Mia Sheridan

Mia Sheridan is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Her passion is weaving true love stories about people destined to be together. Sheridan lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband. They have four children here on earth and one in heaven.

Sheridan's new novel is The Fix.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

The Fix not only references a "fix" in the sense of a problem-solver for hire (which is suggested might be the reason for the crime the reader steps into almost immediately), but it also references what unfolds at the end of the story. So the title felt perfect to me because right up front, it made sense to the reader, and then made even more sense at the conclusion. I love a title that ends up having a deeper meaning than it originally suggests.

What's in a name?

One of the characters in my book is a young, extremely rational, non-emotional, genius of a young woman who is referred to by some as a, "human computer." But in my heart I knew there was a tiny twinge of whimsy in her otherwise austere soul, and I wanted to acknowledge that with her name. I settled on Posey Kiss which, on the surface, seems all wrong for my serious, neuro-divergent heroine, but is a nod to the part of her only those she allowed close to her to see.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

My teenage reader self would be absolutely bowled-over that I'm an author at all! I never, in my wildest dreams, pictured myself writing a book until I sat down and did it on what was essentially, an emotionally-charged whim. Life can be so wild and my unplanned career is proof that it's never a bad idea to expect the unexpected. But as far as the content of my novel, I think my teenage reader self—lover of both romance and thrills—would be completely on board.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Beginnings are by far the most difficult for me, and I procrastinate mercilessly before forcing myself to add words to that blank first page. But interestingly, I tend to change my endings far more than my beginnings. I think that might just be because once I know the full scope of the characters and the plot, more often than not, the ending I had planned months before I got there, doesn't feel quite right. With The Fix, I actually trashed about twenty-thousand words of the ending and re-wrote it completely. It was painful, but well worth it as once I did the work, and it felt right and true to the rest of the story.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

My characters definitely reflect my own reactions and emotional responses, especially the heroines. When I first started writing, I think I basically wrote variations of myself for all my characters. And if I didn't, that character felt false or overdone because I hadn't become adept at writing personalities completely unlike my own. That skill—for me anyway—took time to hone. But now that I've grasped the ability more fully, I have a really good time writing completely outside my own nature. It sounds funny, but it's harder than one might think to get out of your own head and "become" someone else!

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

My own reflections on the world and nature specifically. Especially now that I've started writing and attempting to set a scene or create an atmosphere, I'll literally pause sometimes if I see a beautiful sunset, or feel wind on my face and think about how I'd describe the vision or the feeling. I believe those simple things are what can make a really immersive reading experience.

Visit Mia Sheridan's website.

--Marshal Zeringue