Believe it or not, many authors don’t have a favorite author–it can be hard to signal out one writer you love, respect, or appreciate above all others. For writers like MB Mooney, though, it’s easier to identify that one person. That doesn’t mean he only reads that author’s works, though (although it’s safe to say his tastes clearly lean toward the speculative fiction genre).

Thank you so much for being here! What was your favorite picture book as a child? What did you love about it?

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I was Max as a kid. I dressed up in superhero costumes and jumped off furniture and drove my mother crazy. I even committed the sin of “running in church” on multiple occasions. My mind was also full of imagination and creating my own worlds, so I completely related to how he made a trip in his brain.

Also, my mother was incredibly kind and loved me even through my rambunctiousness, like the hot meal at the end.

What was your favorite chapter book?

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis. I was a voracious reader (still am), and my mother kept feeding the little reading monster with books. Thank God for libraries! She suggested The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to me at a young age, and she hinted that there were spiritual symbols within. I loved Jesus, and Narnia quickly became my favorite series. I kept reading and looking for those hidden mysteries within.

The Narnia book that I loved the most, however, was The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The redemption arc, the courageous heart of the mouse, and the scales falling from the boy when he reads the “book” really impacted me. But when the mouse Reepicheep finds Aslan at the end of the world, I was moved. Still one of my favorite moments in literature.

What was the last book you read that you couldn’t put down?

Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne. I’m a sucker for great fantasy, and the Viking mythology and culture-based world building was well done. Great writing is about characters, and the three different storylines were also well crafted with emotion, high stakes, and consequences. It is more of a violent, gritty, book, and I like those action-packed stories, as well.

If you could have dinner with any fictional character, who would it be?

The answer changes, but at this point I would choose Frodo from The Lord of the Rings. I recently finished the audiobook of all three in the trilogy, narrated by Andy Serkis, and I would love to sit and have a Hobbit style feast at Bag End, hopefully with Sam, Merry, and Pippin with us. Mostly it would be for Frodo, to ask him questions about his journey but also about why he couldn’t feel at home in this world anymore and had to go to the Grey Havens. I often feel the same.

If you could turn any of your books into a movie, which would you pick? Who would you cast as the main characters?

Definitely The Living Stone. I think the characters and the story lend themselves to the big screen, and I pictured it as a movie while I wrote it. The visuals would be stunning and the ending powerful. The two main cast would be Chris Hemsworth as Caleb and Hailee Steinfeld as Eshlyn.

What book are you most looking forward to reading next?

Believing is Seeing by Dr. Michael Guillen. Highly recommended by a pastor friend, a renowned physicist and former atheist goes through how studying science actually led him to the necessity of faith.

Who is your favorite author?

C.S. Lewis. Several authors are huge influences on me as a writer, but Lewis will always have the top spot on the list. His simple and profound writings to the church universal in a classic like Mere Christianity, a creative take on the same with The Screwtape Letters, and his writing for children and adults in fiction with Narnia and The Space Trilogy – those cover my passions as an author, as well, in both fiction and non-fiction.

WolfHeart – First Moon

One night, without warning, 16-year-old Sarah turns into a werewolf. She already has enough problems – new at school, her parents have separated, and she shares a room with her little brother. Thrust into a violent underground world, now Sarah must find a way to save her own life and the lives of her family without losing her own soul.

MB (Britt) Mooney believes great stories change the world. He is a church planter, working bivocationally with a missional coffee company, and writes fantasy fiction and Christian Living non-fiction, always looking to tell and live the Gospel through story. He lives on adventure with his amazing wife and three creative kids in Suwanee, GA.

For fiction: www.mbmooney.com
Ministry Kingdom Over Coffee www.brittmooney.com
FB @MooneyMB
IG @authormbmooney