December 10, 2025 • 37 mins
James chats with the author! The Fix is out NOW! Amazon.com or any bookstore! Mia Sheridan is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Her romantic suspense novels include Bad Mother, All the Little Raindrops, The Broken Places, Where the Blame Lies, and Where the Truth Lives. Mia lives with her husband in Cincinnati, Ohio. They have four children here on earth and one in heaven. You can find the author online at https://miasheridan.com or follow her on X (@MSheridanAuthor), Instagram (@MiaSheridanAuthor), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/miasheridanauthor).
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
A shaft of light appeared, and in that light she
saw it too, protruding from her mouth, and far above her,
a ceiling encircled by crown molding. She knew, well, God, no,
it can't be. But as if an answer, a soft
world met her ears. Her body began rising, along with
(00:27):
the bed beneath her. He stood there at the footboard,
a wicked smile on his wolfish face. Low posy. That's
what she knew for certain. She was still alive, but
it would have been better had she died. That's how
this book starts. On the prologue. I read that and
(00:51):
I was like, okay, I'm ready, let's go, let's get
into it. Let's go. I am ready. She's and crackers people,
And this book does not let up. It has twists
and turns, It has kidnappings, and has murders and has
sex relationships. Should I tell everybody everything? We'll get to it.
(01:15):
All kinds of stuff going on here. That's a good
pace turner, a good read. Now she's ready to get
your start talking. I got I told I did all
kind of her book as you see watching, it's called
The Fix is a gorgeous cover.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
They killed it with that cover.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I love it. Oh, I love it. If you don't
see it, It's called The Fix, a novel, and I'm
very happy to announce. I have my little notes here,
all right to announce it's currently because of Kindle sales,
it is the number one Amazon bestseller for a kidnapping
thriller at new adult and college romance. It's number two
(01:57):
for crime thrillers. You go girl, you shared him?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Hello, how are you? Thank you for having me and
for that lovely read. You have a You have an
amazing voice. You might want to get into narration that
you had me there.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Thank you. I do use my voice for a lot
of things. It gives me trouble and out of trouble. No,
I do audio dramas. There you go there.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
So okay, all right, that's why you're so good at.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Rador on several of them. So I like, like, so
I am doing that. Actually I like that. First of all, congratulations,
thank you. That's your first book. But giving, But books
are like giving births of of sorts. But like, these
are also representations of you, yes, the world. So how
(02:44):
do you feel when a book comes out? How do
you generally feel?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
You know, it's a it's a good metaphor. It is
like giving birth, you know, and and when you put
it out to the world, you kind of have to
be ready that it's no longer just yours. It is
this creation now belongs to everyone, and everyone gets to,
you know, enjoy it hopefully, but also give their two
(03:10):
cents about it, and you know, break it down and
judge it and all the things. So you know, it's
it's a celebration, but it's also it's a little bit
of kind of a ripping away, you know. So it's
lots of dual things going on with a book release.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
How do you handle again, you've had many books out,
but how do you handle people's reactions.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I'm mostly at the point I only really take in
what what people send me, which are you know, typically
positive responses. I used to in the beginning, when I
first started writing, I used to read all my reviews,
and you know, I got a good idea I have.
I did learn a little bit from them, you know,
(04:01):
in the beginning, and I learned, you know, what people
love about my writing and what people don't like about
my writing, and so like, I have a good sort
of sense of that, I think, and now they're less
helpful to me than that. You know, if I read
something negative, it kind of like winds through my mind
(04:22):
when I sit down to write, and it's it's not
very conducive to creativity when you know, I actually I
some at some point somewhat recently, I was looking up
something on Amazon on one of my books, like the
date it was published or something, and I usually don't
scroll down to the reviews. I go right away from those,
(04:43):
but for whatever reason, you know, now they do an
AI breakdown of all the reviews where it's kind of
like a condensed little blurb about, you know, the general consensus,
and so I thought it would be safe to scroll
down to that. And the robot really came for me
(05:03):
because like the first the first sentence said something like,
you know, reviewers find the book ridiculous and boring, like
both at the same time. And I, you know, of course,
like I went away really quickly, but I'm not kidding you.
For the next like couple of weeks like that, that
(05:24):
phrase kept running through my head ridiculous and boring, and
it's like what do you do with that? Right? And
so it's best for me if I kind of stay
away and just happily take in, you know, the lovely
reviews people send my way, and that's kind of how
I handle it. Handle that now after.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
So many years, I agree. Nowadays you don't know if
they're bots. Are people just doing things anyway just to
get your nerves.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Yes, I'm okay, now I'm fine, I let it go.
But but yeah, it can be dangerous.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Know that as a creative. I'm a creative too. Just
that there's you put your heart in soulties that you
were writing a book, you'll just write a book. I mean,
you have to let it out. There's a lot that
goes into it. And that's why your show is calling
between the pages and we go in between the pages.
That what you do is uh, you know, it's a
lot of organization, you know, chapters, how many words? How
(06:21):
long is it going to be? The characters that make sense.
There's a lot of goes into this, you know. Just
like so, I just feel like when you do conclude
a book, that's a that's a major achievement because you're like, okay,
now here's the story. I did it. I wrote it
to the conclusion of this part. Whether it's a I
don't care if it's a one of a series. It
is still you found an ending for a book and
(06:44):
now you're ready to put it out there. That's still
that's like still kind of raw, right, it's like still
putting it out there for people just to read it.
You see it.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
It is it is, you know, because you can learn
a lot about a person by the way they tell
a story, and you know, the thoughts that they put
in their characters heads and the reactions that the characters have.
I mean, there's no way to separate yourself entirely from
from your characters. And so it is it's a very
vulnerable type of art to put out there, and you know,
(07:15):
it never really fully gets gets easy, and that's why
it's it's so hard to separate yourself from the work.
And when people criticize some part of it, you know,
it's it's impossible not to take it at least a
little bit personally.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
But I'm a songwriter, so I'm singing. I'm a song
and sing a songwriter, so cool, So I put a
lot of heart into my songs. I know why I
wrote that song, the reason for it. It's almost similar
to you. You know why you wrote this book? The
theme Also you pick. So when someone picks at it,
you're like, but okay, I guess how you're receiving it.
(07:51):
But I still know why I wrote the song and
why this is why I chose this. It's like it's
still it's still my thing. It's like doing it. You
want to criticize my actual voice, that's fine, that's that's
that's something different. But like, wow, the songs that I'm like,
but that's how I came up. You can't, you really can't.
I'd like to say that with books, you chose to
write this topic, You chose the themes in the book,
(08:13):
you chose the character names like people are wow, look canny,
what's that? Which I love that name actually, but I
just say, people will attack that stuff. You kind of go,
but that's still my creative process, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, there's always something to pick apart, I guess. But
you know, art is so subjective and as many you know,
criticisms as you or I might get about wording or
little things like there's going to be another review that
says the exact opposite. So yeah, at this point, it's
(08:45):
best for my heart and soul just to you know,
kind of turn away from that from that side of
it and focus on focus on the next one, or
you know what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Now, how do you because you because you're your authors,
you write books, how did you come up with this story?
