Sam Szanto grew up in Eastbourne, East Sussex, the daughter of an astrologer/barrister and a psychiatric nurse.
Her numerous jobs have included ice cream seller, Lush retailer and marketing for a national blind charity. She has always had cats. She has an embarrassing richness of degrees (from Warwick, Sheffield, Bath Spa and now Newcastle), including three Master's degrees - one currently in progress, all in English-related subjects.
A gypsy by nature, Sam has lived all over the country. After 20 years in London, she moved her family (a husband, two children and the ubiquitous cat) up to Durham.
Her surname is Hungarian and is pronounced (in English) San-to. She's heard all the Santa jokes.