At the Bar with Moi

The Woman from Cheshire Avenue

Chessy Ave is a collection of individual, dark components that Ankh starts weaving together, and by the end, readers get a brief impression that she is creating something unusual, but may not be entirely sure what it is. Chessy Ave is actually part of a larger work, and the story will continue in The Velvet Hall, the sequel. I look forward to reading more about the Hirosawas (especially fine-ass Michael), and all of the chicanery and tomfoolery that will definitely ensue as a result of their presence in Cherrywood.

My gripe with Chessy Ave? It’s too short.

~ Amaya Radjani, author

I won't lie. I had serious reservations about this novella. Reading about a psychotic Neo Nazi stalking a black woman is not my idea of quality entertainment. In the hands of a lesser writer, this plot would've been a disaster. However author Ankhesen Mié not only makes it work but takes the narrative and the characters to unexpected places to keep you wanting to find out more.

Mié definitely shows that she has a handle on her characters and there's no finer example of that than Eric, one of the central protagonists and the stalker Nazi guy.

...Mié effectively keeps the pacing of the story steady and it never drags or flies through anything. That's a trait that few authors possess and said trait is a testament to her skills as a writer. Because of my busy schedule, I thought it would take weeks for me to finish this story. But because of the plot and the intrigue, I ripped through the novella in days. I eagerly wanted to find out what happened next.

~ Dennis R. Upkins, author

The Woman from Cheshire Avenue was one of the most AWESOME books I have read all year and frankly, I'm getting pretty envious at Middle Child Press. It's not the fact that [Mié] made a neo-Nazi into a character I came to care about, nor was it the fact that Lilith had the kind of class, balls and sass that I don't see too often in a lot of books. It's not even the fact that Michael Hirosawa and his family of scary, yet elegant criminals reminded me of some of the best Japanese crime dramas--it's how [she] managed to pack so much action and emotion in a mere 90-something pages.

...And what can I say about Lilith Wells? Like all of [Mié's] characters, she's wonderfully complex--both brave and flawed. Every page was like unwrapping all the various and sundry layers of her being. Again, how [Mié] managed this in a scant 90-something pages speaks volumes to how well [she has] mastered the craft of writing. There are authors who need entire trilogies to do what [she] do with the kind of characters--outsiders all--in a novella.

...The Woman from Cheshire Avenue reads like a Kurosawa meets Truffault meets Beineix meets Fuqua film, and frankly it should be one (if Hollywood had any sense). It's Cornell Woolrich and Chester Himes on steroids! To say I loved this, is the understatement of the decade.  Bravo!

~ Kymberlyn Reed, Parker Publishing

Violet Dusk

[Mié's] prose has a nice blend of the gothic, African mythos, personal experience, the mundane of everyday life which is anything but ordinary. Her work is hauntingly beautiful and even in the sunniest of situations such as a July family cookout, the reader sees through [Mié's] eyes the world a ghostly and ethereal temperament.

~ Dennis R. Upkins, author

Folklore, and Other Stories

Mié's collection of short stories is an interesting mix with different plots, but the same underlying theme of falling or staying in love. The stories are well-written, even though some of the cultural references may distract the reader.  Overall, if you want a book with a different flavor, good writing and interesting plots, this is a good choice.

~ Criss Coles, The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

Ms. Mié has taken on the ambitious task of writing from an Asian perspective. Many of the stories read like old-fashioned tall tales with the flow of poetry in short story form.  The stories in this collection offer a new look at age old situations such as marital relationships. The stories are at once true to life, yet mystical and filled with fantasy...In this day and age when many feel there is nothing new under the sun, along comes a writer like Ms. Mié proving that is not necessarily so.

~ Angelia Menchan, APOOO BookClub

"...enticing, exciting..."

~ the Midwest Book Review

Purple Jars of Rice

"...an eclectic mix of poetry and short story chapters...timely and profound...."

~ Angelia Menchan, APOOO BookClub

For those of you just tuning in, I'm an author.  I majored in the social and clinical sciences in college, rather than literature and creative writing (BA in psychology, MA in sociology, and yes...that was deliberate).  Anyhoo, I'm Ambazonian (or Bimbian, if you're devout), so I don't dig heavily on the Hemingway, Whitman, or Thoreau. No, no...in my library you'll find the scribblings of Achebe, Darko, Oyono, Mama, Aidoo, Bebey, Thiong'o, Soyinka, the late great Jumbam, and the immortal Diop.  If these names don't ring a bell for you, that's okay.  *shrug*  To each her own.

Anyhoo...thanks for stopping by.  You'll find I'm a delightfully odd person to get to know.