We're going to ask I'm actually ask you afterwards explain
the story to people, But how did you come up
with this story?
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You know, this story? It actually the the little seed
of the fix was planted when I went to visit
a friend I guess it was a couple of years
ago now, and she was, you know, we were we
were driving somewhere, and she was reminding me about a
really terrible crime that happened in her area, of this
(09:36):
home invasion where I think the entire family in that
case may have been murdered, and she was kind of
like rehashing that and how hard it was for the
entire town and how you know, the the that still
lingers there, and how affected everybody was was, you know,
from that from that crime, which was a big news
(09:58):
story at the time, and I just you know, there's
something particularly horrifying about a home invasion. I mean, you know, right,
any violent crime is horrible and traumatic, but there's something
just extra, you know, nightmarish about somebody breaking into your
(10:21):
your home, the place where you go to find solace
and peace and safety. And so that just kept playing
on my mind over and over again. I knew I
wanted to write about that kind of crime. And you know,
often it happens where it just it's something small like that,
and I think about, well, what might have happened to
inspire somebody to commit that kind of crime, you know,
(10:42):
what would be a motive for something like that to happen.
And it kind of just all started spinning out from there.
But yeah, that that was the initial you know, kind
of prompt that got my mind going.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
I six years ago for a pandemic, I walked in
on ovation at my home.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
I just got chills.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Reading your book. I brought some stuff back from me.
I will in a great way. I mean it was
it was not a great way. It was good. Yeah.
And it was the middle of the day.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Oh wow, it was a robbery. They were just there to.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
They were in my house as I walked. I know,
so I have a long house. They kind of shotgun
houses because like it's a long hallway rooms off to
the side.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Are you in California?
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yeah, in Los Angeles?
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Okay, Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm familiar with that, that
style of house. I'm from California too, so yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Yeah, you know, well I can tell you so I have.
But this is an a frame house, but it's it's
one of the one story it's one of those where
you walk in living room, dining room, straight ahead, kitchen.
The thing goes through the kitchens. The kitchens you have
to walk, dude to get to the back half of
the house. Sarah's ports bedrooms in the back, and then
(12:05):
back door behind me. So it's like from front door
and back door you can almost see all the way. Uh,
there's one of these little track tones over here in Englewood,
little track to on the but they built in the fifties.
We've been just in the seventies. But anyway, so I
walk in, have an alarm, and my alarm's acting weird
as I walk in, and I think, what saved me
(12:25):
on some levels because I was in the front and
the house was so long. I was in the front
of the house, what's going on? And I hear commotion
out of my room, So what's crazy? So here's the
crazy part. I have an alarm system, we have bars.
It's because I live in South LA. We have bars
and all our windows except for one mia in this
(12:49):
house do not have bars or security screen or anything.
And it was the little tiny window above my shower.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Oh my goodness. Wow, they were intent on getting in.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
They was after after we chased them out my back door,
and it was really scary when I looked and I
saw in my bathroom outside they had taken two trash cans.
They set someone smaller.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
In Okay, yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
He fell in so hurt himself, fell in, ripped my
whole shower. It was just dirty. It was disgusting. But
the only point was that I came home in the
middle of people being in my house. He just said
it was it was violating, It was disgusting, It was scary.
Luckily there were no guns involved. We're saying, so just
get so you read. It just triggered a little bit
(13:41):
of that exactly what she what they went. I just
kind of got a piece of it going, Yeah, I
know what that feels like to be at home and
somebody's in your house.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Yeah. Yeah, just the thought of it is just really horrifying.
And as you know now too, you know, to think
of somebody being inside your house without your permission is
just like it's it's difficult to explain. It's like, you know,
we all kind of like feel that under our skin
when we hear about it. So, yeah, it was, you know,
(14:12):
it was. It definitely stuck with me, and I knew
that I wanted that to be the crime that you know,
that my story was focused around. And then you know,
it just kind of started unfolding from there, like sometimes
you get that little bit of inspiration and it kind
of stops right there, like you don't know where to
bring it. And sometimes it really just starts, like you know,
(14:34):
expanding and unwinding, and it did in this case.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
So I always ask the authors to explain a short
summary of the book because I was curious what I
was curious what you and your words? How do you
describe the book? Not how they wrote it? On this title,
I want to see how do you describe the Fix?
Speaker 2 (14:56):
So The Fix is about a teenager named Cammy krk
Cortland who suffers a horrific home invasion where her mother
and her sister are murdered. And then years later, she
has rebuilt her life and you know, is living a
quiet existence when she gets a phone call from a
(15:19):
computer generated voice that asks her if she would like
a do over, and included with that phone call is
also the video of a young boy locked in a room,
and she's given a certain amount of time to find
him and to rescue him. So she reaches out to
an ex classmate named Rex, who was falsely accused in
(15:43):
her crime years ago, and together they set off to
find this little boy and to figure out why she's
been targeted and how it all leads back to the
crime that her family suffered so many years ago.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
I love it, and that's exactly That's exactly what she said.
There's much more going on.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Trust I know, I try to keep it condensed. I
would have gone on here for an hour, but yeah,
that's the basics.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
There. There's more to it, but that's but that is
the basics, and to me, that's what got me excited.
Like this story is one of those gonna talk to
you over. It's almost kind of a for just for
for Rex, as the redemption story of sortin though he
didn't do anything before, it's kind of like he was
accused but no, can I help someone else? For Cammy,
(16:30):
it's it's completely not do over her, but almost like
can I help this person not go to you know,
get out of the streets and I could, We couldn't.
It's just there's so many layers to this story and
the pages.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Yeah, yeah, there were a lot of layers. There's a
lot going on, and so that's always you know, that
can be really fun and rewarding for a reader, but
not if it's confusing. So that's always kind of the
challenge with these kind of books is to, like when
you have all these characters coming in and all these
different stories overlapping, to make it very easy to read,
(17:05):
but also so that when they all come together and
weave together at the end, it's you know, you try
to do it as seamlessly as you can so people
think that, you know, you knew what you were doing
all along. Sometimes you don't.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Probably never hear this comment from anybody else a bopper audience,
because you have a lot of characters. I was gonna say,
for me, it's easy to follow because I'm used to
following a lot of characters watching something.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Yeah. Okay, yeah, my.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Soap people out there watching they watch these Oh that's funny,
interesting for you for anybody else, Yeah, soap watcher or
a person watches like Grades and Anatomy and things like that.
