AS Miyasaki writes Young Adult science fiction and is currently working on Book 2 of the Farodun Down series. You can find her at ASMiyasaki.com or @ASMiyasaki on social media. 

Tell us about your book.
Moon, Have Mercy is the coming-of-age story of Farodun Down, an adolescent human boy growing up on the unequivocally worst of the Gynthan moons, Ilex. It begins when Farodun wakes, dumped in a dangerous sinkhole and left for dead. He wants revenge against the ones that put him there, but first, he’ll have to survive the pit. That alone is something that seems unlikely at best, until he’s rescued by a stranger whose motivations are as opaque as their armor. Is this newcomer going to help him in his quest for revenge, or has his situation only taken a turn for the worse? He may dream of payback, but is it what he needs?
 
What made you decide to write a novel?
I started writing this series as a way to keep myself occupied will I was naptrapped with my kids. Often, my left arm would be stuck so I couldn’t do much besides noodle around on my phone. I wound up typing the first half of what’s now probably the fifth book in this series into google docs with my thumb. My original desire was to make a detailed, expansive, and coherent universe, that I could then move a much smaller story through, without having to worry about retconning or continuity issues.
 
What is the most challenging aspect of being an author for you?
I tend to have specific scenes I want to see, right from the inception of the story. But, sometimes getting to that spot means abandoning them. It’s just sort of sad to let them go. Besides that, and specific to Moon, Have Mercy, keeping track of the lore became a pretty big task. I wound up editing and organizing my notes for it into a 40,000 word glossary!
 
What is something you've learned along the way that might have changed how you wrote your first book?
I should’ve outlined the actual story in greater detail. And on physically moveable objects— like Post-its or something.
 
What do you need to set the mood for writing?
I do pretty well with settling in to write as long as I’m by myself. Quiet and at the computer, or maybe with some lo-fi playing, is great, but I also write a lot on the stationary bike. I don’t usually want snacks, because constantly wiping my hands so I don’t make my keyboard or my phone sticky is too disruptive, but I’ll take a drink any time— coffee, tea, water, scotch— as long as it isn’t a sticky drink. But if anyone else is around, my attention is too much on them to do anything particularly sensible, writing-wise.
 
How do you get past writer’s block or being stuck?
Well, my training is in music composition, but I’ve always thought this applies well here, too. If you get well and truly stuck at a blank page, just put anything there. It doesn’t have to be complete sentences or even coherent thoughts. Just destroy the blankness. It helped me more than once in grad school— might be worth a try.
 
What are you working on right now?
Currently, I’m working on three writing projects. The next Farodun Down book, a surreal dramedy, and a short dystopian sci-fi story about a fictionalized version of our recently-added-to-the-family cat, Harvey.

Emily Finhill writes Cyberpunk Sci-Fi. Her first book is Meltdown, which you can find on Amazon: https://a.co/d/bwXUSMp
You can find her on Instagram @EmilyFinhillBooks or her blog https://emilyfinhillwrites.blogspot.com.
​For all her links, try https://linktr.ee/emilyfinhill

Tell us about your book.
This book is about facing insurmountable odds as a young woman, about trying to survive when you're not even sure who you are or if you actually want to live in the first place. But you have to keep trying, even when you fail over and over again. It's about the unlikeliest of heroes, and about what it's like to be just one person in the midst of overwhelming societal turmoil. I wrote this book while dealing with intense depression and memory loss and finished it while quarantining in a global pandemic. It's a story about trying to make peace with your past, and how to reconcile the person you used to be with who you would like to become.
 
Share a favorite line from your book.
I close my eyes and pull the blanket over my head. I can't escape, can't be freed, can't fight. I have to protect the world. I have to save it from me.
 
What’s a core memory that made you want to be a writer?
I spent most of my childhood inside of books. The worlds there were more real to me than reality. As soon as I realized I could write stories, I wanted to be the one creating those worlds!
 
What was your favorite book as a child?
As a child I loved bittersweet books, especially Anne of Green Gables and this book called The Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt. I think these books drove home that even when life is very painful, you can find beauty. That simply being human is a beautiful thing. I love characters with rich inner lives, and villains that are never half as scary as the battle happening within the protagonist.
 
What was your last five-star read?
The Cruel Prince trilogy by Holly Black. I love her worldbuilding, and Jude is exactly the kind of feisty, prickly, occasionally infuriating, heroine that I love.
 
What made you decide to write a novel?
I've actually been writing novels since I was 12, this was just the first one I thought might be fit for human consumption. Whether that was true or not remains to be seen!
 
What is the most challenging aspect of being an author?
Promoting myself. Like my protagonist, I have a lot of self-doubt and some self-hatred, so putting myself out there and trying to convince people to read my book is extremely difficult for me. Half the time I end up convincing myself that no one should read it!
 
What is something you’ve learned along the way that might have changed how you wrote your first book?
If you're thinking about the writing, it's too flowery. Just tell the story and try not to overwrite.
 
What piece of advice do you have for a new author?
Don't use editor brain in writer mode! Let the creativity flow and don't judge it as it's taking shape. There will be time to refine it and shape it later, but you can't edit words you never wrote down.
 
What do you need to set the mood for writing?
Music is a must for sure! I'm a Pandora girl, and I have my carefully curated stations that can immediately get me into writing mode. I also like having a snack on hand and candles burning, but music is the #1. Also, it helps if my keyboard is lying flat and unobstructed, and not, for example, balancing on my toddler's head. Picky, picky, I know!
 
How do you get past writer’s block or being stuck?
Listening to music helps. Checking out other writers, what they're up to and how they're doing. Sometimes seeing a really cool new book release on social media gets me writing out of pure FOMO! If all else fails, I read fanfic. Nothing in the world is written with more passion and less selfishness than fanfic.
 
What are you working on right now?
Currently I'm working on Breakthrough, book 3 of the Aurelia series (Meltdown is book 1).
 
When is your next book coming out?
Hopefully later this year. Fallout is the sequel to Meltdown, where we will see our zany crew navigate the crumbling wreckage of the last city on Earth. We'll finally meet the notorious Abner Robledo and get a better look at what the Institute was all about. It's in its second round of edits at the moment, one more to go!