In 2019, we made it our goal is to work with as many debut authors as possible and to spread the word about their debut novels. It was such a success last year that we decided to continue the fun for years to come! Follow us this year as we pick the minds of the 2021 debuts and chat with them about their writing process and what it's like to be a new author. Also stay tuned for news of giveaways, Twitter chats, and more!
At the end of 2020, we Tweeted about wanting to discover more debut authors and their books. We ended up finding Miel Moreland and her novel IT GOES LIKE THIS, and we have been interested in it ever since! We are so excited to have Miel on the blog today to answer some of our questions!
Miel Moreland writes character-driven contemporary Young Adult novels. Born and raised in Minneapolis, she has a Midwestern heart but wandering feet. When not making pop music references and celebrating fandom, she is likely to be found drinking hot chocolate and making spreadsheets. She currently resides in Boston
The Book Bratz: First of all, congratulations! How does it feel to be a debut author?
Miel: Absolutely surreal. I’ve wanted to be an author since I was five or six years old, once I realized this was a job people had, and now my book is coming out! Part of me still feels like it’s early 2018 and IT GOES LIKE THIS is just something fun between me and my critique partners. It’s difficult (but exciting!) to try to grasp the fact that people I don’t know are reading it, and my story is becoming part of someone else’s story.
The Book Bratz: In your opinion, what's the best part of the writing process? What's the hardest?
Miel: Is it a cop-out to say the best part of the writing process is any part that’s going smoothly? Although I do enjoy revisions in general, once I have a plan for them, starting revisions is often difficult for me because I always have to add tension—and that’s not at all natural for me! I hate giving my characters more problems.
The Book Bratz: Where did you get the idea for IT GOES LIKE THIS?
Miel: IT GOES LIKE THIS came out of a number of interests or threads in my life that all finally converged together into this one book. I’ve been a pop music fan for most of my life, and for a couple of years before I started drafting IGLT, I researched the music industry and played around with a few music-centric short stories. I started writing the novel about a year after I graduated from college, when I was thinking a lot about changing friendships. And I’d been reading some books where the band (or the team, group, and so on, depending on the book) breaks up at the end of the book. I wanted to write a book that started where the others ended. What happens after? I felt I was presented with this question: does growing up always mean growing apart? I don’t think the answer is always yes.
The Book Bratz: Who was your favorite character to write? Who was the most difficult?
Miel: This is such a difficult question, and during different drafts, I had a different favorite band member. Eva might have been my favorite to write overall, simply because I spent the most time in her head and so feel closest to her. Gina was the most difficult, because it took me a long time to be able to identify and articulate her arc, and then longer to properly build it into the book. But I adore her, and she is worth every re-written chapter.
The Book Bratz: Are there any other books or authors who give you inspiration for your own writing?
Miel: So many! I’ll shout-out just two authors right now: Tess Sharpe and Zan Romanoff.
The Book Bratz: What do you hope that readers will take away from IT GOES LIKE THIS?
Miel: It’s okay to change your mind, more than once, about what you want, what you need, and in what places and relationships you are able to be your truest, fullest, most seen and respected and beloved self at any particular moment in your life.
The Book Bratz: Do you plan on returning to the world of IT GOES LIKE THIS in the future, or do you have any other projects in mind? Can you tell us anything about them?
Miel: I don’t have any immediate or formal plans to return to the world of IT GOES LIKE THIS, but I would love to at some point! At minimum, I am hoping to share some bonus short stories (including at least one AU, because this is a fandom novel at heart) within the next year. I’ve been working on a few other novels over the past year, but I’m always wary of talking too much about specific projects until deals are announced!
Title: It Goes Like This
Author: Miel Moreland
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: May 18th, 2021
Summary: Eva, Celeste, Gina, and Steph used to think their friendship was unbreakable. After all, they've been though a lot together, including the astronomical rise of Moonlight Overthrow, the world-famous queer pop band they formed in middle school, never expecting to headline anything bigger than the county fair. But after a sudden falling out leads to the dissolution of the teens' band, their friendship, and Eva and Celeste's starry-eyed romance, nothing is the same. Gina and Celeste step further into the spotlight, Steph disappears completely, and Eva, heartbroken, takes refuge as a songwriter and secret online fangirl...of her own band. That is, until a storm devastates their hometown, bringing the four ex-best-friends back together. As they prepare for one last show, they'll discover whether growing up always means growing apart.
Thank you so much to Miel for stopping by and answering our questions! We are super excited about IT GOES LIKE THISand can't wait for it to be out in the world on May 18th!
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