“Here, Kitty Kitty” Author Spotlight: Mia Darien

“Here, Kitty Kitty” is an anthology of six paranormal romance short stories featuring exotic cat shapeshifters. The anthology is slated for release October 6th, 2013. All profits from this anthology will go to charity to benefit the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Indiana. Each week leading up to the release I’ll be putting the spotlight on one of the authors who have contributed to this project.

Here Kitty, Kitty 
Author Spotlight: Mia Darien

Featured Feline: Siberian Tiger

Story: The Distance Between
She’s traveled thousands of miles, looking for a safe place. He’s brought her thousands of miles, looking to not be lonely any more. But they both have secrets. Can they bridge the distance between, and find what they’re looking for in each other?

Author Interview: 
Mia is the creative and driving force behind the anthology. The idea was hers and then she worked to gather authors to contribute, designed the cover, is doing all the editing. Huge thank you to Mia for such a great idea and all her hard work!

1. What inspired you to write about Siberian Tiger shifters?
Even before this anthology, were-tigers were always my favorite. Tigers have always been my favorite of the big cats, and as I love writing paranormal, I enjoyed combining the two. Plus the idea of a person with a big cat inside, so to speak, just sounded like fun to write.

2. Why is paranormal romance a favorite genre of yours?
I love paranormal–vampires and werewolves and werekitties are all long time favorites–and I love romances in my stories, so it’s a great combination for me!

3. Is this your first collaboration with other authors? And how did you like it?
This is my first time orchestrating an anthology. I’ve worked with other authors on differing projects over the years, but being at the helm of something quite like this is new. It’s been a bit of work, but overall fun, because I love collaboration with other authors and hope to do more of that in the future.

4. Tell us about your works in progress.

Funnily enough, I’m going to soon be working on the fifth book in my Adelheid series, which features the main character as Vance Johnston, who is…surprise, surprise…a weretiger! Otherwise, I’ll soon have a sequel to my story “Sanctuary” coming out, and continue to slog away at my high fantasy novel.

5. What inspired this anthology project?
I prefer to read when I fly anywhere, and on my last time flying back to Connecticut (to see my family), I read “The Ridge” by Michael Kortya. It had one of its main locations as a big cat rescue. I’ve always been enchanted with big cats, like many people, and he wrote them so beautifully. There was one scene between a caretaker and his favorite tiger that nearly had me in tears. If I hadn’t been on a plane, I would’ve been balling.

But anyways, at the end of the book, Kortya talks about having had the chance to volunteer with the EFRC in Indiana. When I got home, I read up on them more and thought they were a great organization. As I can’t afford to donate as much as I’d like and I don’t live in Indiana, so I can’t volunteer, I thought about what I could do. I’m a writer, so I thought about writing. Kind of on a whim, I just threw the anthology idea out to out to some author friends.

Honestly? I thought none of them would have any time. We’re all busy with our non-writing lives, most of them were/are finishing big projects, but almost all of them jumped on it. I was so heartened by that, it became a really exciting process and now not only do I get to find a way to donate to a good cause, but also bring some really awesome stories to readers.

Author Bio: 
Mia Darien is an indie author of speculative fiction, and a New England Yankee transplanted into Alabama clay. No matter her geography, she continues to stubbornly and rebelliously live the life of her choosing along with her family and pets. She doesn’t miss the snow.

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