Now it’s time to learn more about the authors we read. . .

What drew you to the genre you write?
As a teenager I loved all things Agatha Christie and suspense. In more recent years I wrote a number of suspense stories, but then my mom developed dementia, and the world was getting a little too heavy, so I wrote a cozy for myself. My protagonist is a saree-wearing librarian based on my mom who passed away in 2024. I love libraries, partly because as a child growing up in apartheid-era South Africa I wasn’t allowed into my local library which was for white people only.

How did you come up with your pseudonym?
It’s a shortened version of my name to differentiate it from my nonfiction writing.

Tell us how you got into writing?
Almost fifteen years ago I joined a writing class at my local community center. My writing teacher Beverly was a quirky chain smoker in her late 70s who had not published a thing but read at least two books a week. She had an encyclopedic memory and a warm heart for a fledgling writer. Once, I was struggling to write a love scene from a man’s perspective, and my husband was of absolutely no help. But Beverly was able to point me to at least three male authors who had done it so well.

What jobs have you held before, during and/or after you became a writer?
Before, and also while, becoming a writer, I was an eye surgeon and a pharmaceutical drug developer. I’m very proud of both these careers where I felt I helped people directly with surgery, and also worked on the first ever treatment for a terrible blinding condition called Age Related Macular Degeneration.

How many books do you have published?
I have one previous book published; it’s called DEFYING APARTHEID. It’s a part-memoir about my being a doctor/ activist, and also the youth movement, against apartheid. My debut cozy mystery, THE MASALA CHAI MYSTERY CLUB, which releases in July 2026 is available for preorder.

Where do you write?
I write at my desk, which is very messy, but it’s organized chaos.

What’s your favorite genre to read?
My favorite genre to read is mysteries, of all types. But I also enjoy reading multicultural books and books by my fellow Crime Writers of Color.

What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
That Nelson Mandela shook my hand. He was attending a parent teacher meeting for his grandchildren, and my brother‘s children went to the same school. We waited for an hour for him to come out and he very kindly shook everybody’s hands, especially that of my children. I tried not to wash my hand but that was more than fifteen years ago.

Who is an author you admire?
I really admire Jesse Q, Sutanto, who is able to write in so many different genres and has a knack for writing really good stories, which are both humorous and colorful.

Have you any advice for aspiring or beginning writers?
Keep at it, read a lot, and build up a résumé with short stories, essays and blogs or newsletters.

What is next for you?
Getting my debut off to a good start and then a new family-centric series, and also a follow up to THE MASALA CHAI MYSTERY CLUB.

Where can we find you?
On my website at mjsoniauthor.com, on Instagram, on Facebook, and on Substack.

Now to have some fun . . .

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Dinner

Fruits or vegetables
Fruit

Sweet or salty snacks
Spicy?

Ice cream or cake
Ice cream

Cooking or baking
Cooking

Dining in or dining out
Dining Out

City life or country living
Country life

Beach or mountain
Beach

Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall
Summer

Extrovert or introvert
Extrovert

And even more fun . . .

What is your favorite movie?
My favorite movie is a Bollywood romance called Fanaa about a blind girl who has to make a terrible choice between the man she loves and her country. I loved it because her father says, “The choice between good and evil is relatively easy, but the choice between one terrible thing and another even more terrible thing is very difficult.” I’m sure I’m misquoting but hopefully I get the theme across.

You are stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
I’m pretty practical so I would want something warm, a very big book like one of the Russian epics, and a big, sharp knife. I’m a surgeon you know, and our mantra usually is, ‘when in doubt, cut it out.’ 🤣

My bio:
MJ Soni’s short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Akashic Books, and Masthead: Best New England Crime Stories. She penned her memoir, Defying Apartheid, which captures her experiences as a young activist in South Africa, after a writing class at her local community center. A lifelong fan of Agatha Christie, she now draws upon her love of the culture and cuisine of her diverse Indian, African, and American background to write heartwarming murder mysteries set largely in coastal New England.

She’s a recipient of the Leon B. Burstein/MWA-NY Scholarship and a runner-up to the Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, a Pitch Wars mentee and mentor, and a member of Crime Writers of Color, Sisters in Crime National, and Sisters in Crime–CT. Her debut cozy mystery. The Masala Chai Mystery Club, is coming out on 21 July.