Mirriam Neal's Blog, page 23

//the fear of childishness

I was an extremely solemn and somewhat solitary child. I had siblings to play with, butI lived inside my own mind and was just as content building cardboard stables and playing with plastic horses, or scribbling wild and terrible sea monsters, than I was playing with my siblings. Anything I endeavored, I undertook with a […]

//and the sketch winner is…

This week was an uncharacteristically heavy one for this blog, but it was also pretty downright amazing. Last week’s sketch winner, Eli, snapped a picture of the sketch he received – a doodle of the Hatter from my JuNoWriMo novel, This Curious Madness – because, as I’ve said, Eli was a completely invaluable beta-reader during […]

//about acceso + writing the tough things

I’d wanted to do something light and fluffy on my blog today to make up for the emotional trainwreck of the last few days, but a chat with a friend this morning made me go ‘nah.’ (One of these days!) If you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard me mention […]

//more than I could have imagined

I learned something amazing yesterday. I learned that I have the most incredible, understanding, loving, forgiving family and friends. I’ve spent the last few days in tears – but the tears of the last twenty-four hours have been different. I haven’t been crying because of hurt or pain, I’ve been crying because the outpouring of […]

//I need you to read this.

Once upon a time, there was a teenaged girl. This girl and her best friend had overactive imaginations and were curious – literally – to a fault. One day, these girls, out of sinful curiosity, decided to role-play as some of their fictional characters, for plotting purposes. The characters switched around, the stories spiraled downward, […]

//an open letter to someone

Yesterday I heard from a friend of yours. I was blindsided – I’d never spoken to this person, never seen them before. I didn’t know who they were, but the more they spoke, the more I realized they were talking about you. In fact, I’m a little frightened to write this letter – yesterday wrecked […]

//and the sketch winner is…

It’s been eventful around here this week, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it! As promised, I picked someone from the comments to receive this week’s sketch. (It has nothing to do with the fact he promised to type up a response on a typewriter.) He’s also a friend of mine, and was completely invaluable […]

//art dump + I changed my mind about one detail

Earlier this week, I said in this post that I would post a picture of whatever sketch I sent out before I mailed it. I decided against that today, because hey – surprises are fun! I don’t want to spoil the delight of a small surprise by revealing it too soon. HOWEVER, I added a […]

//Forged Steel is coming + an interview with Heather Titus

Downtown. Coffee shop. 2 AM. One minute, Josh is firing off sarcastic remarks at his best friend Marc – the next, they’re running from shape-shifters. Apparently, even best friends don’t share all their secrets. Now Josh is in danger. He can see the monsters among the humans. When Marc is kidnapped, Josh finds himself pulled […]

//plotting isn’t evil (just misunderstood)

I have a friend. Her name is Abby. She is fifteen, Canadian, and strings words together with the skill of Hemingway or Salinger. Sometimes I envy the way she’s able to gather a handful of adjectives like stardust and fling them into an evocative cosmos, and I told her so the other day. [Seriously, she […]