Midnight in Everwood is the adult debut from M. A. Kuzniar. The novel was inspired by her love of ballet and the winter classic, The Nutcracker. Mia is also the author of the highly-acclaimed middle-grade series, The Ship of Shadows. She has a great platform for bookstagramming, @cosyreads and has over 35,000 Instagram followers. Mia spent six years living in Spain, teaching English and travelling the world, but she currently lives in Nottingham with her husband, where she reads and writes as much as she can.

@cosyreads – Instagram | @thecosyreader – Twitter

Welcome to the Hive, Mia. Firstly, congratulations on your latest release Midnight in Everwood! Could you tell us a bit about it please? What can readers expect?

Thank you for having me! Midnight in Everwood is a retelling of The Nutcracker set between Edwardian Nottingham and a fantasy world inspired by the Land of Sweets. There’s plenty of ballet, a frozen sugar palace, a sadistic king and a forbidden romance.

And just for fun, could you describe it using only five words?

Enchanting, dark, sugary, romantic, sumptuous.

Tell us a little something about your writing process – do you have a certain method? Do you find music helps? Give us a glimpse into your world!

I am a very visual person, so my first port of call is always to create a Pinterest board! I start with an aesthetic and world-building before I move onto developing characters and wrap it all up in a plot. I always know how my stories are going to start and end before I start writing them, as well as the key events, but I do leave room for a little mystery along the way. And 90% of my writing is fuelled by my coffee habit!

Speaking of worlds, what inspired you to write a retelling of The Nutcracker? What first drew you to this tale?

I’ve always loved ballet and Christmas, so The Nutcracker was a very natural choice for me. I adored how magical it was and the idea of building a fantasy world based off the Land of Sweets was very appealing to me. Then when I read the original story by E.T.A. Hoffman, I discovered the darker origins of the tale and that’s when it all clicked for me. I wanted to explore this saccharine setting with a bite of darkness to undercut all the sugary sweetness.

Can you tell us more about the frozen forest and palace in which your main character, Marietta, is transported to? What kind of role does magic play in your narrative?

Marietta is taken by moose-drawn sleigh to a frozen sugar palace, which forms the heart of her stay in Everwood. It’s a gorgeous place that hosts beautiful gingerbread balls and enchanted dresses which might be scented or play out little scenes on the fabric. But all is not as it seems and there is something rotten at the core. In Everwood, most people do not have magic and so enchantments and charms are the plaything of the rich and powerful, which becomes important later on in the book.

Can you tell us a bit more about your characters, Marietta and Dr Drosselmeier? And which of your side characters did you enjoy writing the most and were there any you found tricky to craft?

In the original Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffman, the main character is called Marie. She was renamed Clara later for the ballet, but as Marie is too similar to my name – Maria – I decided to call her Marietta, which I liked as it also evoked the image of a marionette doll. And Marietta is like a puppet at the start of the book. Her dreams and wishes are ignored, and she has no voice. Except when she dances, which is why she pursues her love of ballet above all else. Dr Drosselmeier was also exceptionally creepy in the original Nutcracker, and I explored this more in Midnight in Everwood. I won’t say any more in case of spoilers but his was a difficult but intriguing character to write.

The side character I enjoyed writing the most was Dellara. My rendition of the Sugar Plum Fairy can be deliciously wicked at times though beneath it all, she has the biggest heart. Especially in the beginning, she has an antagonistic relationship with Marietta and that was great fun to write.

We always appreciate a beautiful book cover! How involved in the process were you? Was there a particular aesthetic you hoped they’d portray?

Oh, me too! Charlotte Phillips did a beautiful job and I’m forever grateful to her. I sobbed when I first saw that cover. I know I’m biased but I think it’s one of the prettiest book covers I’ve ever seen! Authors are rarely involved in the process at all but in this case, my lovely editor at HQ Stories, Katie Seaman, invited me to a secret Pinterest board, where we pinned anything and everything that inspired us. The aesthetic for the cover came from that – we wanted to evoke a snowy winter wonderland and all the magic of ballet – which I think it definitely does!

We see such varying opinions from authors when it comes to the time of editing their books. How have you found the editing process? Enjoyable, stressful or satisfying?

Hah that depends on the book! Some are a joy to edit, others can be tedious from start to finish. Whatever I’m doing, whether that’s drafting or editing, my favourite parts are always when my creative cauldron is overflowing and my ideas are coming faster than I can write them down. That to me, feels like magic and it’s why I write, I live for that feeling.

One of our favourite questions here on the Fantasy Hive: which fantastical creature would you ride into battle and why?

Definitely a unicorn. It’s bound to come with some magical powers that can help me out and if things take a turn for the worse, we can always fly away! Plus, they’re adorable. 

Being a bookstagrammer myself, Mia I’d love to know your experiences and what first drew you to the platform? What for you have been the highs and lows?

Ah, I love bookstagram! My love of books and the community drew me to the platform. The lows have to be the dreaded algorithm and how it can be difficult to find time to create when you’re busy. But it’s been responsible for introducing me to many books I may not have picked up otherwise and so many lovely people from around the world. In fact, I met my best friend via bookstagram nearly seven years ago now!

And what’s next for you Mia? Can you tell us a little something about your current work(s) in progress? Have you any upcoming projects which you can share?

I’m very excited about my next book with HQ Stories, which I will be able to share more about soon, but I can tell you that it’s like Swan Lake meets The Great Gatsby and is set across the 1920s.

Finally, what is the one thing you hope readers take away from your writing?

I hope they take away a pinch of magic.

Thank you so much for joining us today!

Thank you so much for having me!