Misha Maxwell has written for everyone from big tech to independent authors. In addition to their own fiction, they have written adaptations for Seven Seas Entertainment. They are a graduate of the 2010 Viable Paradise Writing Workshop.

When they aren't writing, they enjoy rock climbing and doting on their cat.

Get to know Misha!

What’s your fave reading format?

I'm a sucker for a paperback. RIP to the mass market paperback.

Favorite contemporary author?

Adrian Tchaivosky writes SO many books and somehow none of them miss. He's someone I will buy without knowing anything else about the book.

Favorite historical author?

Ursula K. Le Guin isn't really historical, but I'm choosing her anyway because she's my queen. The GOAT.

Who do you wish you could read one more story by?

I wish Ursula was here to write us a blistering piece about AI. The things she would have to say about the tech guys would probably put them in hiding for the next 100 years.

What story do you wish you could read again for the first time?

The Starving Saints is a truly bizarre and surreal reading experience, and while I'm sure it's amazing on a reread, there's something about that first time when you don't know those twists and turns are coming.

What character do you wish was real?

Amina al-Shirafi feels like she must be a real historical badass pirate. I choose to believe she is.

What fictional world do you wish you could inhabit?

Rebecca Thorne's Tea and Tomes world seems like the safest bet here. Plus, it's super queernormative.

What are your favorite qualities in a story?

Clean writing that isn't trying too hard, imagination, queerness. 

What’s your go to reading snack/drink?

Tea and a square of dark chocolate.

Where do you like to read?

On public transit, especially trains.

What story fundamentally changed you?

When I was very young, I read a ton, but my school mostly had more contemporary style books. The Boxcar Kids. Babysitters Club. Maybe some Dickens. When my mother handed me a copy of The Hobbit, it changed what I thought books were "allowed" to be and I have never looked back. Why wouldn't you write about elves instead of babysitters???

What genre would you like to write in that is outside your comfort zone?

Sci-fi feels outside my usual comfort zone, but I'd love to try it.

What’s your favorite sentence or quote from The Most Terrible & Wicked Evil Dark Lord Accidentally Invents the Public Library?

"I may be a villain, but at least I am not a bastard.” (spoken to ye olde fantasy cops)

What’s your idea of happiness?

Unfortunately that's been a slippery concept for me, but having the time, space, freedom and resources to simply sit down and write has always brought me joy. Oh, and that video of the cop falling down the slide.