Author Interview with Mia Dalia
1. When did you start writing?
I started writing in the summer of 2021. And pretty much haven't stopped since.
2. What was your journey towards becoming an author like?
To me, the difference between being a writer and being an author is publication. I started getting my work published in the winter of 2021/2022. There were a few shorter pieces online and later longer ones in print. My debut novel, Estate Sale, came out in the spring of 2023. Since then, there’s been four novellas: Discordant, Tell Me a Story, Arrokoth, and Do You Know The Muffin Man?, one collection titled Smile So Red and Other Tales of Madness, and my second novel, Haven. My short fiction has been published in over two dozen anthologies, literary journals, featured in narrative podcasts, etc. Last year, one of my stories was shortlisted for the Crime Writer’s Association’s prestigious Dagger Award.
For me, it’s been a matter of constantly upping my game in terms of quality of work I’m producing and quality of the presses and editors I’m working with. My journey as a writer continues, and it is, by design, an ambitiously steep climb. It’s hard going, with plenty of disappointments and setbacks along the way, but I don’t think it works any other way in this business.
3. What can you tell me about your latest book? (Feel free to include an excerpt.)
Do You Know The Muffin Man? is the tastiest crime novel you’re ever going to read. People think of me as a horror author, but I write broadly across genres. The Muffin Man is my first published mystery (not counting the short stories). It’s meant for everyone who’s ever sat through a baking show on TV and thought, “You know what? This would be way more fun with a bit of murder.”
It’s definitely my funniest book published to date, a sort of neo-noir dark comedy. It starts with the murder on Drury Lane and goes on to some genuinely wacky shenanigans by rather colorful characters.
It came out from Spaceboy Books on February 14th—my Valentine to the world—and is available wherever books are sold and also on KU. I hope you get the chance to check it out.
4. What sort of methods do you use for book promotion?
I maintain an author website. And I’m on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, the links to which can be found here.
I also do interviews, like this one. :)
5. Where do you get your ideas for stories?
Everywhere. Literally. The things I read and watch, the news, the random things my wife says, the stories people tell me, the weird things I see in the world. Sometimes the ideas come out of nowhere at all. They just show up and insist on being written down. There’s never a shortage of ideas, only time and energy.
6. What are you working on right now?
Right now, I’m knee-deep in edits of an older novel, getting a new book out for a late spring publication, and trying to finish a new short story collection.
7. Any advice for other authors?
Edit, edit, edit. Read good books so you know what to aspire to. Don’t skimp on research.
ABOUT MIA:
Mia Dalia is an internationally published, CWA-nominated author of all things fantastic, thrilling, scary, and strange.
Her short fiction has been published online by Night Terror Novels, 50-word stories, Flash Fiction Magazine, Pyre Magazine, Tales from the Moonlit Path, carte blanche magazine, Jaded Ibis Press, Weird Wide Web; in print anthologies by Sunbury Press, HellBound Press, Black Ink Fiction, Dragon Roost Press, Unsettling Reads, Phobica Books, Wandering Wave Press, rebellionLIT Press, Bullet Points Vol. 3, Critical Blast, Off-Topic Publishing, Exploding Head Press, Sinister Smile Press, DraculaBeyondStoker Magazine, Mystery Magazine, Headshot Press, Nightshade Press, WonderBird Press; Crystal Lake Publishing, and more, and featured in narrative podcasts such as Zoetic Press' Alphanumeric, Sudden Fictions, and Tales to Terrify.
More stories will be released soon in the upcoming anthologies by Grendel Press, WriteHive, Crystal Lake Publishing, Dark Matter INK, PS Publishing, and more.
Mia's work has been selected as Tales to Terrify's top ten best stories of 2023, shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association's Daggers Award 2024, and praised by authors and editors such as Michael Marshall Smith - "One of the best novels I've read in years", Stephen Jones - "horror tour-de-force", Clay McLeod Chapman - "every flip of the page leads its readers deeper into uneasy dream", Neil Sharpson, and more.
Mia's recent novel, Haven, has been gathering excellent reviews, including a starred one from Booklist.
She is the author of the novels Estate Sale and Haven, novellas Tell Me a Story, Discordant, and Arrokoth, and the collection Smile So Red and Other Tales of Madness.
Mia’s website here.
