Interview with Samantha Durbin
Special K numbs her. Crystal meth makes her mean. Sixteen-year-old Samantha, raver extraordinaire, puts the “high” in high school. Samantha Durbin’s memoir RAVER GIRL Coming of Age in the 90s is out now and we’re delighted to feature this interview with her!
Thank you so much for joining us on WWWB, Samantha!
Thank you for having me! I’m honored and excited.
Tell us about your beginning, where are you from?
I was born and raised in Oakland, CA. My dad was a tech entrepreneur, and my mom was a caring, loving mother of three children—my two brothers and me. My parents came from tumultuous, authoritarian upbringings and decided they wanted to raise their family differently. We weren’t religious and didn’t have a large extended family, so we created our traditions, whether it was traveling or eating out at Chinese restaurants on Christmas. My family was a tight group where individual strengths, voices, and passions were encouraged (still is). We had dogs, cats, Nintendo, Care Bears, GI Joe, Swatch watches, and freshly baked cookies going on inside our house. I had a carefree childhood where my fondest memories are of my family playing in our pool (a rare find in Oakland).
How did your childhood impact the writer you’ve become?
I was encouraged to pursue my interests from a young age, so I’ve always been busy creating, drawing as a kid or styling outfits as a teenager. I think that guided yet open-minded parenting led me to figure out my strengths and weaknesses early on. I developed a creative intuition of sorts. I’m also determined, experimental, and courageous and I get that entrepreneurial spirit from my dad. Also, growing up in a diverse, progressive area like the Bay Area exposed me to different cultures and people, creating cultural and socio-economic awareness.
When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?
My writing didn’t have the opportunity to blossom until I became an editor at POPSUGAR when I was in my mid-twenties. I always enjoyed writing papers in school, but I wasn’t a voracious reader (except for Archie comics and fashion magazines). I always felt I was a slow reader and that you had to be an avid reader to be a writer. But after writing and succeeding in growing a fashion blog, I learned that as long as you have a passion and an interest in words, a writing talent can develop.
How has writing changed you as a person?
It’s given me a platform to share the inner workings of my creativity. It’s where my introverted personality can be extroverted. At POPSUGAR, the readers responded to my voice, and that gave me confidence as a writer. Before that, I was a closeted writer, journaling and channeling my creativity in other ways, and I didn’t think I had the chops to do it professionally. I still say, “I may be able to write, but I’m not the best speaker.” I need time and thought to convey what I really want to say, and writing is my outlet. As a freelance journalist, I’ve learned so much about the world and other people; as an author, it’s forced me to be more introspective.
Can you tell us a bit about your memoir, RAVER GIRL?
It’s a coming-of-age story about when I was a teenage raver girl in the `90s in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was the wildest time of my life, with many firsts that helped me learn about myself and the world. I thought I was just going to illegal warehouse parties and dancing to cool music, but I was actually becoming my best self through lessons learned from extreme highs and lows. It’s a vicarious read, a cautionary tale, and a `90s time capsule of the seemingly simpler pre-smartphone era.
What would be your 6 word memoir?
Trip out. Rock on. Love in.
What is the best writing advice you’ve ever had, and the worst?
Best advice: My first editor for Raver Girl, Paul Shirley, told me that if this is your one chance to tell this story, tell the story underneath the story the best you can. Also, I still remind myself when writing: Show don’t tell.
Worst: If you pitch your story and no agent wants to represent you, try pitching it as a novel. My translation: if you’re rejected, go deeper or go elsewhere.
What is your writing process like? Are you a pantser or a plotter?
I started off writing Raver Girl as a panster and slowly became a plotter to polish it. I still start writing on instinct and move into structure eventually.
Do you need a special place to write?
No. I like having my zen writing place at home and also find it helps to unblock when writing in a new space. I wrote Raver Girl over seven years in different apartments, cities, and mindsets—my ADD likes it.
Are you part of a writing community or a writing group?
Not currently, but I did throughout writing Raver Girl. I attended group writing weeklies, memoir workshops, and formed small writers groups with friends. I attended the Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference five years in a row, and it helped motivate, inspire, and challenge me.
What is your experience with social media as a writer? Do you find it distracts you or does it provide inspiration?
As a freelance journalist, I’ve never enjoyed social media writing and tell clients I don’t do it; it’s not my strength. I think it’s a good way for brands and companies to tell stories, but I’d rather read online (and paper!) media and podcasts for news and storytelling. I’ve always had a love/hate with Twitter, Facebook is a mess, and Instagram and Pinterest are my favorites. I had a cool Tumblr blog when I started writing Raver Girl, which is essentially what Insta is now. I will probably never be on TikTok because, if anything, my social media consumption is decreasing. I’m pretty low-tech; I prefer people, paper, and my laptop.
Who are your favorite authors?
Gillian Flynn, Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, Stephen King, Joan Didion, Aldous Huxley, Patti Smith, and comedian memoirs.
What are you reading currently?
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah; enlightening, sweet, hilarious.
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Samantha Durbin’s writing has appeared in POPSUGAR, PureWow, Zagat, and The San Francisco Chronicle, among others. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband, two sons (one human, one Frenchie), and her Adidas collection.
Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/ferrariravioli
Find out more about her on her website http://www.samantha-durbin.com/
Follow her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ravergirlthebook
RAVER GIRL
Weed inspires her. Acid shows her another dimension. Ecstasy releases her. Nitrous fills her with bliss. Cocaine makes her fabulous. Mushrooms make everything magical. Special K numbs her. Crystal meth makes her mean. Sixteen-year-old Samantha, raver extraordinaire, puts the “high” in high school.
A ’90s time capsule buried inside a coming-of-age memoir set against the neon backdrop of the San Francisco Bay Area’s rave scene, Raver Girl chronicles Samantha’s double life as she teeters between hedonism and sobriety, chaos and calm, all while sneaking under the radar of her entrepreneur father―a man who happened to drop acid with LSD impresario Owsley Stanley in the ’60s.
Samantha keeps a list of every rave she goes to―a total of 104 over four years. During that time, what started as trippy fun morphs into a self-destructive roller coaster ride. Samantha opens the doors of her mind, but she’s left with traumas her acid-fried brain won’t let her escape; and when meth becomes her drug of choice, things get progressively darker. Through euphoric highs and dangerous lows, Samantha discovers she’s someone who lives life to the fullest and learns best through alternative experience rather than mainstream ideals. She’s a creative whose mind is limitless, whose quirks are charms, whose passion is inspirational. She’s an independent woman whose inner strength is rooted in unwavering family ties. And if she can survive high school, she just might be okay.
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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, Interviews, On Writing
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