Questions and answers: Mia P. Manansala, author of 'Death in the Cards'

We talk to the author Mia P. Manansala Death in the cardsThe youngest customer of a Tarot reader in the high school is missing after a worrying reading. Therefore, she has to apply everything she learned from her private investigative mother in order to solve her own case.

Hello, Mia! Welcome back! It was a little more than six months since we last spoke. How treats you in 2025?

So far, a lot has been in 2025, but it will also be an important year for me because it is to begin and endings. My YA debut has not only come out, but the last book in the Tita Rosies Kitchen Mystery Series publish on November 25th^TH. It is like the end of one era and the beginning of another.

**Your new novel, Death in the cardsMark your YA debut and it is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would you be?**

Queer Filipino Veronica Mars Vibes

What can readers expect?

The usual suspects in a story by Mia P. Manansala, namely family, food and murder. There is also a lot of Tarot reading, a young protagonist who does her best to find out who she is and what she really wants, and even a little romance.

**Where does the inspiration go for Death in the cards come from?**

I love Amateur -Sleuth and PI stories. When I started developing the idea, I wondered what a funny and somewhat credible reason for a teenager would be a detective? I loved Veronica Mars, so I thought with a private detective for a mother and a mystery author for a father, of course my protagonist Danika wanted to get involved. She got a lot of training from her parents, but I also wanted her to have her own ability that makes her a good detective, and so I installed the reading of Tarot as an important part of her character because Tarot Reading is one of my hobby.

Have there been moments or characters that they really enjoyed writing or exploring?

There were so many moments that I enjoyed, but I think the character that surprised me the most is one that was not even in my original suggestion when I sold the book. Based on some feedback that I received from my editor, I added a certain character and a certain negotiation (do not want to say which one spoilers) and I was amazed at the depth that I could weave because of them.

Did you ask challenges when writing? How did you overcome them?

Every single book is a challenge in other ways. I think the greatest challenge for me was to ensure that the book felt like a real YA story that teenagers actually want to read. As soon as I realized that I didn't necessarily have to sound Like a teenager (there was no way for me to do it without shaking and outdated), I just had to do you feel The way a teenager does (the intensive heights and depths that are misunderstood and tried to find out who they are) made it easier.

How was the shift to change from writing mysteries to adults to YA?

Anxiety-inducing and yet free and rewarding. I didn't want Danika to sound like a younger version of purple (my adult cozy protagonist). I wanted her to be her own. After writing so many books that follow the same protagonist in the same world, I now had to rebuild everything from scratch. In a way, the process was similar because I still wrote a mystery, but because I am now writing for children, I had to pay so much attention to the side that I put on my side. I learned to be more deliberate. For this reason, I have the feeling that I have equipped myself as a writer. And although I feel very comfortable in the world of adult mystery, Ya is a completely different ball game, so I'm nervous about the reception of this book.

**With six books in the Tita Rosie's kitchen Mystery Series published in the past four years, when did Death in the cards Start with the shape and what was your schedule? Did you juggle two books?**

Death in the cards began to form me in 2021. My (now) YA editor had read my debut Arsen and AdoboAnd contacted my literary agent and said she liked my voice and wanted to know if I was interested in writing YA. We drove back and forth several ideas and when we decided on a concept, I worked on the proposal for about a year and a half. It took me a while because the Kitchen -mystery books of the Tita Rosie came less than a year away, so that I always take a book, edit a second and evaluate a third so that I could not contain much time with it. I finally sold the book about the proposal in autumn 2023 and also had to reconcile the deadlines of my YA with my adult books. The timelines for them are very different than in adults, that was definitely an adaptation.

Can we expect to see more from Danika?

Yes! I was lucky enough to temporarily sell the next book in the series with the title Murder under full moon. My teenage sleuth, Danika, is hidden in a burning, man-like retreat to find out who is aiming for members of the community after a series of “accidents” leads to the murder of another teenager.

What's next for you?

I have a short story in the Crime ink: icon Anthology published on September 2^nd. The anthology shows all queer crime authors, and we have each selected a strange icon to support a story. November 25th^TH Is the publication date for the last book in the Tita Rosie Kitchen Mystery series, Death and DinuguanThis is definitely a bitter -sweet feeling. And I am currently making the sequel to my YA, Murder under full moonWhich is expected to come out of autumn 2026.