, and plot before writing. In that sense, I do a lot of mental preparing/outlining. Some of my biggest breakthroughs have occurred while I was mowing the grass.
C. L. Vaughn: I´ve found that creating a book trailer (video advertisement for a book, similar to a movie trailer) for my full-length novel, The Baltazara Plateau, has been very useful in gaining awareness. Have you seen the same effect with you book trailer?
New Samson Effect Book Trailer (Dec 2007)
Tony Eldridge: You know, it has in the sense that it has allowed my book to find a presence on some very popular sites like Youtube. Without the book trailer, it would be hard to tap into that traffic.
C. L. Vaughn: What is your opinion on self publishing?
Tony Eldridge: I published The Samson Effect through iUniverse and I have been very happy with it. If you go the self-publishing route, you need to be prepared to do a lot of marketing, pressing the flesh, e-mailing, and networking. If you don't, your book will go nowhere. But I also see the value in publishing traditionally. Each method has it's strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes, there is a terrible bias on the part of traditionally published authors and self-published authors against the other. Self publishing is a viable, worthwhile way to get your voice in print. And many self-published authors do better than some traditionally published authors. The biggest hurdle, in my opinion, for self-published authors is the lack of a strong distribution that New York companies have. But the internet is changing a lot of that and you are starting to see the playing field level. This is the best time ever for writers who self-publish. If you put in the work, you can do a good job in marketing your book worldwide.
C. L. Vaughn: How much research went into making the Samson Effect and what researching tools/techniques did you use to conduct it?
Tony Eldridge: A lot of my research came when I was a minister. I took an academic approach to my Old Testament studies and I have also been a big history buff. But I relied on the internet a lot for things like the study of dormant seed viability, archeology, and even things like bat behavior. I also spent a lot of time at Barnes and Noble and Borders bookstore making sure I had access to the latest popular research for many of the things in my book.
C. L. Vaughn: Thank you again for taking part in this interview. Before we go I´ll let you have the last word. Anything you´d like to share with our readers?
Tony Eldridge: If you get a chance to visit my website at samsoneffect. com, check out the Fact vs Fiction tab. At the time I wrote The Samson Effect, the science of dormant seed viability stretched the bounds of my fiction. But in June, a researcher published the results of her success in growing a tree from 2000 year old dormant seeds found in Israel. Overnight, my fiction took a huge leap toward fact. For a fiction writer, something like that is the coolest thing that can happen.
With a quote like that you can´t go wrong. Tony Eldridge´s first novel, The Samson Effect, takes its readers into the Middle East and on an edge of your seat race to save millions of lives. American biblical archeologist, Thomas Hamilton, and his trusted friend and colleague, Israeli biblical linguist Michael Sieff, are on the hunt for a long-lost elixir that is capable of giving those who take it superhuman strengths—also known as the Samson Effect.
When they discover an ancient parchment that not only confirms its existence but the location, Thomas and Michael set off to find the truth behind the Samson Effect´s myth. But they soon learn that they´re not alone and others seek to control the Samson Effect for power. A worldwide catastrophe is on the horizon and the Samson Effect is the key.
Tony Eldridge was born in Indiana and spent his childhood in the farming town of Westfield. Tony holds both an AA degree from Florida College in Temple Terrace Florida, and a BA degree in Communications from the University of North Alabama. Tony has also attended the Harding University in Arizona. He now lives in Texas with his wife and twin sons.
C. L. Vaughn: Hi Tony, thanks for taking part in an Author-2-Author interview. I guess I´ll start by asking where the idea for the Samson Effect came from?
Tony Eldridge: First, I would like to thank you for the opportunity you are giving me to speak about The Samson Effect. I was a minister for 10 years. During that time, I developed a passion about the Old Testament and its characters. As a lover of action/adventure literature, you can't get much better than the stories in the Old Testament. Hollywood couldn't come up with stories like David and Goliath, Noah and the Flood, Joseph in Egypt, Jonah and the "whale", and of course, Samson. I just took that amazing story and found a way to bring it into the 21st century as an action/adventure tale.
C. L. Vaughn: Are your two main characters, Thomas Hamilton and Michael Sieff, named after anyone you know? If not, what process did you take to come up with those two names?
Tony Eldridge: I did not name the characters after anyone I know, though I do know a lot of Mikes and Toms. I played around with Thomas's name until the first and last name came together for me. I wanted an all-American name for him. With Michael, I wanted an Israeli name that was very modern so I went through a lot of the names in the Bible and settled on his. For last names, I researched Israeli names found in news stories to make sure I found an authentic name. I did the same for the Palestinian names I used. In fact, I made a list of Israeli male and female names, and a list of Arabic male and female names and crossed them off as I used them. Here's an interesting note: After the book was published, I Googled the characters names. Thomas Sieff is the actual name for a foundation that helps children. Thomas Hamilton is a mass murderer in Scotland who killed a lot of children. Had I known that, I may have reconsidered his name. Fortunately, sales for the Samson Effect in that area is relatively strong in spite of the character's name.
