Samantha Hart’s career has spanned music, film, and advertising, earning her a reputation as an award-winning Creative Director. Early in her career, Hart worked with top artists at Geffen, including Cher, Aerosmith, Nirvana, and Guns N’ Roses. In the film industry, her marketing campaigns brought prominence and Academy Awards to Fargo, Dead Man Walking, and Boys Don’t Cry while earning cult status for independent features Four Weddings and A Funeral, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and Dazed and Confused. With her partner, Samantha built a multi-million dollar company in the advertising industry, Foundation, with over forty employees and offices in Chicago and Los Angeles. Under her leadership, Foundation earned distinction as an early disrupter of the traditional production and post-production models, combining the two under one roof. Samantha currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband, director James Lipetzky, and their teenage sons. Her daughter and granddaughters reside in Massachusetts.
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Title: BLIND PONY: AS TRUE A STORY AS I CAN TELL
Author: Samantha Hart
Publisher: Wild Bill Publishing
Pages: 359
Genre: Biography/Autobiography/Memoir
BOOK BLURB:
In her debut memoir, entrepreneur and Hollywood executive Samantha Hart reveals the abuses and traumas that she overcame to build a creative, successful, and love-filled life. BLIND PONY As True A Story As I Can Tell (Wild Bill Publishing) was released on March 15, 2021, and is a 2021 Los Angeles Book Festival award winner.
BLIND PONY As True A Story As I Can Tell illuminates Sam’s remarkable ability to be honest and vulnerable about horrific experiences while infusing her unique brand of humor and being relentlessly hopeful. Her story starts with a heart-wrenching childhood of abuse that she endured by her grandfather, which led to her life as a runaway teen and landed her in 1970s Los Angeles. She navigates various abusive relationships, toxic Hollywood characters, a search for her father, “Wild Bill,” and ultimately finds her North Star.
“Almost no one in my life, including long-time friends and colleagues, knew about the trauma I experienced as a young girl. I always managed to overcome adversity throughout my life, maintain a positive outlook, and do well for myself. But deep inside, I felt damaged. In telling my story now and hearing from readers, I realize there are a lot of “blind ponies” out there. If my story resonates for even one person and helps to provide some hope for healing, it was worth writing,” says Sam.
Sam is currently working on adapting BLIND PONY As True A Story As I Can Tell for TV/film while writing her next book, a novel entitled Starcrossed, and a collection of drawings and stories called When I Was A Muse.
PRAISE
“Unforgettable and raw, Hart’s deeply honest musings will ring true to those who want to understand what it’s like to walk through fire.” Book Life
“…a memoir about overcoming—about facing up to and learning from one’s past without being imprisoned by it.” IndieReader
“A powerful coming of age story about finding strength through rebellion, recovery, and forgiveness.”
Jill Watts, bestselling author/Professor of Graduate Studies at CSU
“Hart is a gifted storyteller….she became a backgammon hustler in Los Angeles, something readers likely won’t find in many memoirs.” Kirkus Reviews
“Excellent writing…I recommend this book to simply everyone.” Dog-Eared Publishing
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Amazon → https://amzn.to/3gOCQKz
My Bookish Pleasures: Welcome to My Bookish
Pleasures. We would love to get to know you and your book! When did you begin
writing?
Samantha: Several years ago, I
discovered a journal I wrote when I was twelve years old. The first line was,
“This is a story about me —nobody special. When I read those
words, I felt compelled to tell the tale my younger self wanted to write. I had
a rough manuscript that I kept pushing aside as more pressing stuff got in the
way of finishing it —like running my business and my kids.
Then when the pandemic hit, and I finally had the luxury of a lot of time on my
hands to complete it.
MBP: Describe your writing
process. When and where do you write?
Samantha: I have an office on the second
floor of my home, where I generally write in the mid-morning. I like to feel
uncluttered when I write, so when I wake up, I most often enjoy going for a
walk and working out before attending to emails or any business at hand. Once I
have those things cleared off of my plate, I feel ready to focus my attention
on the page.
MBP: Can you tell us about
your most recent release?
Samantha: Blind Pony As True A
Story As I Can Tell is my first book, and it’s a coming-of-age narrative
intersecting themes of abuse, recovery, redemption, and forgiveness. I also
regularly write essays and poetry, some of which I have published.
MBP: How did you get the idea
for the book?
Samantha: My grandfather gave me a
pony when I was six years old. She was a show pony whose eye got kicked in by
another horse, making her blind in one eye. My pony became a metaphor for how I
felt —damaged.
I built the book around that theme.
MBP: What was the most
challenging aspect of writing your book?
Samantha: The most challenging
aspect of writing my memoir was reliving the events I cover in the book from my
childhood through young adulthood. I overcame many challenges in my young life
that were, at times, tough to revisit. But in the end, I found it quite
cathartic, and I feel that I was able to reclaim a tiny piece of my childhood
through writing my book.
MBP: Do you find it easier to
write nonfiction?
Samantha: I think fiction is much
easier to write than nonfiction. You can use your imagination to go anywhere
with anyone, whereas you must remain truthful with a memoir, which can be
limiting.
MBP: Do you have plans to
write fiction?
Samantha: I am currently writing a
novel with the working title “The Capricious Life of Charlie Lane.”
MBP: What projects are you
currently working on?
Samantha: Besides the novel, I am
working on a collection of drawings and prose called “When I Was A Muse.”
MBP: What advice would you
offer to new or aspiring nonfiction authors?
Samantha: The best advice I can
offer new or aspiring nonfiction authors —really, any author
—is
“just commence.” Don’t delay another day because the world is waiting for what
you have to say.
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