Melissa Sell
- Oct 11, 2020
- 3 min read

Interview with MJ Vieira

MJ Vieira resides in Central Iowa with her husband, Alan, son, AJ, their dog, Poopah, and cat, Sir Fluffabut. MJ is very proud of her home state of Maine and as a child, she traveled around the state with her parents. This allowed her to see the vast history the New England state had to offer. As a teenager, she toured the nation while showing her American Quarter Horse, Truly Vested. While traveling, she read many of the great authors of the time including JRR Tolkien, Stephen King, CS Lewis, and Anne Rice. It is these writers combined with the power of music, mainly hard rock and folk, MJ draws her inspiration.

Hi, MJ!

Hello! Thank you for having me; I’m excited to speak with you!

J.R.R Tolkien, Stephen King, C.S Lewis, and Anne Rice are among your favorite authors, and I agree, they are fantastic influences. Which of their works jump-started your creativity?

Oh wow, that’s an awesome question. Anne Rice’s Pandora and The Queen of the Damned; J.R.R. Tolkien’s Simarillion; C.S. Lewis’s entire Chronicles of Narnia and the Screw Tape Letters.

You have two series, which story would you say came together the easiest?

The Manjian Chronicles came together easier for me than the Veritas Series. Which, considering how personal the Veritas Series is to me, might be surprising to some. But it’s how much Lux and the other books are a part of me that made them so hard to finish. The Manjian Chronicles have characters who are very near and dear to me; I began writing them as a teenager, so their story was easier to share.

What is your favorite mythical creature?

Again, an excellent question: I love Dragons; they are very near and dear to my heart. But I also love griffins and kelpies.

What are you working on now?

Too many things *laughs* I have a follow up to Manjians in the works; a few anthology pieces; a werewolf saga; and a surprise that I can’t get into much.

Are there any characters in books you have read that inspired yours?

Yes: Cole from Francesca Vance’s Reaper Society; Aragon from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings; Rafie from Mike Carey’s work; and Laurel K Hamilton’s Obsidian Butterfly.

Let's say the Veritas series was made into a Netflix series and you were able to help with casting. Which actors are your top choices for the main characters?

Ha! I love this. So right off the bat: Jager would be his muse, Eric Claussen. Jade would be Sara Fabel. Nikolai…I’ll come back to you on that. Onyx is based on a mixture of my husband and Daniel Gilles. Fion would be Richard Rocco and Malum would be Brock O’Hurn.

Do you have another series in mind not related to the existing ones?

I do. My werewolf saga and a witch/vampire one.

Do you run ideas with your family?

No. I do not.

Are you a day or night writer?

Mostly day. If I write at night, I can’t sleep. And while I would love to not have to be awake in the morning, I do have a day job. So, sleep is important.