All About Mike Hays
From the Mixed-Up Files is a place to celebrate middle grade books—new books, collections of books on a particular theme, STEM books—as well as a place to interview authors. Now I get to celebrate a fellow MUF blogger: Mike Hays, who has been a part of the team for more than eleven years.
Hi Mike! It’s nice to finally meet you and get you “in front of the camera” for a change. First, tell us about your non-writing life.
My life firmly orbits around my family. Faith, family, food, and an insatiable curiosity for the world is probably the dime store philosophical motto for my life. The writing and creating parts are deeply rooted in all those things.
What do you do for fun?
Much to the chagrin of people I live with, I try to do everything for fun. Of course, there are times when one has to buckle down, pinch your nose, and get the dog poo of life cleaned up. But, even then, I try to infuse those times with an element of a fun challenge. The things I do for fun are all over the board; playing with my grandkids, gardening, biking, drawing, games of any sort, and, most of all, reading.
I see you are a molecular microbiologist by day. Fill us in on what that entails.
Unfortunately, being a molecular microbiologist is not as exciting or as sexy as it sounds. It’s work and it’s failure. The general aim of our research laboratory within a veterinary medical college is to use molecular biology and gene editing to make viral and bacterial pathogens less dangerous. We also focus on using isolated aspects of those pathogens and/or their genes as treatments for other diseases and conditions, i.e. knocking down the body’s inflammation response in autoimmune disease. It’s a bugs to drugs approach.
How does your day job impact your writing?
I get to approach every day with a discovery mindset. We are using what scientists have previously done to forge new ground in our field. Constantly interested. Constantly investigative. I like doing what I do because it’s a hands-on job that requires thought and analysis every dang day. It’s the Fail Cycle in daily action ⇒ Try. Fail. Analyze. Problem solve, Try again. Repeat. (Sound familiar, creators in the crowd? The Fail Cycle is how we create.)
Were you always interested in being a writer? Did you like to write as a child?
No! And No! I had trouble reading and writing as a child. It was a struggle. I’m sure I have some learning issue that was beyond the capacity of a mid-1970’s lower middle class Catholic grade school. The key was that my lower middle class Catholic grade school had people who cared and refused to allow me to slip through the cracks. I made a breakthrough in sixth grade reading Jack London’s To Build a Fire on mimeographed sheets of paper while tucked deep in a storeroom where a volunteer provided kids extra help. It changed everything! It opened the doors for my creative brain that were previously locked. The fire was lit. One of the things I preach to all who will listen is: Reading is a Superpower!
If you could interview any middle grade author (past or present), who would it be and why?
This is an impossible question to fully answer, so here is my shortened version of a list that could encompass this entire interview post. I spared you my long-winded why and just include their almost perfect book(s) I’d talk to the author about and beg to know how they did performed their perfect alchemy.
Terry Prachett (The Tiffany Aching series)
Louis Sachar (Holes)
Kelly Barnhill (The Girl Who Drank the Moon)
Neil Gaiman (Coraline/The Graveyard Book)
Jennifer L. Holm (The Fourteenth Goldfish)
Erin Entrada Kelly (We Dream of Space)
Okay for Now (Gary D. Schmidt)
Ray Bradbury (Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dandelion Wine)
Michael Chabon (Summerland)
Jonathan Stroud (The Lockwood & Co. series)
About His Books
Tell us about the types of books/short stories you write. Would you say there’s a common thread in them?
The common thread at the core in everything I write or create is probably similar to a great number of creators. I write for me. In particular, I write stuff the young me would have appreciated. I wrote a MUF post called Creative Braining that kind of touches on how this process works on a neuroprocessing level.
What is your favorite book/short story you wrote?
Ha! Isn’t this like asking me to pick a favorite child? I think the honest answer is the favorite piece is the one I’m working on. That love and passion helps drive through that mucky slog every piece must trudge through.
I know you are a coach—what sports do you coach? How has your love of sports and/or coaching impacted your books?