You'll be the characters will be fine because you'll just
you'll start fighting because we follow that easily. Were used
to multiple characters.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yes, that's so true. That's so true. And now you're
making me miss my soap opera days. Actually, I used
to like live for those. They were so fun.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Was your favorites?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Oh gosh, I used to What did I used to watch?
This is gonna age me. Did you ever watch Loving?
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Of course? Yes?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Okay, yeah, I remember that one. Of course I used
to watch all my children and then Days of Our
Lives was big. I think I kind of I think
I kind of opted out once more. Lena started like
having the glowing eyes. I I think I'm maybe done here.
But yeah, I watched them all, but I specifically remember Loving,
(18:33):
and anytime I mention it, nobody ever knows what I'm
talking about.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
And watching the show, so we're like, we know who
ended up watch you watch? But yeah, no, be say,
I said, I'm gonna tell her something that she probably
never even heard, that it's for so because there's a
lot of characters in here. You're so right, We had
no no problem following because I've had friends who read
(18:59):
books when I can read the chapters twice sometimes to
kind of but I'm like, I'm so prone to know. Okay,
so the pers just kind okay, got it, and I
already what this is. Oh this person okay, got it?
This person right? Yeah, well in this book two? So
you do that, yeah, and you.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Know that's that's so interesting because it probably maybe you're
like me, it makes you kind of like long for that.
That's what you want. You want to keep your brain,
you know, moving and thinking about how these different plots
might you know, come together at some point and stuff.
So other other types of storytelling feel like less less
(19:38):
interesting or less rich because there's not you know, it's
just like more like a linear story that never you know,
intersects at any point.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
So I stories mm hm, meaning that they encompass a
lot of different people, good, different things. Like you said,
at the end, it all comes together, and what they're
doing over here does relate to want to do it
over here. I love I.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Love it, me too, me too. And then if you
watch it again, you can find all those little you know,
all those little breadcrumbs that led to that ultimate moment.
But you didn't notice them at the time.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Necessarily, again, you did because you just didn't realize it
was happening. And then you're like, oh my goodness, that
that thing turns on you go, oh my god. That
says we go back in sometimes. That's why that's why
I love books. You know, you can go back and
read it exactly did they say this, and you go
back to you a whole bit. I love it. I
(20:39):
love it this book. Trust me. You know a bunch
of these moments and uh, one of the things, so
I mentioned O case, so fin can we get in
between the pages? I just want to mention I was
very impressed. There is one chapter that's seven pages that's
a sex scene.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Is that seven counted?
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Yes? It is? And I was I got to say,
what chapter, folks, I want you fall into it. But
it's towards the last half of the book. And while
I liked about the scene because it was silatious or anything,
but it's like I when I get when I read
sex scenes in books, somethings are cringing to me. I'm
just like, okay, whatever. It's like I sure, I kind
(21:22):
of fast forward through it, but yours wasn't cringey to me, like, yeah,
gone through so much the previous Like I don't give
away the chapter, I'll say ten chapters. M that and
because of Cammy and Rex, because because of what they've
(21:43):
been through in general, it made sense to me.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yes, and I thank you for that. I appreciate that.
You know, I always when I approach these scenes with
the characters, if it feels salacious, I don't want to
do it. There's no reason for that. What my point
anytime I write more of an open door type scene
is to not only move the character's relationship forward in
(22:12):
some way, but also I like to you know, represent
some form of healing in the scene. And in this case,
that was you know, a really obvious form of healing
because of what one of the characters had been through.
So you know, it felt important to me to do
that in order to you know, assure the reader that like,
(22:34):
these people were going to be okay and they were
healing together and and all of that. So it felt
like it felt like a worthwhile scene to to include
Book of Murder.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
It kind of came out, That's what I mentioned. Because
kind of it came out. I was like, oh, okay,
here we go. It was the whole chapter by itself,
and I was like, Okay, here we go. I'm ready.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
They're like, oh we're switching, we're searching years.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
Okay, okay, but it makes sense. It totally makes like
you said, what when it goes through sometimes we're adults
and and healing and trauma bonding and healing can begin
some nice through sexual natures. And I said, there's a
it's a sex scene that includes a shower scene afterwards. Also,
(23:22):
I was kind of wash away, washing away. I just
I viewed it of the past. Yes, I mean now
they're in a new beginning so to speak, well a
new era and the new era uh in their relationship.
And I just felt like it wasn't gratuitous. Like I said,
sometimes we were like huh, here we go, and then
(23:45):
it was it just it made sense. So I just
want to folks say, just in case you guys know,
there's it's because it's not just all grizzly grizzly busy,
because there is something in there, and there's there are
some lightheartedness towards the end of book a little bit too,
and parts also because they about it goes through this
all this this huge thing the book takes you through
a huge, serious, heavy journey levels.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Yes, absolutely, but yes I don't. I always want to
leave my readers, even in you know, my thriller books
that that are filled of, you know, lots of unpleasant circumstances.
I want to feel leave the reader feeling satisfied and
(24:31):
at peace, and also to feel that justice has been served,
because otherwise, like if you take this huge, you know,
three hundred and fifty page journey whatever it is, and
you get to the end and you're kind of left
like why did I spend all this time in this world?
And I feel like, you know, I don't feel that
justice was served. That's I never liked that feeling as
(24:54):
a reader, and so I never want to do that
to my readers.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Yeah, okay, book here, working his book in here. Okay,
So I wanted to ask, okay, number one homegirl, Cammy
love the name Kemmy Cortland. That's a great soap name too.
She goes to it in his book. So she is
(25:18):
she is the as we say, the business number one
on the call sheet. She is the one that we're following.
How as you go in between the pages, how easy
or hard was it to write for her or to
write her well.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
It was hard in the sense that, you know, I
put her through hell basically, and so I brought her
through a really big range of emotion, which is you know,
never easy. But I always, you know, I really always
(25:56):
want to infuse in my in my heroines especially, but
all my characters, even in the darkest of times, that
they're able to grasp onto a you know, the smallest
ray of hope, and it might be you know, often
(26:18):
the distance, and it might be you know, barely able
to be seen or much less grasped, but they they
acknowledge it there and it's what keeps them going. And
so I tried to give her that quality as well.
And you know, but she she went through a whole
heck of a lot, and so I, you know, I
(26:40):
took creating her character really really seriously, and hope if
I did justice to you know, people who who might
have gone through something equally as traumatic and terrible and
come out the other side. But yeah, I you know,
I'm always very attached to those characters that I put
(27:01):
through the ringer and bring out.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Wow, I'm gonna ask you just to pickback of that.
It's just that when you're writing a character going through
so much? How do you how do you stop yourself
from coming in and saving her? So to speak, like
before before the time, Like you're writing, she's going through
all this stuff, and at some point you're like, I
gotta give this girl something, you know, but you're like,
(27:25):
but you're not there yet. The story slas to go
a little further for she gets there. How do you
stop yourself from kind of You're like, you're like her mother,
you're her father, you're all the creator of her. So
how do you how do you time that out? And
stories like this because there's so much that goes on.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Yeah, well, in a sense, I don't because I I,
you know, again, give her that that little ray of
hope that is her tool that you know, keeps her
hanging on and keeps her thinking straight and and trying.
