Laura: Hi, Sam. Welcome to the What to Read Next podcast.

Sam: Hi, Laura. Thank you so much for having me.

Laura: So happy to have you here. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Sam: Oh, my God. I wasn't prepared for that! I’m a mom of four, I write books, and I run a writing school called Smith University.

Laura: That sounds like a full life! How do you manage it all? Even just handling the kids alone is a full-time job.

Sam: Oh, just getting on this podcast without chaos was a feat. You should’ve seen the hour before—I fed the kids burritos, sent three of them out to walk the dogs, and locked the teenager in her room! It was 90s-style parenting—"don’t come back until sundown!"

Laura: I love that! Sometimes you just need to give the kids a little independence.

Sam: Definitely. It’s a balancing act for sure.

Laura: Let’s talk about your writing. What inspired you to start? Was it an escape from the chaos of life, or were you always drawn to storytelling?

Sam: I was always a reader, but it never crossed my mind that writing could be a career. I was good in school, so I felt pressure to pursue something like medicine or law. I ended up in law school, mainly to please my dad, but it wasn’t for me. One day, when I was supposed to be studying for the bar exam, I found myself at Starbucks listening to these guys having a dumb conversation. Instead of studying, I started writing, and that’s how my first book came about. It was a total pressure release.

Laura: That sounds like it was both a challenge and a relief, especially since you didn’t know what to expect as a writer back then.

Sam: Exactly. It was liberating because I didn’t know any better—I just wrote. Over time, I found my voice and realized that this is what I wanted to do, even though it took a while and a lot of student loans!

Laura: Life is definitely not linear. We all have multiple careers and chapters in our lives that contribute to who we are.

Sam: Absolutely. Sometimes I worry about all the detours I’ve taken, but then I remind myself that these experiences give me something to say as a writer.

Laura: Speaking of writing, you’ve created these rom-coms with a mix of humor and mystery. Your latest book, Errands and Espionage, is about a recently divorced mom who gets caught up in a CIA operation. What inspired you to blend all these elements together?

Sam: As a mom juggling a million things, life sometimes feels like I’m a spy. The idea of a CIA agent being a mom who’s just trying to keep it all together felt like a fun, escapist fantasy. Plus, who wouldn’t want the CIA to show up at their door and offer them an exciting job with a paycheck?

Laura: That sounds like such a fun concept! What about your previous release, Siri, Who Am I? It’s an amnesia rom-com—what was the inspiration behind that?

Sam: Siri, Who Am I? is a rom-com mystery mashup, just like Errands and Espionage, but with a different vibe. The protagonist, Mia, is an influencer and con artist who loses her memory and has to piece her life back together. It’s about figuring out who you really are beneath all the layers we show to the world.

Laura: That sounds fascinating! I love stories where the character is on a journey of self-discovery. It makes for such a compelling read.

Sam: Definitely. It’s interesting to explore how we present ourselves versus who we truly are.

Laura: What’s your writing process like? Do you plot everything out, or do you dive in and see where it takes you?

Sam: I’ve done it both ways. For Siri, Who Am I?, it was a bit easier to plot because the character’s journey guided the structure. But I’ve also written books where I had no idea where it was going, and that can be chaotic but fun.

Laura: What about your reading life? What kinds of books do you enjoy?

Sam: I read all over the place! I started out with classics and whatever was on my mom’s or grandma’s shelves, which often meant romance novels that wouldn’t exactly pass today’s standards. These days, I love a good mix of mystery and romance.

Laura: Any recent favorites?

Sam: I loved Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto and Alicia Thompson’s Love in the Time of Serial Killers. I also adore Mia Manansala’s Arsenic and Adobo series and the Finlay Donovan series by Elle Cosimano.

Laura: Those are all great picks!

Sam: Yeah, if you enjoy those, you’ll probably like my books too!

Laura: I’m sure our listeners will love them. So, where can they find you online?

Sam: My website is www.samtchida.com—though I realized I need to update it! I’m also on Instagram and TikTok as @TheRealSamTschida.

Laura: Awesome! Thank you so much for joining us today, Sam.

Sam: Thank you for having me!