WOMAN ON THE EDGE, by author, SAMANTHA BAILEY (debuts in the U.S. on March 3rd!)

A moment on the subway platform changes two women’s lives forever—a debut thriller that will take your breath away.

A total stranger on the subway platform whispers, “Take my baby.”

She places her child in your arms. She says your name. Then she jumps...

In a split second, Morgan Kincaid’s life changes forever. She’s on her way home from work when a mother begs her to take her baby, then places the infant in her arms. Before Morgan can stop her, the distraught mother jumps in front of an oncoming train.

Morgan has never seen this woman before, and she can’t understand what would cause a person to give away her child and take her own life. She also can’t understand how this woman knew her name.

The police take Morgan in for questioning. She soon learns that the woman who jumped was Nicole Markham, prominent CEO of the athletic brand Breathe. She also learns that no witness can corroborate her version of events, which means she’s just become a murder suspect.

To prove her innocence, Morgan frantically retraces the last days of Nicole’s life. Was Nicole a new mother struggling with paranoia or was she in danger? When strange things start happening to Morgan, she suddenly realizes she might be in danger, too.

Woman on the Edge is a pulse-pounding, propulsive thriller about the lengths to which a woman will go to protect her baby—even if that means sacrificing her own life.

Praise for Woman on the Edge “A fast-moving thriller with satisfying twists.”
— Toronto Star
“Bailey has talent and I, dear reader, am looking forward to her next novel.”
— Globe and Mail
“[A] nail-biting debut. . . . The tension becomes unrelenting . . . Fans of psychological suspense are in for a treat.”
— Publisher's Weekly (Starred review)
“Woman on the Edge races towards its final destination with breakneck speed.”
— Chatelaine
 “The debut novel from Toronto writer Samantha M. Bailey mines maternal anxiety, marital secrets, female friendship, and C-suite power grabs—not to mention public transit horror—for a satisfyingly twisty psychological thriller.”
— Toronto Life 

Some Q & A with Samantha ~ 

Tell us a little about yourself and how you started writing.

I wrote and submitted my first book when I was ten years old. It was called Freddy the Flame, and I thought it was awesome. Apparently not, though, because it was rejected with a very sweet note. But a lifelong passion was born, and I haven’t stopped writing since. But it wasn’t until I did my Master in Applied Linguistics that I attempted a full-length novel. After taking a course on imagination, in which one of the assignments was to create a character, I felt the compulsion to sit down and type. At the same time, I had just finished reading Jennifer Weiner’s fantastic debut, Good in Bed, and that book gave me the courage to actually do it. In fact, my best friend and I set out to write a novel together, but she was in law school and didn’t have quite the same obsession for writing as I did. She’s gone on to become a very successful lawyer and now reads all my books.

What are some things you enjoy when not writing?

I love reading so much and watching TV. Those are my pleasures. I also enjoy dancing, and hanging out and laughing with my loved ones. Oh, and singing karaoke in a room with friends where no one else can hear us.

Do you have a ‘day job’ as well?

I’m a freelance manuscript editor. I absolutely love helping other authors polish their beautiful work, and I learn so much from them and the process. It gives me the opportunity to better hone in on my own writing, and I also really understand how invaluable critical feedback is.

Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?

Ha ha! This would take a whole book itself. In a nutshell, I’ve had two agents and have written five books in a seventeen-year span. My first two books, which were rom-coms, didn’t sell traditionally so I self-published one of them. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made because it introduced me to an incredible community of writers, bloggers, and readers. But I always wanted to be traditionally published so I kept going, book after book after book, until it happened with Woman on the Edge. I am very, very lucky.

If you had to go back and do it all over, is there any aspect of your novel or getting it published that you’d change?

I don’t think so. I learned crucial skills and developed my craft. I spent many years revising with my agent, and she taught me so much. Woman on the Edge took six years from concept to publication, and I’m still learning. Sometimes I wish it had happened for me when I was younger and there were fewer things in my life to juggle, but at almost forty-seven, it feels that much sweeter to see my dreams come true because I worked so long for it.

How do you market your work?

I have an amazing team at both my publishers, Simon & Schuster Canada and Headline in the UK, a wonderful network of support—from writers, bloggers, bookstagrammers to librarians, booksellers, and readers—and I just hope people connect with my work. I definitely spend time on social media, probably too much time, and I prefer Instagram and Twitter. Bookstagrammers and bloggers do so much for the book community, and they are absolutely one of the biggest reasons anyone knows about Woman on the Edge. I’m also so fortunate to know so many talented, prolific authors willing to read and blurb my work.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

I do! First of all, don’t give up. Ever. It might not be easy and it might not be fast, but it will be worth it. My other advice would be to connect with other writers. The author community is incredibly warm and supportive, and no one can truly understand what you’re going through more than other writers. Without my community, who are my beta readers, critique partners, sounding boards, and inspirations, I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish my goals.

Favorite band or music?  Favorite book and/or movie?

My favorite band is Nine Inch Nails. Showing the 90s girl I still am. One of my favorite books is The Bridge to Terabithia, and movie, that’s a hard one. I have always loved The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Bridget Jones’s Diary. I have eclectic taste. Oh, and Reality Bites. I can watch that a million times. I probably have.

Place you’d like to travel?

British Columbia and Alberta! I’ve been to Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Canada. But I’ve never seen the West Coast! And I’m dying to go to LA.

Is there anything you’d like to say to your readers and fans?

Thank you. A huge, heartfelt thank you, and so much gratitude, because without my readers, I couldn’t live my dream and have the career and life I have always longed for.

To connect with Samantha:

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Samantha M. Bailey is a Toronto-based novelist, journalist, and freelance editor. She is also the co-founder of BookBuzz, a promotional and interactive author-reader event held in New York City and Toronto. Her #1 bestselling psychological thriller, WOMAN ON THE EDGE, is published by Simon & Schuster Canada and Headline UK, and will be translated into seven languages.