You know, she she doesn't give up, and I give
(28:04):
that to her. But also, you know, writing writing a
book is interesting because it's like you're you're almost god
of this small world because I know I can say
it's going to be okay. I know it is because
I'm going to make it so, you know, and so
I always kind of you know, I comfort myself with
that that I know where this is going. I know
you're going to be all right. Not maybe not every character,
(28:26):
but typically my pain characters, and so you know, that's
kind of how I make it through personally and make
it so that she does what she needs to do.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Because don't you live with these characters while you're writing them?
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Yeah? Absolutely, yes, they come alive, and I mean more
so as you as you go forward.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Absolutely, that's why I figure, that's why is that question
because I know it's what I do. My audio DRAMs
were really get into it. Okay, I want you to
comment on Rex Rex Rex.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Yeah, Rex is one of my favorite characters to write. Actually,
I just you know, he he just has so much
goodness to him and just like this innate goodness that
and this innate you know, strength to that doesn't always
isn't always easy for people who come from you know,
(29:24):
kind of crappy circumstances where it's easier to you know,
sometimes give up or not meet your full potential or
whatever it may be. But he is, he's strong, and
he's he's a good He's just a good guy. You know,
he's just like the quintessential solid dude. And and he's
(29:47):
the person you would want by your side if you
had something really scary going on, right, Like, that's who
you would call.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Exactly, Okay. And another character.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Posey posey, Yes, Poesy pose Yeah. She she actually, you know,
I did not funny enough write her into my outline
at all. She did not initially exist. Yeah, and she
kind of just like blinked to life as I I
(30:24):
think I got stuck somewhere. I kind of you know,
I I I really knew it needed kind of another
layer somehow. And that's when she kind of, like you know,
started started speaking to me and saying, hello, Hello, I'm here.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Yeah, I want I want more. I want more of
her story.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
You know what. Somebody wrote me that recently, just like
a few days ago, actually they they wrote to me
and asked if I would consider writing either, you know,
another book. I think with her kind of in the background,
meddling in in something or another, I wanted to get away.
But yeah, and I mean I would love to. She's
(31:08):
you know, she was a joy to to write. But
we'll see.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
I love it. I love it. One of the things
I want to talk to you about because you know,
I am I guess I'm part of this on some level.
I impressed. But I love and that in your thanks
in the book, you're right towards the end. That's correct, Okay,
(31:34):
what your role is very sweet first of all, And
and I feel the same way you do about anybody
who finds anybody who watches this show or anything that
I do and finds it worthy of notice. I can
almost cry to you sometimes I get so I'm just
like me. You have a million choices and authors a
million choices, and shows what anybody who watches when it
(31:54):
tells me, Like James, I love that episode. That was great.
You know, I get, I get all mushy. Uh, But
you wrote this part right right after that. He wrote
this to all the book bloggers, instagrammers, book booktokers, uh,
Big Tommy, book talkers and book talkers. I wish I
could hug each and every one of you. Your value
is immeasurable. I truly believe that straining the level of
(32:16):
reading changes the world. And that's the foundation of this
show and anything I do with books. That reading is
one of the best things anyone could do in their
lives period. Talk about the community of people. We're talking
big corporations. We're talking big book houses. Were not talking
(32:37):
Barnes and Noble and Amazon, and we're talking about the
folks basically are just in the crowd with you, helping
you promote your books.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's it's really such an
amazing thing because these are by and large young women,
but like in their in their living rooms, like creating
content just because they find find a story that impacts
them so deeply and they want to share it and
it's literally that immense and that simple at the same time.
(33:09):
And it's you know, I can never I'm always in
awe too at these these you know, I don't know
if they're reels or you know, even just photos or
whatever that they produce are so beautiful and capture the
story like in a way that I could only dream about,
(33:29):
you know, Like, and it just it blows my mind
every time somebody spends that kind of time on me.
And I mean for me, something like that would take
six days for them, you know, like they're a lot younger.
They know all these all these programs so much better.
Maybe it takes them less time, but you know, even
(33:49):
to spend fifteen minutes on something beautiful about my book
is just I can never express enough gratitude for that.
And they truly are the people who spread the word
because you know, those are the people that their friends trust.
You know. It's it's it's like there's all these publishers
and pr people and you know, saying all kinds of
(34:11):
nice things about a book. But if your friend says, hey,
you have to read this book, I loved it, You're
going to listen to them because you know them, you
trust them, and so it's really just like invaluable and yeah,
I'm just I'm I'm beyond grateful to every single one
of them, truly.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
And honestly, I agree. We you and I would not
be here as it was it was it for fans,
we would not be here. Seriously, I mean, that's that's
why we moves the needle forward and get your product
out there. If they say they like it, and then
okay to follow them yet, tell me this show is good,
check it out. I'll check it out. That's right, right,
(34:52):
boss called the Fix And so it's out. I believe
it's out in terms of like actual what hardcover here
about in a week or so, right, like.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Yeah, no, November first, it's in it's in the Amazon
First Reads program right now for people who are members
of Prime and and it's also a dollar ninety nine
for anyone else, I believe is the way that program works.
And then it's out to the wider world on November first.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
And yeah, it's doing well, girls. It's like number one
on several places, doing good. Girl, I was doing good
that you can see by it against called the Fix.
I'm endorsing it. That means anything to anybody. I'm endorsing it.
It was a it was a really good reading. Sent
I worked this book out. Uh, it was a really
good read. And and I I just think, you know,
(35:42):
as I end this, as I always end this reading,
is we should support indie author, support big authors, support
anybody who writes a book, support them.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
And then support words. Words make the world, change the world,
and you know, impact people, I think probably more than
any other thing.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Let me get that, she said said the songwriters.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Songwriters know this, poets know this. Right. Words, it's all
about words.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
I'm gonnaenit there because she just said it. She said
it so eloquently. That's why she's an author. Support the arts,
no matter what they are, dance, music, acting, singing, poetry, writing, painting, anything,
it's artistic that support supported in schools. Yes, arts we
have been proven scientifically to help with math and sciences
(36:32):
and history and other kinds of learning. My grandkids would
go to arts based schools schools. I'm so happy for them.
They get to do all kinds of stuff, becoming well
rounded children, to become well rounded adults. And support the
book community. Yes, we're out there. We love it is
on Facebook. Uh, she's at Mia shared an author on Twitter?
(36:55):
No on on Instagram.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
On Instagram, yes, and then my website is Miashridan dot com.
