I know we haven’t done one of these in a while, but that’s purely because Mia was busy, then forgot about the interview, and I’d already scheduled posts for the next two months. Anyway, now that I have an opening, here she is! Everyone, meet Mia Harden!
About Mia
Bio
Mia Harden is a young writer, musician, and actress seeking to honor God through entertainment. She writes novels, musicals, and songs in various genres and enjoys playing percussion in her church’s worship team. When she’s not curled up at her computer writing a story or composing a new song, she is spending time laughing and chatting with her three sisters and four brothers. You can find her online at windowstomia.wordpress.com, where she blogs about anything that’s on her mind in a sarcastic and chaotic way.
What genre do you write in and why?
I write fantasy on varying levels with a bit of a dystopian flair, and I also write non-fiction! I write fantasy because it is SO much fun coming up with my own rules for my own little world and getting to twist and turn the lore to add new levels of mystery and magic. Worldbuilding for me is almost like developing a character — and I love coming up with characters! *glances at my 100+ characters for my main WIP alone* I also blog! My blog is a bit of a chaotic mess, but it’s MY chaotic mess and I love just letting my words spill out into a post. I may not have many followers, but the ones I have form a nice little community.
What genre do you read in and why?
What do you blog about?
Who or what inspired you to write?
Ha, this is actually a funny story. I started writing when I was five, and it was actually a theme from a Blue’s Clues episode that inspired me. My cousin/best friend was over for the day, and we watched an episode of Blue’s Clues, where Blue and her friends were writing “secret letters” to each other. I decided that it would be fun to write a secret letter to my cousin and I hauled her off to my room. She made one too. I don’t remember exactly what she did (I think she drew a picture), but I wrote my very first story. It was called “Lizi and the Puppy” and it was about a girl named Lizi who lived on a dog farm. She was taking care of the dogs and saw a puppy named Blue. She wanted Blue for herself and in the end, her parents decided she could keep Blue. My mom really liked my story and encouraged me to keep writing, and now, here I am!
What is the biggest thing you've learned through your writing journey?
​Nothing is going to be perfect. People are going to laugh. They’re going to put you down. They’re going to give you weird looks. And I know it’s cliché but it’s true. You shouldn’t give up. Trust the process and just know that if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.
How has being a Christian affected the way you write vs. the way you used to or probably would otherwise?
Well, you can definitely see Christian themes in my first stories. It was the way I was raised and I didn’t know any different. As I’ve gotten older and grown in my faith, I’ve learned to look at the world differently, especially through my writing. There are a lot of things wrong in this world, and my writing is my voice. Even if it changes the life of just one person, I can know that I’ve done what I was given this gift for.
What do you want to accomplish with your writing?
It would be so much fun to have a dedicated fandom to my writing, but even if that doesn’t happen, I have friends and family who are my constant cheerleaders and I can say for a fact that something I’ve written has touched at least one of them. And even if they were lying, I’ve touched myself with my writing. And I think that’s important.
How do you define success, and do you think you've reached it yet?
For me, success is feeling pleased with myself. I have to reach that level of success before I can reach for higher levels, the levels where other people see you as successful. I know I haven’t reached that level yet, but I’ve reached the first level. I’m proud of what has come out of my brain and my creativity is more expansive than I thought! I believe that you can’t be truly successful without feeling like you are. It’s not enough for people to see you as successful, because if you don’t see yourself as successful, even in the least, are you truly successful?
What is one thing you want to tell other young writers?
Find someone who supports you. Trust the process. And believe in yourself. You’ve got this!
Conclusion
I hope you all enjoyed this interview. If you want to join Mia’s chaotic (and I mean that in a good way) community, you can head over to her blog. Once again, thank you, Mia for doing this with me, and thank you all for reading!