Ask the Author: Mia Smantz
Answered Questions (10)
Mia Smantz
My friend and I took a year together to study abroad. And after some serious maneuvering, we scheduled all of our classes so that we had school three days and four day weekends every week so we could travel to as many countries as possible.
Well, fast forward to our scheduled trip to Croatia and Serbia. We had originally planned to visit Zagreb and carry onto Belgrade, but we went over Easter weekend and couldn't purchase train tickets at the station until they opened Monday.
With the delay we could only make it just inside the border of Serbia at a tiny town called Sid. And because we were young and dumb and trying to check things off on our list like we'd actually be able to appreciate an entire cultural in two-day intervals, we decided to do it, even though we'd be turning around the next morning and heading straight back.
Well, the ticket inspector--justly--thought that sounded suspicious. He held up the entire train when he found out our plans to stay in a nothing town maybe an hour inside the border just for a grand total of about eight hours. There wasn't even a train station at the stop which was why all of this was done on the train late at night.
He called in other people from the train to question us-- in hindsight, I realize they probably thought we were smugglers of some kind.
He kept asking us, "Why Sid? Why not Belgrade?" while his buddies checked over our passports with a fine toothed comb, sometimes disappearing with them and ratcheting up our anxiety. Luckily our not, this wasn't our first or even third weekend trip. We were halfway through a thirty country list and had the stamps to prove it.
Whether that backed up our outlandish story or deepened their suspicions, I'll never know, but the same overactive imagination that makes me love writing, always did wonder whether they were worried for another reason--two ignorant American college students stopping in a dangerous area. Oh the plot bunnies I've entertained while recalling that.
It ended up being our most enjoyable stop on our journey, our at least the most memorable. They begrudgingly let us go since we kept pointing out the window across the tracks and saying our hotel was right there when they asked for the fifth time where we'd be staying.
To fuel my mind even more, our room's door was jacked up and wouldn't lock or even latch properly. After having an entire train held up on our account for an hour and being questioned, I was convinced we would die that night.
But we didn't, and come the next morning, the owner's elderly, ornery dad made a game out of offering us every kind of food for breakfast through a substantial language barrier just because it made us laugh-- much to his son's fond exasperation either breakfast wasn't supposed to be included or just because he thought his dad was hamming it up and embarrassing him.
With a server lack of souvenirs, we swore to each other that we'd get t- shirts made that said, "I ❤ Sid" to remember the time we maybe almost might've died. We'll never know.
Well, fast forward to our scheduled trip to Croatia and Serbia. We had originally planned to visit Zagreb and carry onto Belgrade, but we went over Easter weekend and couldn't purchase train tickets at the station until they opened Monday.
With the delay we could only make it just inside the border of Serbia at a tiny town called Sid. And because we were young and dumb and trying to check things off on our list like we'd actually be able to appreciate an entire cultural in two-day intervals, we decided to do it, even though we'd be turning around the next morning and heading straight back.
Well, the ticket inspector--justly--thought that sounded suspicious. He held up the entire train when he found out our plans to stay in a nothing town maybe an hour inside the border just for a grand total of about eight hours. There wasn't even a train station at the stop which was why all of this was done on the train late at night.
He called in other people from the train to question us-- in hindsight, I realize they probably thought we were smugglers of some kind.
He kept asking us, "Why Sid? Why not Belgrade?" while his buddies checked over our passports with a fine toothed comb, sometimes disappearing with them and ratcheting up our anxiety. Luckily our not, this wasn't our first or even third weekend trip. We were halfway through a thirty country list and had the stamps to prove it.
Whether that backed up our outlandish story or deepened their suspicions, I'll never know, but the same overactive imagination that makes me love writing, always did wonder whether they were worried for another reason--two ignorant American college students stopping in a dangerous area. Oh the plot bunnies I've entertained while recalling that.
It ended up being our most enjoyable stop on our journey, our at least the most memorable. They begrudgingly let us go since we kept pointing out the window across the tracks and saying our hotel was right there when they asked for the fifth time where we'd be staying.
To fuel my mind even more, our room's door was jacked up and wouldn't lock or even latch properly. After having an entire train held up on our account for an hour and being questioned, I was convinced we would die that night.
But we didn't, and come the next morning, the owner's elderly, ornery dad made a game out of offering us every kind of food for breakfast through a substantial language barrier just because it made us laugh-- much to his son's fond exasperation either breakfast wasn't supposed to be included or just because he thought his dad was hamming it up and embarrassing him.
With a server lack of souvenirs, we swore to each other that we'd get t- shirts made that said, "I ❤ Sid" to remember the time we maybe almost might've died. We'll never know.