But I'm most active on Instagram, so that's probably the
best place to find me.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
And I'm gonna put that in description. So you find
find her, gona get her book, right, So go get
her book or any of her books. You go get
her books, and then you're going to talk to her
about it on her on the Instagram. That's what you
guys are gonna do. Everyone take care of yourselves. We'll
see you again next week for another another show of
imaty Pages with James Lott Junior.
A shaft of light appeared, and in that light she
saw it too, protruding from her mouth, and far above her,
a ceiling encircled by crown molding. She knew, well, God, no,
it can't be. But as if an answer, a soft
world met her ears. Her body began rising, along with
(00:27):
the bed beneath her. He stood there at the footboard,
a wicked smile on his wolfish face. Low posy. That's
what she knew for certain. She was still alive, but
it would have been better had she died. That's how
this book starts. On the prologue. I read that and
(00:51):
I was like, okay, I'm ready, let's go, let's get
into it. Let's go. I am ready. She's and crackers people,
And this book does not let up. It has twists
and turns, It has kidnappings, and has murders and has
sex relationships. Should I tell everybody everything? We'll get to it.
(01:15):
All kinds of stuff going on here. That's a good
pace turner, a good read. Now she's ready to get
your start talking. I got I told I did all
kind of her book as you see watching, it's called
The Fix is a gorgeous cover.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
They killed it with that cover.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I love it. Oh, I love it. If you don't
see it, It's called The Fix, a novel, and I'm
very happy to announce. I have my little notes here,
all right to announce it's currently because of Kindle sales,
it is the number one Amazon bestseller for a kidnapping
thriller at new adult and college romance. It's number two
(01:57):
for crime thrillers. You go girl, you shared him?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Hello, how are you? Thank you for having me and
for that lovely read. You have a You have an
amazing voice. You might want to get into narration that
you had me there.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Thank you. I do use my voice for a lot
of things. It gives me trouble and out of trouble. No,
I do audio dramas. There you go there.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
So okay, all right, that's why you're so good at.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Rador on several of them. So I like, like, so
I am doing that. Actually I like that. First of all, congratulations,
thank you. That's your first book. But giving, But books
are like giving births of of sorts. But like, these
are also representations of you, yes, the world. So how
(02:44):
do you feel when a book comes out? How do
you generally feel?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
You know, it's a it's a good metaphor. It is
like giving birth, you know, and and when you put
it out to the world, you kind of have to
be ready that it's no longer just yours. It is
this creation now belongs to everyone, and everyone gets to,
you know, enjoy it hopefully, but also give their two
(03:10):
cents about it, and you know, break it down and
judge it and all the things. So you know, it's
it's a celebration, but it's also it's a little bit
of kind of a ripping away, you know. So it's
lots of dual things going on with a book release.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
How do you handle again, you've had many books out,
but how do you handle people's reactions.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I'm mostly at the point I only really take in
what what people send me, which are you know, typically
positive responses. I used to in the beginning, when I
first started writing, I used to read all my reviews,
and you know, I got a good idea I have.
I did learn a little bit from them, you know,
(04:01):
in the beginning, and I learned, you know, what people
love about my writing and what people don't like about
my writing, and so like, I have a good sort
of sense of that, I think, and now they're less
helpful to me than that. You know, if I read
something negative, it kind of like winds through my mind
(04:22):
when I sit down to write, and it's it's not
very conducive to creativity when you know, I actually I
some at some point somewhat recently, I was looking up
something on Amazon on one of my books, like the
date it was published or something, and I usually don't
scroll down to the reviews. I go right away from those,
(04:43):
but for whatever reason, you know, now they do an
AI breakdown of all the reviews where it's kind of
like a condensed little blurb about, you know, the general consensus,
and so I thought it would be safe to scroll
down to that. And the robot really came for me
(05:03):
because like the first the first sentence said something like,
you know, reviewers find the book ridiculous and boring, like
both at the same time. And I, you know, of course,
like I went away really quickly, but I'm not kidding you.
For the next like couple of weeks like that, that
(05:24):
phrase kept running through my head ridiculous and boring, and
it's like what do you do with that? Right? And
so it's best for me if I kind of stay
away and just happily take in, you know, the lovely
reviews people send my way, and that's kind of how
I handle it. Handle that now after.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
So many years, I agree. Nowadays you don't know if
they're bots. Are people just doing things anyway just to
get your nerves.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Yes, I'm okay, now I'm fine, I let it go.
But but yeah, it can be dangerous.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Know that as a creative. I'm a creative too. Just
that there's you put your heart in soulties that you
were writing a book, you'll just write a book. I mean,
you have to let it out. There's a lot that
goes into it. And that's why your show is calling
between the pages and we go in between the pages.
That what you do is uh, you know, it's a
lot of organization, you know, chapters, how many words? How
(06:21):
long is it going to be? The characters that make sense.
There's a lot of goes into this, you know. Just
like so, I just feel like when you do conclude
a book, that's a that's a major achievement because you're like, okay,
now here's the story. I did it. I wrote it
to the conclusion of this part. Whether it's a I
don't care if it's a one of a series. It
is still you found an ending for a book and
(06:44):
now you're ready to put it out there. That's still
that's like still kind of raw, right, it's like still
putting it out there for people just to read it.
You see it.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
It is it is, you know, because you can learn
a lot about a person by the way they tell
a story, and you know, the thoughts that they put
in their characters heads and the reactions that the characters have.
I mean, there's no way to separate yourself entirely from
from your characters. And so it is it's a very
vulnerable type of art to put out there, and you know,
(07:15):
it never really fully gets gets easy, and that's why
it's it's so hard to separate yourself from the work.
And when people criticize some part of it, you know,
it's it's impossible not to take it at least a
little bit personally.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
But I'm a songwriter, so I'm singing. I'm a song
and sing a songwriter, so cool, So I put a
lot of heart into my songs. I know why I
wrote that song, the reason for it. It's almost similar
to you. You know why you wrote this book? The
theme Also you pick. So when someone picks at it,
you're like, but okay, I guess how you're receiving it.
(07:51):
But I still know why I wrote the song and
why this is why I chose this. It's like it's
still it's still my thing. It's like doing it. You
want to criticize my actual voice, that's fine, that's that's
that's something different. But like, wow, the songs that I'm like,
but that's how I came up. You can't, you really can't.
I'd like to say that with books, you chose to
write this topic, You chose the themes in the book,
(08:13):
you chose the character names like people are wow, look canny,
what's that? Which I love that name actually, but I
just say, people will attack that stuff. You kind of go,
but that's still my creative process, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yeah, there's always something to pick apart, I guess. But
you know, art is so subjective and as many you know,
criticisms as you or I might get about wording or
little things like there's going to be another review that
says the exact opposite. So yeah, at this point, it's
(08:45):
best for my heart and soul just to you know,
kind of turn away from that from that side of
it and focus on focus on the next one, or
you know what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Now, how do you because you because you're your authors,
you write books, how did you come up with this story?
