Miasha: (Exhales) umm ecstatic even to this day, like my aunt is down from Philly and we went to the Borders, because she wanted to get some books to take back with her, I had to sign them for her before she left, and, just to go to the shelf and see you know a book on the shelve at borders that has my name on it and my face on the back and I know that, you know, that’s my work, its overwhelmingly joyous to me..
Thego2girls: We were waiting to see you at the Harlem Book Festival, What happened?
Miasha:Well, I was doing the play, uh we just did the play in Atlanta last weekend, and so that kinda had me, you know, wrapped up, I was down here in Atlanta July 1st, we were down here the whole time just making sure that everything was going the way it needed to go…but I’ll make the Harlem Book Fair this year.
Thego2girls: Do you remember your first experience at the Harlem Book Festival?
Miasha:Yes! I WAS very overwhelmed because it was just so many people and so many authors and so many books and so much going on and it was exciting, and it was uh..exhausting and it was like every emotion all in one, but umm I just remember being very hustle minded
, my mind was just focused on maintaining my spot in the industry and thinking of bigger and better things to do, to stand apart basically.
Thego2girls: Exactly, and what makes you stand apart, what makes you different?
Miasha:I noticed one thing off the bat, and it really made me notice it from somebody else telling me, basically it was like my look and stuff, cause I’m very much into fashion, I love the high heels shoes! So you know it’s just me, its who I am. A lot of my fellow authors, they wear their flats and their comfortable clothes..
Thego2girls:Yeah cause when you think of Author, you expect them to look older....
Miasha: that's true too, so I’ve gotten that a lot, that people think I sing or something, someone at the festival actually pulled me to the side and said “oh wow, I shouldve worn my heels and my get up,”….. and I said this is just me all day everyday…..but it made me think, like you see all the other authors and their pretty much dressed down and just comfortable and stuff.
Thego2girls: What keeps you inspired, what keeps your pen writing?
Miasha: I look to music, I look to movies for inspiration, I loveee a really really good movie and really good music, like lyrical content, it really moves me and inspires me to write. Earlier I had a lunch date with She'ree from The Housewives of Atlanta, and I was driving to it, and I was listening to this old CD that I had, I just kind of came across it and it was Lil Wayne and I was just listening to it, and I wanted so bad to just turn around and go back home and go to the computer, I was so inspired.
Thego2girls: Okay, Lets talk about your press, you are blowing up pretty much everywhere, can you describe in one word how you felt when you saw your spread in ELLE magazine?
Miasha: Honestly, the ELLE spread was a blessing, I was blessed I was really blessed, because you know ELLE magazine is like crossover, it’s more conservative, it’s music, its fashion, so when they decided to feature me that was already to me, like huge, but then when I saw how much attention they dedicated to me and my books and the whole movement, I was just blown away, that was a big deal
Thego2girls: Okay, we have to talk about the stage play, How did you link up with Vivica A Fox and Lil Duval and how was it working with them?
Miasha: It was a pleasure working with both of them. Vivica came about a few years ago at my Sister 4 Sale release party was in conjunction with Carl J’s celebrity hair and fashion show, and Carl J’s a celebrity stylist, he's been styling Vivica and Meagan Good and a few others, for a few years, and so he brought them to his hair show, and of course it was my release party too, so I was there and I actually met Vivica then, it was really brief though but um I always wanted to get her to do something, and I figured the play in ATL would be great, I knew she loved Alanta, she has family out here so, um I basically linked up with Carl and asked him to make that happen for me and she was 100% down with it, she is such a big supporter of African American theater, so she was very much on board from the start, and Lil Duval, it was kinda funny cause my husband and I we been in Atlanta for just over a month, and we were just out to eat one day for lunch with some friends, and T.I’s manager walked in and he spoke to us, and we introduced ourselves and stuff, and we just got the talking about the play and he had mentioned that he also manages lil duval, and we’re like you know what, we’re doing a play in a couple of weeks out here, you know, we would love for him to come down and co-host with Vivica and do a little bit on the stage and stuff, so that’s how that worked.
Thego2girls: How did you link up with She'ree?
Miasha: That was kinda coincidental too, cause she was in philly for Charlie Mack’s celebrity weekend and Charlie Mack and I are really good friends and she heard about the play out there, and then she heard about it again through one of the actors in the play that she met, and then the third time when she got back to Atlanta the buzz around town was the play. So she was like, I need to go to this play, so she ended up coming.
Thego2girls: How did it feel bringing your characters to life on stage?
