Author Interview With Mia Hoddell

I recently reviewed Mia Hoddell's book "Summer Demons" and Mia was kind enough to allow me to interview her, hope you all enjoy getting to know her a little bit better. 

About Mia taken from Goodreads: 

Mia Hoddell lives in the UK with her family and two cats. She spends most of her time writing or reading, loves anything paranormal and has an overactive imagination that keeps her up until the early hours of the morning.

With three poems published before the age of sixteen, Mia moved on to short stories but finding she had too much to tell with too little space, Mia progressed to novels. She started her first series (The Wanderer Trilogy) at the age of fourteen and since then hasn’t stopped writing. Elemental Killers is her second series and with an ever growing list of ideas, Mia is trying to keep up with the speed at which her imagination generates them.

How did you first start out as an author? 

Becoming an author was an accident really. I progressed from poetry, to short stories, to novels but I wasn’t really writing for anything other than my own pleasure. I didn’t even know I was writing a book until I was halfway through it—it just started as an idea and grew. Once I realised it though, I couldn’t stop. I love creating worlds, stories, and characters, and because it was something I enjoyed, I decided to pursue it as it makes me happy. Technology and self-publishing just allowed me to fulfil my goals quicker, for which I’m grateful.

Have you always wanted to write? 

I’ve always written, I just didn’t know it was something I wanted to pursue as a career until I was fourteen. Up until then I had focused on poetry and short stories, but after one year of creative writing in English lessons, I started to work on my first novel and from then on things just continued.

I once heard an author mention how when reading a really good book she would catch herself thinking "I wish I had written this." If you could write a book that has already been written which book would you choose and why? 

I’ve been asked this a few times and I think, like most authors I’ve spoken to, I’d have to pick successful books like Harry Potter or The Hunger Games because you can’t really get any bigger than having your book turned into a movie (or everything else attached to Harry Potter). However, it’s not something I think often when reading books as I have too many ideas already in my head that I’d love to create. The book wouldn’t have been the same if I wrote it—and I’d probably be sick of it upon release after the amount of edits I go through—so when reading for pleasure, I tend to switch off the writer in me.

If you could meet with any person, dead or alive, who would you choose? 

I have no idea as there are too many people to even consider. Can I choose a character instead? Because I would love to meet Ethan or Luke from my Seasons of Change books (1 & 2). They’re my favourite male leads so far.

What is your writing process?

I’m lucky in that I can write full-time so I generally work 12-14 hour days when creating a book. When planning, it takes me anywhere between a week and a few months to figure everything out. There is a lot of mulling things over inside my head, scribbling down random thoughts, research etc. until I finally end up with a chapter by chapter breakdown, character profiles, and other necessary details. After that, I set myself a daily goal of 3000 words (about a chapter) as a minimum. Some days I write as much as 15,000, but I always hit the target so I can finish the first draft within a certain amount of time. Once I’ve competed my first draft, the books goes through the usual edits (myself, an editor, proof reader, and betas) and finally is released once I’m happy with it.

Usually, I have around three books on the go at one time. They’re normally all in different stages, but it helps give me a variety of projects to work on.

How do you deal with writers block?  

I’m not really sure what writer’s block is as I’ve never had a problem when writing a book because I plan so thoroughly. I definitely have issues during the planning stages because I’m piecing everything together, but by the time I come to write it, I know everything inside out. I also find that stopping around 500 words into a chapter helps me because it maps my train of thought out at the time and I can pick up straight where I left off.

What is your favorite quote? 

It’s not a book quote but I think my favourite one is: “Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.”

If you had to describe your book in three words what would they be? 

Feel-good summer read.

What books are you reading now or looking forward to reading? 

I just received an ARC of Becca Fitzpatrick’s Black Ice so I’m currently reading that as I couldn’t wait to start it. As for what I’m looking forward to reading, my tbr pile never seems to shrink so I’d be listing books for ages. Although, the final Skulduggery Pleasant book comes out this month so I can’t wait to get that in the post!

Where do you draw inspiration from? 

My inspiration comes from many places and people. I love watching my surroundings and you’d be surprised by how many things there are to see—especially when in a large group of people—when you just sit back and look.

Besides that, ideas come from real-life experiences (Elemental Killers), music (The Wanderer Trilogy), dreams, and basic themes like a feel-good romance (Seasons of Change). As well as that, I’m sure I overthink things and turn everything into worlds. I like creating stories and generally there is a theme or a “what if” question in my head that starts everything off.

With regards to characters, I don’t like saying I use real people as everyone wants to know if they’re in my book. The truth is that I use different aspects of certain peoples’ personalities and merge them into one character. There is also a bit of me in every character I write, which can be scary with darker characters, but it’s true.

Thank you so much Mia for stopping by and I cannot wait to read your next book! 

Until next time, 

Ginger