We're going to ask I'm actually ask you afterwards explain
the story to people, But how did you come up
with this story?
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You know, this story? It actually the the little seed
of the fix was planted when I went to visit
a friend I guess it was a couple of years
ago now, and she was, you know, we were we
were driving somewhere, and she was reminding me about a
really terrible crime that happened in her area, of this
(09:36):
home invasion where I think the entire family in that
case may have been murdered, and she was kind of
like rehashing that and how hard it was for the
entire town and how you know, the the that still
lingers there, and how affected everybody was was, you know,
from that from that crime, which was a big news
(09:58):
story at the time, and I just you know, there's
something particularly horrifying about a home invasion. I mean, you know, right,
any violent crime is horrible and traumatic, but there's something
just extra, you know, nightmarish about somebody breaking into your
(10:21):
your home, the place where you go to find solace
and peace and safety. And so that just kept playing
on my mind over and over again. I knew I
wanted to write about that kind of crime. And you know,
often it happens where it just it's something small like that,
and I think about, well, what might have happened to
inspire somebody to commit that kind of crime, you know,
(10:42):
what would be a motive for something like that to happen.
And it kind of just all started spinning out from there.
But yeah, that that was the initial you know, kind
of prompt that got my mind going.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
I six years ago for a pandemic, I walked in
on ovation at my home.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
I just got chills.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Reading your book. I brought some stuff back from me.
I will in a great way. I mean it was
it was not a great way. It was good. Yeah.
And it was the middle of the day.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Oh wow, it was a robbery. They were just there to.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
They were in my house as I walked. I know,
so I have a long house. They kind of shotgun
houses because like it's a long hallway rooms off to
the side.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Are you in California?
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yeah, in Los Angeles?
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Okay, Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm familiar with that, that
style of house. I'm from California too, so yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Yeah, you know, well I can tell you so I have.
But this is an a frame house, but it's it's
one of the one story it's one of those where
you walk in living room, dining room, straight ahead, kitchen.
The thing goes through the kitchens. The kitchens you have
to walk, dude to get to the back half of
the house. Sarah's ports bedrooms in the back, and then
(12:05):
back door behind me. So it's like from front door
and back door you can almost see all the way. Uh,
there's one of these little track tones over here in Englewood,
little track to on the but they built in the fifties.
We've been just in the seventies. But anyway, so I
walk in, have an alarm, and my alarm's acting weird
as I walk in, and I think, what saved me
(12:25):
on some levels because I was in the front and
the house was so long. I was in the front
of the house, what's going on? And I hear commotion
out of my room, So what's crazy? So here's the
crazy part. I have an alarm system, we have bars.
It's because I live in South LA. We have bars
and all our windows except for one mia in this
(12:49):
house do not have bars or security screen or anything.
And it was the little tiny window above my shower.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Oh my goodness. Wow, they were intent on getting in.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
They was after after we chased them out my back door,
and it was really scary when I looked and I
saw in my bathroom outside they had taken two trash cans.
They set someone smaller.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
In Okay, yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
He fell in so hurt himself, fell in, ripped my
whole shower. It was just dirty. It was disgusting. But
the only point was that I came home in the
middle of people being in my house. He just said
it was it was violating, It was disgusting, It was scary.
Luckily there were no guns involved. We're saying, so just
get so you read. It just triggered a little bit
(13:41):
of that exactly what she what they went. I just
kind of got a piece of it going, Yeah, I
know what that feels like to be at home and
somebody's in your house.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Yeah. Yeah, just the thought of it is just really horrifying.
And as you know now too, you know, to think
of somebody being inside your house without your permission is
just like it's it's difficult to explain. It's like, you know,
we all kind of like feel that under our skin
when we hear about it. So, yeah, it was, you know,
(14:12):
it was. It definitely stuck with me, and I knew
that I wanted that to be the crime that you know,
that my story was focused around. And then you know,
it just kind of started unfolding from there, like sometimes
you get that little bit of inspiration and it kind
of stops right there, like you don't know where to
bring it. And sometimes it really just starts, like you know,
(14:34):
expanding and unwinding, and it did in this case.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
So I always ask the authors to explain a short
summary of the book because I was curious what I
was curious what you and your words? How do you
describe the book? Not how they wrote it? On this title,
I want to see how do you describe the Fix?
Speaker 2 (14:56):
So The Fix is about a teenager named Cammy krk
Cortland who suffers a horrific home invasion where her mother
and her sister are murdered. And then years later, she
has rebuilt her life and you know, is living a
quiet existence when she gets a phone call from a
(15:19):
computer generated voice that asks her if she would like
a do over, and included with that phone call is
also the video of a young boy locked in a room,
and she's given a certain amount of time to find
him and to rescue him. So she reaches out to
an ex classmate named Rex, who was falsely accused in
(15:43):
her crime years ago, and together they set off to
find this little boy and to figure out why she's
been targeted and how it all leads back to the
crime that her family suffered so many years ago.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
I love it, and that's exactly That's exactly what she said.
There's much more going on.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Trust I know, I try to keep it condensed. I
would have gone on here for an hour, but yeah,
that's the basics.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
There. There's more to it, but that's but that is
the basics, and to me, that's what got me excited.
Like this story is one of those gonna talk to
you over. It's almost kind of a for just for
for Rex, as the redemption story of sortin though he
didn't do anything before, it's kind of like he was
accused but no, can I help someone else? For Cammy,
(16:30):
it's it's completely not do over her, but almost like
can I help this person not go to you know,
get out of the streets and I could, We couldn't.
It's just there's so many layers to this story and
the pages.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Yeah, yeah, there were a lot of layers. There's a
lot going on, and so that's always you know, that
can be really fun and rewarding for a reader, but
not if it's confusing. So that's always kind of the
challenge with these kind of books is to, like when
you have all these characters coming in and all these
different stories overlapping, to make it very easy to read,
(17:05):
but also so that when they all come together and
weave together at the end, it's you know, you try
to do it as seamlessly as you can so people
think that, you know, you knew what you were doing
all along. Sometimes you don't.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Probably never hear this comment from anybody else a bopper audience,
because you have a lot of characters. I was gonna say,
for me, it's easy to follow because I'm used to
following a lot of characters watching something.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Yeah. Okay, yeah, my.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Soap people out there watching they watch these Oh that's funny,
interesting for you for anybody else, Yeah, soap watcher or
a person watches like Grades and Anatomy and things like that.
You'll be the characters will be fine because you'll just
you'll start fighting because we follow that easily. Were used
to multiple characters.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yes, that's so true. That's so true. And now you're
making me miss my soap opera days. Actually, I used
to like live for those. They were so fun.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Was your favorites?
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Oh gosh, I used to What did I used to watch?
This is gonna age me. Did you ever watch Loving?