Miasha:It was a relief actually, cause it had been such a journey, such a long hard gruesome process. I mean from the beginning it was casting, because with the book, its so much different when you do a play that’s based on an already created work, cause you have to live up to that hype you know, so if people read the book and they visualize these characters in their mind, then you gotta give them as close to that as possible on stage and so when it came to Secret Society these girls are really fly they're really beautiful, they have all this swagger, the guys too. So its like we need all of this as well as good acting, so its not easy to find, its like a total package. So we had to go through a lot with the casting process, then once we did cast, during the rehearsals and it’s just a lot of work going into production, so when that opening night came, and those characters were up there and my book actually came to life, it was a relief, it really was.
Thego2girls:Ever since your journey to stardom began I couldn’t help but notice how many celebrities you were able to come across, who was your favorite to have met and why?
Miasha: hmmm, there has to be several
Thego2girls: cause we saw you with Kanye, Jay-z
Miasha: KANYE!, is funny because kanye, (pause) like the girls that was with me when I met kanye they was like “he was on you girl!” it was funny because it was flattering, you know, kanye west..good looking, very successful, so if hes on you, that’s a flattering thing, but of course I was married then so, and im married...
Thego2girls: now
Miasha: you know. So it was like no thank you, but that was interesting just to know, you know I met kanye (laughs)
Thego2girls: Were you guys meeting up, or was it a coincidence
Miasha: No, we were on rodeo dr, we were in town for the NAACP image awards, we were in LA, and he was uh I think he was being..he was recieveing and award and he was a also presenter that year but um we were walking past the store, what store was it (pause), I cant even remember but he came to the door and waved for us to come in, and we didn’t even realize that it was kanye west at first when we walked past, until he came out and waved for us to come in, and at that point we were like oh yeah, so we wanted to.., I was just starting out and my book hadn’t even come out yet, and the girl I was with she was an author she already had a book out, so we were like lets plug in with Kanye, so we gave him our cards and stuff, and told him what we got going on and stuff like that, and then he wanted to talk to me but I was married like I said (laughs) and we took the picture, and that was it.
Thego2girls:On Twitter it says “You wrote your way out the hood” Describe your hood, what is one thing you would keep or change about it?
Miasha: Well, it was too hood for me, before, I would say up until about, 87-88, um it was a pretty good situation, it was very close knit, like my block was very close knit everybody was like family, we felt safe playing out in the street, the nieghbor’s looked out for each other, that type of thing, and then the crack era really hit hard, people’s parents who came addicted or who was already addicted to drugs, it started to show more, you know..houses became crack houses and so that is where it changed drastically for me, and I saw the other side of the hood that was like totally self destructive, just one place that you wanna escape by all means, and so the one thing that I would change about it, is that crack never ever ever touched down there and the one thing that I would keep, is that it stayed that homely you know family oriented street, that really raised the kids, you know the saying it takes a village to raise a child, well that was that village before the crack.
Thego2girls: How has your life changed now that you are “The Writing Diva”, and well known an respected author?
Miasha: Umm well really the only thing that has changed is that people do regconize me, and I have fans, I have people who I don’t know that know me of me through my books, and really love what I do and you know I hadn’t had that before, but really me as a person I am the same exact person, like my family like is the same, I have always been with my husband since I was 14 years old so nothing has changed there, so status wise, financially things of course have changed, and opportunity wise, im actually doing things that I never would’ve imaged umm even with different celebrities but also with the production doing lunch dates in LA for reality shows, and movies and stuff like that. The lifestyle has really changed and that’s it.
Thego2girls:Now that you are a Novelist and a Playwriter, are there any other titles that you want under your belt?
Miasha: umm definitely I want to be a film maker, I wan to have my own clothing line, um I want to do my own jewelry line, I want to ..look I got a list (laughs) but you know what I really wanna do is brand myself, and I want to be able to create generational wealth, you know so , everything that I could think of that I would like to do, or I would like to try im going to use this opportunity to go forward
Thego2girls: What projects are you working on now?
Miasha: Im working on Secret Society 3, im writing that, im working on some film deals im working on that aspect of things, im working on touring the play, what else (pause) oh im also doing an online community for my fans, aspiring writers or just fellow entrepreneurs and since I do so much, and I would like to think I have a lot to offer I want to create a site where people can come on and get enough information, resources, share stories you know things that help people climb to the top, I’m definitely working on that too, Miasha Enterprise.
Thego2girls: What is the advice you would give young people like myself to stay focused?
Miasha:Well Number one I always say don’t dream your life, live your dreams, umm that little vision in your head, of whatever it may be, for me it was me sitting at a pool which was my own, sipping on a tropical drink with a few of my family and friends, & I don’t know exactly where it was but that was just the vision in my head, I know I had this this really fabulous house with a pool and I was sitting by it drinking a tropical drink, but the bottom line is whatever that vision is whatever that big dream of yours is, don’t allow that to just stay in your head, don’t let your life be a dream, but actually go out and get it make it a reality and live it.
Thego2girls: a lot of authors also hold seminars, can we look forward to seeing that from you?
