Interview with Author Mizieya

Interview with Author Mizieya

The Dragon’s Call Giveaway Event is still running, and today Author Mizieya has joined us to tell us about her background and writing process. After checking out the interview, head over to the event and join in the giveaway below!

K.W. – Thank you so much for agreeing to speak with us. Please tell us about yourself.

Mizieya – Salutations and thank you for having me. My name is Mizieya, pronounced miz-i-yah, I am a black Welshman, gay author, artist, musician, songwriter, producer and vocalist. I live in Wales, the United Kingdom. The Tzi Universe, is a new novella and my first journey as a writer of science fiction and sci-fi-fantasy, although I have been known to write in other genres.

K.W. – So can you tell us a little bit about how you got started, and what inspired you?

Mizieya – I have always written. My first musical I wrote when I was a teen, before that I was writing songs. So being creative has always been a part of me. A pivotal moment in my life that facilitated my writing stories was the break-up of my 15 year relationship. A well of energy needed to be released which came in the form of writing short stories. I am a member of the YstradgynlaisCreativewritingGroupwhich is based in Wales. I was encouraged to have my works published by my mentor Lazarus Carpenter, a prolific author.

What inspires me, you ask? Well, it’s not so much as what inspires me, but what comes out from my soul that desires to speak. For instance, as an artist I’m either ‘inspired’ to write with or without the aid of music. It’s very organic.

K.W. – Do you have a specific process? How do you approach writing a book?

Mizieya – My process of writing is to idly let my fingers surf the keyboard coming up with whatever springs to mind, then fine tuning it so that it either becomes coherent or it leads to a written story that’s tweaked as I write – then of course edited once it’s completed. I’m currently working on my second and third Tzi Universe volumes. The former is in proof-reading mode whilst the latter is waiting for me to put proverbial pen to paper – irrespective of the voice in my head which has a theme wating to be laid down.

K.W. – Who or what are your biggest influences?How do you stay inspired and creative?

Mizieya – Regarding inspirations and influences is difficult to say because I believe one grows and discards one’s heroes, in a sense growing up. I’ve enjoyed authors such as British author Fay Weldon, a feminist in her former years using sharp wit in her writing, Mary gentle who is the British equivalent of Julian May who I simply adore purely because she was ahead of her time and still is. The Many Coloured Land, Pliocene saga is a must read for the devout sci-fi reader. Frank Herbert of course with the Dune saga, the books are always better than the movie/tv versions. Robert Jordan, is another, The Wheel of Time saga. I stay inspired by continually writing.

K.W. – Are there ever any challenges that you must face? And, if so, how do you overcome them?

Mizieya – I’ve never suffered from writers block but I do like to take a time out from writing or creating music. It’s healthy to recharge one’s batteries and this is dine through gaming on playstation playing combat games such as Tekken and Soul Calibur – so if theres anyone out there on playstation who plays Soul Calibur by Namco Bandai then you can hook up with me there my id is Sentient Coven. The only challenge I guess I have in my career is writing 500- word stories, because one has to condense so much, which in turn leads to honing one’s skills as a writer. Sometimes if I get ‘stuck’ with a situation in my story I like to approach from a different angle because the present one isn’t working, obviously. Which means a rewrite while keeping the original source as a back-up document. Never discard what you have written, just like art one keeps the excess. So, this is how I overcome problems when writing. I love being challenged by a project, if something is too easy, it’s not worth doing because the energy going into it won’t be deep. It’s too easy to opt for an easy way out of things. I prefer to stay the course on my own terms.

K.W. – Has the industry changed since you started writing? What are some new trends you have noticed?

Mizieya – I’m relatively new to the industry, however, there’s similarities between book and music publishing. There’s more opportunity now and competition. Traditional companies no longer have the market all to themselves. Indie authoring is the way forward, until it isn’t. I would probably say A.I is the emerging trend whether one approves of its useage or otherwise, it’s clearly here to stay. I’m not a fan of using A.I for creating stories because it’s akin to using a crutch, which isn’t healthy. The whole A.I scenario is controversial but it’s also a form of de- skilling which I find unacceptable. Everyone has a calling, if it’s in your soul to write or perform – then I’m all for that.

K.W. – Do you have any advice you would give authors?

Mizieya – One has to keep things real. Aspirations to be rich and famous might be a possibility, however, it leads to really being all about money. If that’s all one is striving for. As opposed to one’s calling as an author. Many writers are disillusioned and become depressed because they haven’t got enough sales, reviews, a traditional publishing house or an agent. None of that matters in my opinion as long as you’re doing what you enjoy the most: writing. Being creative. In saying that one has to navigate the world of literature very carefully. As we know there are scam artists in this world, it’s easy to be duped even from the smallest thing in Facebook forums for instance, ‘authors share your book link’ scenario. Which is a jaded marketing ploy that only serves the marketer unless he or she is genuine and those are few and far between. My advice: be discerning, do research, if your instinct says ‘red flag’ then run.

K.W. – Do you have a favorite character that you’ve written?

Mizieya – I have a unique character called Rumour who is a celestial being that prefers to take the form of a cat. He is wise, capricious, a rebel, empathic, altogether a contradiction, multi- faceted. Just like any sentient life form. A friend of mine an illustrator, Gill Brooks, brought Rumour to life for me by creating him from a description from a short story I wrote for her called Endrislor, which was based on an image she had created of a sleepy village in a forest. Originally it was going to be a 500-word short but was expanded to 5 pages. I thoroughly enjoyed writing that story. Gill’s images are divine and inspires me.

K.W. – Are there any upcoming projects you’re excited about? What are your goals for the future?

Mizieya – As stated earlier my second book is being proof-read while a third is still a concept that carries over from the second novel. Future goals are to expand on the idea of stand-alone shorts, because short stories are my forte. There’s also a plan to tie in music with writing. The concept of Tzi, for instance is a deity who has to avenge her lover, it’s a play in four acts and I have in mind to make a sound track accompanying the play and also flesh out the back story of Tzi as a stand alone novella.

K.W. – Please tell us where your works can be found.

Mizieya – I have a website www.mizieya.com currently is still being built but should be operational late February/March where you will find stories from my novella as well as music links to released albums – I have 5 projects – the latest is ‘Songs We’ll Never Sing’ which is due out at the end of February. I can also be found on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Spotify and WhatsApp, just simply type in Mizieya on those platforms and you’ll find me. Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little about me.

Namaste Mizieya

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