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Of course? Yes?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Okay, yeah, I remember that one. Of course I used
to watch all my children and then Days of Our
Lives was big. I think I kind of I think
I kind of opted out once more. Lena started like
having the glowing eyes. I I think I'm maybe done here.
But yeah, I watched them all, but I specifically remember Loving,
(18:33):
and anytime I mention it, nobody ever knows what I'm
talking about.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
And watching the show, so we're like, we know who
ended up watch you watch? But yeah, no, be say,
I said, I'm gonna tell her something that she probably
never even heard, that it's for so because there's a
lot of characters in here. You're so right, We had
no no problem following because I've had friends who read
(18:59):
books when I can read the chapters twice sometimes to
kind of but I'm like, I'm so prone to know. Okay,
so the pers just kind okay, got it, and I
already what this is. Oh this person okay, got it?
This person right? Yeah, well in this book two? So
you do that, yeah, and you.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Know that's that's so interesting because it probably maybe you're
like me, it makes you kind of like long for that.
That's what you want. You want to keep your brain,
you know, moving and thinking about how these different plots
might you know, come together at some point and stuff.
So other other types of storytelling feel like less less
(19:38):
interesting or less rich because there's not you know, it's
just like more like a linear story that never you know,
intersects at any point.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
So I stories mm hm, meaning that they encompass a
lot of different people, good, different things. Like you said,
at the end, it all comes together, and what they're
doing over here does relate to want to do it
over here. I love I.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Love it, me too, me too. And then if you
watch it again, you can find all those little you know,
all those little breadcrumbs that led to that ultimate moment.
But you didn't notice them at the time.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Necessarily, again, you did because you just didn't realize it
was happening. And then you're like, oh my goodness, that
that thing turns on you go, oh my god. That
says we go back in sometimes. That's why that's why
I love books. You know, you can go back and
read it exactly did they say this, and you go
back to you a whole bit. I love it. I
(20:39):
love it this book. Trust me. You know a bunch
of these moments and uh, one of the things, so
I mentioned O case, so fin can we get in
between the pages? I just want to mention I was
very impressed. There is one chapter that's seven pages that's
a sex scene.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Is that seven counted?
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Yes? It is? And I was I got to say,
what chapter, folks, I want you fall into it. But
it's towards the last half of the book. And while
I liked about the scene because it was silatious or anything,
but it's like I when I get when I read
sex scenes in books, somethings are cringing to me. I'm
just like, okay, whatever. It's like I sure, I kind
(21:22):
of fast forward through it, but yours wasn't cringey to me, like, yeah,
gone through so much the previous Like I don't give
away the chapter, I'll say ten chapters. M that and
because of Cammy and Rex, because because of what they've
(21:43):
been through in general, it made sense to me.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Yes, and I thank you for that. I appreciate that.
You know, I always when I approach these scenes with
the characters, if it feels salacious, I don't want to
do it. There's no reason for that. What my point
anytime I write more of an open door type scene
is to not only move the character's relationship forward in
(22:12):
some way, but also I like to you know, represent
some form of healing in the scene. And in this case,
that was you know, a really obvious form of healing
because of what one of the characters had been through.
So you know, it felt important to me to do
that in order to you know, assure the reader that like,
(22:34):
these people were going to be okay and they were
healing together and and all of that. So it felt
like it felt like a worthwhile scene to to include
Book of Murder.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
It kind of came out, That's what I mentioned. Because
kind of it came out. I was like, oh, okay,
here we go. It was the whole chapter by itself,
and I was like, Okay, here we go. I'm ready.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
They're like, oh we're switching, we're searching years.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
Okay, okay, but it makes sense. It totally makes like
you said, what when it goes through sometimes we're adults
and and healing and trauma bonding and healing can begin
some nice through sexual natures. And I said, there's a
it's a sex scene that includes a shower scene afterwards. Also,
(23:22):
I was kind of wash away, washing away. I just
I viewed it of the past. Yes, I mean now
they're in a new beginning so to speak, well a
new era and the new era uh in their relationship.
And I just felt like it wasn't gratuitous. Like I said,
sometimes we were like huh, here we go, and then
(23:45):
it was it just it made sense. So I just
want to folks say, just in case you guys know,
there's it's because it's not just all grizzly grizzly busy,
because there is something in there, and there's there are
some lightheartedness towards the end of book a little bit too,
and parts also because they about it goes through this
all this this huge thing the book takes you through
a huge, serious, heavy journey levels.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Yes, absolutely, but yes I don't. I always want to
leave my readers, even in you know, my thriller books
that that are filled of, you know, lots of unpleasant circumstances.
I want to feel leave the reader feeling satisfied and
(24:31):
at peace, and also to feel that justice has been served,
because otherwise, like if you take this huge, you know,
three hundred and fifty page journey whatever it is, and
you get to the end and you're kind of left
like why did I spend all this time in this world?
And I feel like, you know, I don't feel that
justice was served. That's I never liked that feeling as
(24:54):
a reader, and so I never want to do that
to my readers.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Yeah, okay, book here, working his book in here. Okay,
So I wanted to ask, okay, number one homegirl, Cammy
love the name Kemmy Cortland. That's a great soap name too.
She goes to it in his book. So she is
(25:18):
she is the as we say, the business number one
on the call sheet. She is the one that we're following.
How as you go in between the pages, how easy
or hard was it to write for her or to
write her well.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
It was hard in the sense that, you know, I
put her through hell basically, and so I brought her
through a really big range of emotion, which is you know,
never easy. But I always, you know, I really always
(25:56):
want to infuse in my in my heroines especially, but
all my characters, even in the darkest of times, that
they're able to grasp onto a you know, the smallest
ray of hope, and it might be you know, often
(26:18):
the distance, and it might be you know, barely able
to be seen or much less grasped, but they they
acknowledge it there and it's what keeps them going. And
so I tried to give her that quality as well.
And you know, but she she went through a whole
heck of a lot, and so I, you know, I
(26:40):
took creating her character really really seriously, and hope if
I did justice to you know, people who who might
have gone through something equally as traumatic and terrible and
come out the other side. But yeah, I you know,
I'm always very attached to those characters that I put
(27:01):
through the ringer and bring out.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Wow, I'm gonna ask you just to pickback of that.
It's just that when you're writing a character going through
so much? How do you how do you stop yourself
from coming in and saving her? So to speak, like
before before the time, Like you're writing, she's going through
all this stuff, and at some point you're like, I
gotta give this girl something, you know, but you're like,
(27:25):
but you're not there yet. The story slas to go
a little further for she gets there. How do you
stop yourself from kind of You're like, you're like her mother,
you're her father, you're all the creator of her. So
how do you how do you time that out? And
stories like this because there's so much that goes on.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Yeah, well, in a sense, I don't because I I,
you know, again, give her that that little ray of
hope that is her tool that you know, keeps her
hanging on and keeps her thinking straight and and trying.