I was a Rule 10 (non-certified staff) high school football, baseball, and strength & conditioning coach. Now, I volunteer with youth sports and love to work with kids on the fundamentals of hitting a baseball.
A love of sports, and participation as a player and coach, has had a huge impact on my creative work. First, it instilled in me the value of practice in developing technical ability and skill. Second, it taught me the value of work ethic and discipline. Show up and do the work because hard work is the magic. Finally, I learned to compete. In creativity, this competition is 100% a competition against my own self to finish a project to the very best of my ability at that particular time and place.
What are you working on now?
Although not recommended to working fast or keeping one’s mental faculties completely in order, I work on multiple projects at a time. I have this memory of Ray Bradbury from an old TV interview talking about how he works three or four projects simultaneously. If he got stuck on one, he rolled his office chair to the next typewriter and got to work on that one. My current problem is limiting my work to three or four projects and not seven. 😀
I’m revising and querying several MG manuscripts, working on an informative fiction graphic novel about the Sputnik I launch, drafting and outlining a new MG fiction project, and making a picture book dummy. Even though it seems to be tough times in the MG universe, we must keep on keeping on. Plus, baby steps are still steps moving forward, right?
Mike’s Roles for MUF
How long have you been writing for From the Mixed-Up Files…of Middle Grade Authors?
In a move the MUF leadership probably wishes they could reconsider, I was accepted to be a part of the team in November of 2014. (Wait! There’s no way is can be that long ago. It seems like just yesterday.)
What hats do you wear for MUF?
I do several regular MUF posts per year and those almost exclusively lean toward creativity and how we do what we do. I’m also the most unreliable member of the MUF Author Interview team and am working to rectify my lack of participation on that important front. As one of the original STEM Tuesday team members, I am part of the STEM Tuesday Week Three Writing Tips & Resources team and helped lay the groundwork for the post’s format, including the O.O.L.F. Files component.
I am the class clown of the STEM Tuesday family and, for some reason, Jennifer Swanson and the others let me get away with it. I am forever grateful they allow me to be my stupid-funny self in the oft-serious arena of STEM.
What are your favorite types of posts to do and why?
At a basic level, I like the posts that allow me to explore the creative process. My most challenging post assignment is having the honor and the responsibility to write the annual STEM Tuesday New Year’s Post.
You write posts for STEM Tuesday. What topics do you like to cover?
I love the challenge of being “forced” into learning something new in order to properly address the monthly STEM Tuesday theme. When one learns more creating the piece than one was able to share in the post, it’s a win for a nerdy boy like me.
What was your favorite post you wrote and why?
Another hard question! On this question, though, there is one that stands out above the rest. The STEM Tuesday New Year’s Post at the end of December 2020. Yes, that 2020! You know, global pandemic, science being attacked from multiple fronts, etc. Truth bomb here, I was so nervous and almost backed out of posting this one for a generic “Happy New Year from the STEM Tuesday Team!” post. I was pulling out the stupid-funny ridiculousness stops and going so far off the standard STEM Tuesday rails that I was worried about embarrassing the whole STEM Tuesday team. In the 11th hour, Jennifer Swanson was consulted and she said to run with it. Honestly, I think she was just desperate to get something posted on New Year’s Eve. It even had to run in two parts. Here are the links:
Part One: A Great Conjunction
Part Two: Partie Deux (Translation…Part Doo.)
For Teachers
Are you doing school visits related to your books?
I am available for free virtual school visits, tailored to all ages, to talk writing, creating, science, and a grab bag of other things that are on the mind of young people. Interested teachers can send a message via my socials or on my website and we can get something scheduled.
How can we learn more about you?
My author website is: https://mikehaysbooks.com/
My blog site (over 500 posts since 2009!) on life, coaching, sports, etc. is: https://coachhays.com/
Instagram: @MikeHays64
Bluesky: @mikehays64.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachhays
Thanks for your time, Mike.
Thank you! I love what the MUF family does on a daily basis and the spotlight it shines on MG space. I’m forever proud and thankful to be a part of this spectacular group.
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