Alissa C. Miles

Growing up in Columbia, South Carolina, storytelling was a big part of my childhood. My parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles are all talented storytellers. Many Sunday afternoons were spent at my grandmother’s house swinging on the front porch with my cousins and brother, listening to the adults laugh at each others’ childhood antics. Occasionally, my dad and I would convince my grandmother to let us into “the closet” where the old toys, dusty hat boxes, frayed quilts, and thick photo albums were kept. It was on the black fabric pages of the albums that I connected the past with the present and wondered about all the untold stories in between. My family of storytellers combined with my mother’s writing talent and love of books (she is also a writer, an accomplished one at that; although, she would hate to have it mentioned) created an atmosphere rich in words. So, its no wonder I found myself writing stories. I started Mad Moon years and years ago. It is my debut novel. 

Mad Moon was self-published in 2020. My short story “The Window” won a fiction prize through Two Sisters Writing and Publishing in 2019. I writeThe Hound, a Substack newsletter about writing in real life, and several of my creative nonfiction pieces are in the online publication Epilogue. I live in North Carolina under the bright lights of baseball fields, carting electric guitars and amps to my ten and twelve-year-olds’ metal band practice, and wherever else my two sons need a ride. My mother came to our house for vacation ten years ago and never left. My husband puts up with all of us and is the dogs’ favorite. I kind of like him, too.

Additionally, I try to stay connected to my own writing and the writing community by attending a writing meetup I created at my local library. Hillsborough Writers’ Group meets Tuesday mornings (and sometimes Fridays) in an effort to encourage each other to keep writing. If you live in an area where there isn’t a writer’s group, I hope you’ll start your own. If you have questions about how to do that, please email me. I’d be happy to help!

I am open to book clubs, author panels, workshops, podcasts, and other writing events. Please email me with enquiries.

Thanks for being here!

Alissa