Mia Smantz
Hogwarts
Go to school
Easiest question ever!
Go to school
Easiest question ever!
Mia Smantz
Hunter Witch Agency by Rachel Medhurst
A Long Time Gone by J.S. Donovan
Dead Wrong by Kristi Belcamino
The Reader by MK Harkins
Angelbound Origins by Christina Bauer
These are all new-to-me authors, and I'm excited to get acquainted with their worlds!
A Long Time Gone by J.S. Donovan
Dead Wrong by Kristi Belcamino
The Reader by MK Harkins
Angelbound Origins by Christina Bauer
These are all new-to-me authors, and I'm excited to get acquainted with their worlds!
Mia Smantz
I got in bed, pulled the sheets up, and reached my hand down for my dog to lick. Chuckling at the ticklish, eager tongue, I got ready to turn over, only to spot my dog beyond the open doorway, stabbed to death.
Mia Smantz
I got the idea for my most recent book, The Cardinal Bird, from my husband. We had a long, in-depth discussion about what would be the coolest superpower to have and why. We have the most random conversations! We both thought the coolest superpower would be to speak any language that we wanted. We had traveled recently to Europe, and it must've been on our minds about how much easier life would've been if we'd been able to communicate better.
I was also inspired by my older brother. He was a real-life hacker--getting into trouble with phone companies from the age of 7 up. The FBI would tap our phones because he'd hacked into the local company so many times--just for fun. I'm pretty sure that phone company had our mom's phone on speed-dial. It got to the point where she would recognize the number calling her and go, "Really? Again?" Luckily the director was nice about it and would just say, "I'm afraid so."
Thus Callie Jensen was born--a shy, smart, passionate girl based off of two manly men.
I was also inspired by my older brother. He was a real-life hacker--getting into trouble with phone companies from the age of 7 up. The FBI would tap our phones because he'd hacked into the local company so many times--just for fun. I'm pretty sure that phone company had our mom's phone on speed-dial. It got to the point where she would recognize the number calling her and go, "Really? Again?" Luckily the director was nice about it and would just say, "I'm afraid so."
Thus Callie Jensen was born--a shy, smart, passionate girl based off of two manly men.
Mia Smantz
I get inspired to write when I watch a really great movie or read a great book. The entire time I am picturing spin-offs or alternate ways the story could've gone. If I need more immediate inspiration, I'll listen to music. It's my quickest muse.
Mia Smantz
I am currently editing the next book for the Cardinal series: Cardinal Caged. It is up for pre-order and will be released on October 30th. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
I'll do maybe one edit of the entire story every two weeks until then. This lets the story fade from my mind a bit so that I can check for cohesion and make any changes that to plot that would make it better--usually adding more foreshadowing.
On downtimes between that, I'll be drafting the 3rd book for the series: Cardinal of Hope...or writing on another reverse-harem series: The User-Friendly Guide to Ghosts. It will be a younger audience with a paranormal twist. It'll be about a teenage girl that has an affinity for the dead that wreaks havoc on her school life and social life. However, it will bring her some very handsome guys.
I'm very excited for it!
I'll do maybe one edit of the entire story every two weeks until then. This lets the story fade from my mind a bit so that I can check for cohesion and make any changes that to plot that would make it better--usually adding more foreshadowing.
On downtimes between that, I'll be drafting the 3rd book for the series: Cardinal of Hope...or writing on another reverse-harem series: The User-Friendly Guide to Ghosts. It will be a younger audience with a paranormal twist. It'll be about a teenage girl that has an affinity for the dead that wreaks havoc on her school life and social life. However, it will bring her some very handsome guys.
I'm very excited for it!
Mia Smantz
Don't feel like everything you write has to be a great masterpiece or a finished book. Sometimes with deadlines, expectations, and pressure, it takes away the fun of being a writer. It can be overwhelming. It's okay to write a 10-page, 50-page, 100-page story that goes no farther than your own computer. Anything you write is experience and lessons to help you with that next great series or best-seller. In fact, those shorts could be the inspiration for them.
Mia Smantz
The best thing about being a writer is feeling like anything is possible. The only limit to what you can do is time, money, and creativity. JK Rowling, Stan Lee...they created entire worlds and franchises with pen and pad. That feeling of possibility and power is a heady addiction that makes being a writer awesome.
Mia Smantz
When I am having trouble with writing, I listen to music. I try to picture the story the song is weaving. I cast a person in my mind that could be the person the song is about. I try to create a backstory to it.
Doing this helps put me back in the right state of mind for creating.
Doing this helps put me back in the right state of mind for creating.
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