Urban-Reviews.com - Inside Out with Mia A. Moore

Mia A. Moore

Mia A. Moore grew up in Illinois approximately thirty miles west of Chicago. She studied English literature at the University of Illinois at Chicago, earning a Bachelors of Arts on Mother’s Day. While caring for her young family, she continued her studies at the university, attending graduate school and teaching undergraduate English composition.

Mia has been making up and writing stories of love and romance since as long as she can remember. Her debut novel, Tonight I Give In, was released June 2007 by Xpress Yourself Publishing, and she is currently working on her second novel.

Mia loves spending time with her family. When she is not writing, her interests include reading, shopping, cooking, and volunteering. She also likes listening to music, playing an occasional video game, and watching sports. Mia is an avid sports’ fan. During March Madness, she is seriously into “bracketology” and practically sequesters herself at game time (there really is nothing like the tournament). Her favorite channel is the NFL Network. Mia really loves football like a man, but truly appreciates certain aspects of the game like a woman.

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Urban Reviews: Can you please tell everybody what Tonight I Give In is all about?
Mia A. Moore: Well, it is a romance novel in that it has the conventional elements of the genre, but I believe it is so much more than that. Tonight I Give In tackles subject matter that I think traditional romances don’t and won’t touch. Not only is it an exploration of romance, but an inquiry of love. Yes, I guess I would say the novel is a journey in love. Myella and Trévon’s story is an engrossing emotionally complex journey of friendship, growth, understanding, and love.

The characters meet and there is an instant chemistry and attraction, but this simmers below their friendship that develops. Both Mya and Tré grow to understand that love and their relationship is not simply a matter of wanting or needing it. It’s about truly being ready for love and a relationship. They both have to let go and release themselves from the shackles from their past, so that they can embrace and accept love and the future—so that they can have a future together. So, in a nutshell, Tonight I Give In is about the beautiful, emotionally complex journey of the mental, emotional, and physical surrender of romantic love.

Urban Reviews: How did you come up with the storyline for your book?
Mia A. Moore: I guess the direct catalyst was school. One day I was sitting at my computer not making much progress on my qualifying paper and I decided to write a short story. I guess it was an escape fueled by procrastination and boredom. Well, I picked up that short story later and developed it into Tonight I Give In. I began with an archetypal formula for romance and a sketchy idea of two characters I wanted to fall in love and developed a skeletal storyline and used that as my foundation. I believe this skeletal storyline pretty much functions in the same way as a working thesis in formal academic prose, and just as the thesis should evolve and take shape during your inquiry of the subject matter, so should your skeletal story and sketchy characters, developing into a well-developed, multi-layered story of love and romance with believable human beings at the center. Mya and Tré along with their story took on a whole new life of their own, and now the novel has only a few surface elements in common with that nameless short story.

Urban Reviews: How did your deal with Xpress Yourself Publishing come about?
Mia A. Moore: I received an agent rejection or two, before querying a publisher directly. My publisher believed in me, as I believed in my publisher. It seemed like a good fit because XYP doesn’t force one limited view of the African-American experience on writers and that was important to me. In less than a year, my debut novel was released, but please don’t think my journey was easy because it wasn’t.

Urban Reviews: Are you working on any upcoming projects?
Mia A. Moore: Oh, I don’t want to give too much away, but what I can say is that it is fiction written in the same genre and a similar style as Tonight I Give In, but it is quite different. I want to explore this genre, playing with language and literary devices. The characters are a little older, so they’re at a different place in their lives and have to tackle different issues. I am very excited about it because I look forward to the multitude of possibilities, and I am very interested to see what develops between these two. Trying to create well-developed, multi-layered characters and stories with plot points, sub plots, and pivots takes time. I want to remain true to that no matter what because I endeavor to create quality literature.

Urban Reviews: What challenges have you faced being a new author?
Mia A. Moore: You have to be careful. The publishing industry is truly a grind, but it is a labor of love for me. It is not just enough to write a great story; you have to produce the total package with distribution, marketing and promotions. What good is a great story if you can’t get it out there for people to read and enjoy it? When you’ve completed your manuscript the work is just beginning, and African-American authors have to work so much harder to get their foot in the door. This climate can bring out the worst and the best in people. I choose to focus on the positive and keep it pushin’. You have to wisely pick and choose your battles and sometimes you have to give up some things for the big picture. I look at challenges and obstacles as opportunities to stretch myself, grow, and excel—to do me.

Urban Reviews: Have you gotten any sound advice from fellow authors?
Mia A. Moore: Yes, Barbara Keaton and Jessica Tilles have both educated me on some of the do's and don’ts of the publishing industry. Barbara has been a big sister “in pen” to me, giving me pointers and helping with promotions and signings, and Jessica told me never to “cover up my write” in order to conform to a particular publisher’s tastes. Marissa Monteilh, Shelia Goss, Jessica Tilles, and Elissa Gabrielle all took the time to actually do cover blurbs for Tonight I Give In, although only one made the cover…but that is the publishing business. I’ve met or had contact with some wonderful people. To be a newbie in the game and have many established writers and some of them best-selling authors reach out to me, embracing me and my project is amazing. We have to support each other…well, we don’t have to, but we really should support one another because there is enough room for everyone. I enjoy networking and passing along information that others may benefit from. A door of opportunity opening for someone else doesn’t mean one is closing for me or anyone else. I see those doors as either avenues of opportunity or examples of possibility for me and others like me. I truly get excited when I see others doing well and doing their thing.

Urban Reviews: Who are some of your favorite authors or books?
Mia A. Moore: There are really too many to name. I will leave someone out, and feel bad about it. I love great literature from various genres and eras because great works are timeless. Works that are defined by strong storylines, characters, and settings that transport you and take you there are my favorites—books that come alive. It is what I strive to create, works that will pull you in and immerse you in a journey where you will become emotionally invested while being entertained.

Urban Reviews: What do you want the world to know most about you?
Mia A. Moore: That I am a “GO GETTA,” whom truly loves life and what I do. I feel very blessed to know what I was meant to do. I so appreciate all the love and support that I’ve been shown; it’s really encouraging. I believe in the principle CARPE DIEM. I want to stretch myself as a writer and as a person. I am open to the universe and the multitude of possibilities. I’m ready and it’s on!