C. L. Vaughn: When did you first get bitten by the writing bug? And how long did it take to complete the Samson Effect?
Tony Eldridge: I wrote my first fiction story in the 6th grade. However, I didn't do any other fiction writing until 2002 or 2003. I wrote my first novel, The Lottery Ticket, then. It isn't published, but it taught me how to write fiction. The Samson Effect took about three or four months to write and a couple of years to revise. I also put it in the closet for a couple of years before finally publishing it.
C. L. Vaughn: Myself being self published I can attest to the work that goes into promoting your work. Do you have any tips for our readers on how to help promote their work?
Tony Eldridge: Something that has worked well for me has been cultivating the word-of-mouth effect. I spend time on social networks like MySpace and I try to meet other authors. Before you know it, you can have a small, dedicated army of people telling others about your book. These people really want to see you succeed and I'd say that they are the biggest factor in your success. I owe a debt of gratitude to people like Jo in Australia, Char and Julie in Texas, Bobby in England, Kevin in Hawaii, and a whole slew of others that I just don't have time to mention. I mention these because they were some of my earliest supporters. I have never met any of them face-to-face, but I could never have been as successful as I am without them.
C. L. Vaughn: Is there a Samson Effect sequel in the making? Maybe another adventure with the two main characters?
Tony Eldridge: Actually, I am writing the draft of the sequel now. One of the female characters in The Samson Effect also makes it into the next book as a strong, female main character. I am planning on the three being together in other books. And here is an exclusive for you... I have never mentioned this in public until now. The name of the next book is tentatively titled, "The Adam Effect." Unfortunately, that's all I am prepared to mention about the sequel at this point except to say that the stakes are raised even higher in the next book.
C. L. Vaughn: I tend to jump around from chapter to chapter, even story to story when I´m writing. What´s you process for writing a story? Are you the type who builds outlines and pieces together the story or are you the type to start on page one and write to the end?
Tony Eldridge: I tend to start on page one and write through to the end without much of a formal outline. However, I do spend a lot of time thinking about the characters, scenes, and plot before writing. In that sense, I do a lot of mental preparing/outlining. Some of my biggest breakthroughs have occurred while I was mowing the grass.
C. L. Vaughn: I´ve found that creating a book trailer (video advertisement for a book, similar to a movie trailer) for my full-length novel, The Baltazara Plateau, has been very useful in gaining awareness. Have you seen the same effect with you book trailer?
New Samson Effect Book Trailer (Dec 2007)
Tony Eldridge: You know, it has in the sense that it has allowed my book to find a presence on some very popular sites like Youtube. Without the book trailer, it would be hard to tap into that traffic.
C. L. Vaughn: What is your opinion on self publishing?
Tony Eldridge: I published The Samson Effect through iUniverse and I have been very happy with it. If you go the self-publishing route, you need to be prepared to do a lot of marketing, pressing the flesh, e-mailing, and networking. If you don't, your book will go nowhere. But I also see the value in publishing traditionally. Each method has it's strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes, there is a terrible bias on the part of traditionally published authors and self-published authors against the other. Self publishing is a viable, worthwhile way to get your voice in print. And many self-published authors do better than some traditionally published authors. The biggest hurdle, in my opinion, for self-published authors is the lack of a strong distribution that New York companies have. But the internet is changing a lot of that and you are starting to see the playing field level. This is the best time ever for writers who self-publish. If you put in the work, you can do a good job in marketing your book worldwide.
C. L. Vaughn: How much research went into making the Samson Effect and what researching tools/techniques did you use to conduct it?
Tony Eldridge: A lot of my research came when I was a minister. I took an academic approach to my Old Testament studies and I have also been a big history buff. But I relied on the internet a lot for things like the study of dormant seed viability, archeology, and even things like bat behavior. I also spent a lot of time at Barnes and Noble and Borders bookstore making sure I had access to the latest popular research for many of the things in my book.
C. L. Vaughn: Thank you again for taking part in this interview. Before we go I´ll let you have the last word. Anything you´d like to share with our readers?
Tony Eldridge: If you get a chance to visit my website at samsoneffect. com, check out the Fact vs Fiction tab. At the time I wrote The Samson Effect, the science of dormant seed viability stretched the bounds of my fiction. But in June, a researcher published the results of her success in growing a tree from 2000 year old dormant seeds found in Israel. Overnight, my fiction took a huge leap toward fact. For a fiction writer, something like that is the coolest thing that can happen.