Miasha: Definitely! And that will be apart of the online community, where I’ll do web-inars tel-seminars, um like I said I want it to be a place where people to get some really good information some guidance, resources, um I’m all for helping people out, I know how uh especially African Americans we have this um..stigma about us where we feel like we don’t want to help each other out sometimes, or we’re afraid that someone will take our spot, so we’re stingy with our resources, and all the people that I come across who help, that don’t mind sharing their resources I feel like I want to just bottle us all up, and be able to distribute us around, so that we can help other people, so I think the online community will be a place for that.
Now that we were done with the Miasha the Author, we wanted to get to know Miasha the person, so Nickia created some fun, girly questions to get to know 9 fun facts about Miasha.
1. What was your first job out of college?
Secretary at an auto body shop
2. Who is your favorite designer and where do you like to shop?
My favorite designer for clothes, would be Roberto cavalli, and I love to shop at nieman marcus for shoes and clothes, and for like um for special clothes, like if im going out to an event or something, I like boutiques.
3.What is your favorite thing to do on your day off, how does Miasha relax?
I like to watch movies and eat food, and snacks and chill, I’m a home body so I don’t mind sitting on the couch and flipping through the channels all day, as long as I have a bunch a snacks. (laughs)
4. What is the last CD you bought and who is your favorite singer/rapper?
The last CD that I bought with my own money?
Thego2girls (laughs) yea.
Miasha: (laughs) only because My husband is the CD person, so he goes out and buys all the CDs, but I guess his money is my money so, the last CD I bought was umm I think fabulous new CD….my favorite rapper is Jay-z, and I guess my favorite singer is his wifey (laughs) might as well.
5.Name one thing you cant live without?
I guess if I would have to say something that I cant leave without, would have to be Weave. Yes, indeed, I need my weave (laughs)
6.Twitter or Facebook, I don’t know if youre into that?
I am trying to get more so, because I know how important it is, and it allows my fans to get to know me more, um right now facebook and twitter is running neck and neck.
7.Do you remember your first date and or Prom Night if you went to Prom?
I went to prom with my husband, I went to his prom and my prom, we did two proms that year,
Thego2girls: so you guys are they same age?
uh huh we met when we were 14 on the bus stop and went through the whole high school together, college, even though he didn’t go to college but you would’ve thought he did, cause he was at my dorm so much, um so all of those years were with him. Prom night, I’ll never forget prom night, um I had this really really cute dress, and people didn’t understand, cause I had it made, and at that time me and my husband we started a trend cause I had it made with snake skin leather, and it was like really pretty colors like almost like Coogi, you know how Coogi had the colors and it was mixed up so it kind of had that feel but it was real pastel colors, and the dress was sharp right, and then my husband I had him, well you know he wasn’t my husband then but I had him cover his shoes, his belt, so he had his jacket the snake skin, the belt and the shoes was snake skin, the same exact material as my dress, and then his pants and shirt was like a pale yellow, but we looked really really really hot like cute like nobody had ever done that before, and even when I picked out the material like my aunts and em’ were like what the hell, and I said just wait till you see it and my shoes was covered in that too..but what I remember about prom night is that we were the shit, excuse my language, for my prom, the next week was my husband’s prom and we had a whole different outfit made for that, by a whole different seamstress, this guy came the last minute the day of the prom with my husband’s suit, it did not fit, he was trying to cut stuff in the truck all of this stuff, but it failed, so guess what we had to do? We had to wear the same thing we wore to my prom we had to wear to his prom, (laughs) but you know what it was so hot it had to be seen twice. (laughs)
8.What Mantra do you live by?
Don’t dream your life, live your dream,…but I have another one that was past done to me, when I was a freshmen in college film making was my passion at that time and I went to this black cinema café, something they do annually, I don’t know if they still do it but they did it in new york for independent film makers, and you would go up and watch a movie that was shot and directed by an independent film maker and then you got a chance to ask the film makers questions, at the end so this guy he had did this movie, we watched it and then afterwards he was there available for people to question him, and I kept stalling, I was scared and my friends were like just go and ask him something, anything. So I went up and I said, what advice would you give an aspiring film maker as myself, and he said, “don’t wait until you know everything to try something” and that has stuck with me for forever and a day.
9.What is your favorite show to watch?
Well reality TV has completely taken over and they sucked me right in with them, cause I love like all the reality shows, I love the Altanta housewives right now, umm all the glitzy, glamour stuff, like Mtv Cribs, you know the Fabulous life of whoever, like anything that’s just showing me the glitz and the glamour, I love that stuff it’s very inspiring and motivational.
For more on Miasha, please Visit Miasha.com, also add her on Twitter.com @Authormiasha
Interview done and brought to you by Lathleen Ade-Brown