You know, she she doesn't give up, and I give
(28:04):
that to her. But also, you know, writing writing a
book is interesting because it's like you're you're almost god
of this small world because I know I can say
it's going to be okay. I know it is because
I'm going to make it so, you know, and so
I always kind of you know, I comfort myself with
that that I know where this is going. I know
you're going to be all right. Not maybe not every character,
(28:26):
but typically my pain characters, and so you know, that's
kind of how I make it through personally and make
it so that she does what she needs to do.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Because don't you live with these characters while you're writing them?
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Yeah? Absolutely, yes, they come alive, and I mean more
so as you as you go forward.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Absolutely, that's why I figure, that's why is that question
because I know it's what I do. My audio DRAMs
were really get into it. Okay, I want you to
comment on Rex Rex Rex.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Yeah, Rex is one of my favorite characters to write. Actually,
I just you know, he he just has so much
goodness to him and just like this innate goodness that
and this innate you know, strength to that doesn't always
isn't always easy for people who come from you know,
(29:24):
kind of crappy circumstances where it's easier to you know,
sometimes give up or not meet your full potential or
whatever it may be. But he is, he's strong, and
he's he's a good He's just a good guy. You know,
he's just like the quintessential solid dude. And and he's
(29:47):
the person you would want by your side if you
had something really scary going on, right, Like, that's who
you would call.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Exactly, Okay. And another character.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Posey posey, Yes, Poesy pose Yeah. She she actually, you know,
I did not funny enough write her into my outline
at all. She did not initially exist. Yeah, and she
kind of just like blinked to life as I I
(30:24):
think I got stuck somewhere. I kind of you know,
I I I really knew it needed kind of another
layer somehow. And that's when she kind of, like you know,
started started speaking to me and saying, hello, Hello, I'm here.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Yeah, I want I want more. I want more of
her story.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
You know what. Somebody wrote me that recently, just like
a few days ago, actually they they wrote to me
and asked if I would consider writing either, you know,
another book. I think with her kind of in the background,
meddling in in something or another, I wanted to get away.
But yeah, and I mean I would love to. She's
(31:08):
you know, she was a joy to to write. But
we'll see.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
I love it. I love it. One of the things
I want to talk to you about because you know,
I am I guess I'm part of this on some level.
I impressed. But I love and that in your thanks
in the book, you're right towards the end. That's correct, Okay,
(31:34):
what your role is very sweet first of all, And
and I feel the same way you do about anybody
who finds anybody who watches this show or anything that
I do and finds it worthy of notice. I can
almost cry to you sometimes I get so I'm just
like me. You have a million choices and authors a
million choices, and shows what anybody who watches when it
(31:54):
tells me, Like James, I love that episode. That was great.
You know, I get, I get all mushy. Uh, But
you wrote this part right right after that. He wrote
this to all the book bloggers, instagrammers, book booktokers, uh,
Big Tommy, book talkers and book talkers. I wish I
could hug each and every one of you. Your value
is immeasurable. I truly believe that straining the level of
(32:16):
reading changes the world. And that's the foundation of this
show and anything I do with books. That reading is
one of the best things anyone could do in their
lives period. Talk about the community of people. We're talking
big corporations. We're talking big book houses. Were not talking
(32:37):
Barnes and Noble and Amazon, and we're talking about the
folks basically are just in the crowd with you, helping
you promote your books.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's it's really such an
amazing thing because these are by and large young women,
but like in their in their living rooms, like creating
content just because they find find a story that impacts
them so deeply and they want to share it and
it's literally that immense and that simple at the same time.
(33:09):
And it's you know, I can never I'm always in
awe too at these these you know, I don't know
if they're reels or you know, even just photos or
whatever that they produce are so beautiful and capture the
story like in a way that I could only dream about,
(33:29):
you know, Like, and it just it blows my mind
every time somebody spends that kind of time on me.
And I mean for me, something like that would take
six days for them, you know, like they're a lot younger.
They know all these all these programs so much better.
Maybe it takes them less time, but you know, even
(33:49):
to spend fifteen minutes on something beautiful about my book
is just I can never express enough gratitude for that.
And they truly are the people who spread the word
because you know, those are the people that their friends trust.
You know. It's it's it's like there's all these publishers
and pr people and you know, saying all kinds of
(34:11):
nice things about a book. But if your friend says, hey,
you have to read this book, I loved it, You're
going to listen to them because you know them, you
trust them, and so it's really just like invaluable and yeah,
I'm just I'm I'm beyond grateful to every single one
of them, truly.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
And honestly, I agree. We you and I would not
be here as it was it was it for fans,
we would not be here. Seriously, I mean, that's that's
why we moves the needle forward and get your product
out there. If they say they like it, and then
okay to follow them yet, tell me this show is good,
check it out. I'll check it out. That's right, right,
(34:52):
boss called the Fix And so it's out. I believe
it's out in terms of like actual what hardcover here
about in a week or so, right, like.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Yeah, no, November first, it's in it's in the Amazon
First Reads program right now for people who are members
of Prime and and it's also a dollar ninety nine
for anyone else, I believe is the way that program works.
And then it's out to the wider world on November first.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
And yeah, it's doing well, girls. It's like number one
on several places, doing good. Girl, I was doing good
that you can see by it against called the Fix.
I'm endorsing it. That means anything to anybody. I'm endorsing it.
It was a it was a really good reading. Sent
I worked this book out. Uh, it was a really
good read. And and I I just think, you know,
(35:42):
as I end this, as I always end this reading,
is we should support indie author, support big authors, support
anybody who writes a book, support them.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
And then support words. Words make the world, change the world,
and you know, impact people, I think probably more than
any other thing.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Let me get that, she said said the songwriters.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Songwriters know this, poets know this. Right. Words, it's all
about words.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
I'm gonnaenit there because she just said it. She said
it so eloquently. That's why she's an author. Support the arts,
no matter what they are, dance, music, acting, singing, poetry, writing, painting, anything,
it's artistic that support supported in schools. Yes, arts we
have been proven scientifically to help with math and sciences
(36:32):
and history and other kinds of learning. My grandkids would
go to arts based schools schools. I'm so happy for them.
They get to do all kinds of stuff, becoming well
rounded children, to become well rounded adults. And support the
book community. Yes, we're out there. We love it is
on Facebook. Uh, she's at Mia shared an author on Twitter?
(36:55):
No on on Instagram.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
On Instagram, yes, and then my website is Miashridan dot com.
But I'm most active on Instagram, so that's probably the
best place to find me.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
And I'm gonna put that in description. So you find
find her, gona get her book, right, So go get
her book or any of her books. You go get
her books, and then you're going to talk to her
about it on her on the Instagram. That's what you
guys are gonna do. Everyone take care of yourselves. We'll
see you again next week for another another show of
imaty Pages with James Lott Junior.
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