Mia Darien is my featured author this week on my blog. (Also read “Meet Guest Author Mia Darien and Get Cameron’s Law for Free”.)
Get ‘Darlings of Decay’ for FREE
I met Mia through our love for zombies, not vampires. Mia has a story entitled Decent which is in the newly released Darlings of Decay zombie anthology. Mia’s story is available for download in Darlings of Decay for Free at Smashwords.
I asked her to share with our readers more about why she wrote Decent. If I can add a story about a Zombie Wolf to this anthology, then I think it is great Mia featured her story on Zombie Horses. Read more below.
From Mia about “Decent”
When I was asked if I wanted to include a story in the then-untitled “Darlings of Decay” anthology, along with some amazing other authors, I was of course humbled but then jumped right on top of it. As I didn’t have the time to write something new, I asked if I could submit something already written and released. As I could, it came down to my two “zombies only” short stories. (My paranormal stuff has some zombies in it, but it’s not the main focus of those books.)
I chose “Descent” because, basically, it’s my favorite of the two. Interestingly enough, however, it does have ties back to my primary paranormal series.
Before Adelheid was Adelheid, it was a series called Preternatural, Unlimited. I was a teenager when I started writing that one. Some of it is the same–Sadie and Dakota, for example–but the first book of the first series is wildly different than the first book of the Adelheid series. And thankfully so, because that first book was rife with problems. They all are when we’re starting out.
In the first book, there was a bad guy who was a witch from olden, olden days. She was the one who created the man-eating mares of Diomedes, which were one of the Twelve Labors of Hercules. She cursed all Diomedes’ descendants to be were-horses. I know, right? I was sixteen. What can I say? Anyways, that was her deal.
Some years later, there was a call from Permuted Press for a zombie anthology that a friend of mine was entering. I decided to give it a go and for reasons surpassing understanding, I returned to that now-long-shelved witch. She became my main character, and this was the story around the creation of those mares, and what happened after Hercules killed them.
The result? Zombie horses! 
I know, right? I was twenty-two. What can I say? Anyways, it didn’t make it into the anthology, because the editor–while liking the story–wasn’t looking for animal zombies. I tried submitting it twice more, and it wasn’t evil enough for the evil anthology or weird enough for the weird one. Even though both editors said it was a very good story. Which was good, because I believed it was a very good story, too.
Eventually, I released it as a free single when I decided to start self-publishing, and also included it in an anthology for charity. So, it’s been around the block, but I’m excited to present it to a new audience in “Darlings of Decay,” because it really always has been one of my favorites. I’ve found it to be one of the creepiest things I’ve ever written, and when you write horror and paranormal, that’s a good goal.
And who knows? Adelheid has a long run yet, and we might just see equine zombies and were-horses in its future.
###
I’d like to thank Mia for being on my blog this week. She graciously provided me with 3 articles to share with you guys. I’ve had a blast reading her posts as well as ‘Descent’. I have to say it was a great story with wonderful imagination and steady pacing which I enjoy in a lot of short stories I read. ~ally
About the Author
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.
Contact the Author
Learn more about Mia at http://www.miadarien.com | Amazon Author page | Twitter | Facebook
Ally Thomas 