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Paper Crowns Blog Tour // Interview with Mirriam Neal

Tracey Dyck 13 Comments

It is with humongous excitement that I welcome author Mirriam Neal to Adventure Awaits today! She just published her second novel, Paper Crowns. I’ve been following her blog for a few years, and over that span of time I’ve also been one of her beta readers for several stories. So I can tell you with 100% conviction that she is an amazing writer, one who pens her tales with depth, vibrancy, and wit. (Just wait until you meet one of her trademark snarky characters.)

It goes without saying that Paper Crowns’ release has me flailing/squealing/bursting with joy. And I’m equally thrilled to have the chance to interview Mirriam about her writing journey and her new book. After all, the paths of writers so often intersect in some way, and it is at those junctions that we find encouragement for our own journeys.
Mirriam Neal is a twenty-two-year-old Northwestern hipster living in Atlanta. She writes hard-to-describe books in hard-to-describe genres, and illustrates things whenever she finds the time. She aspires to live as faithfully and creatively as she can and she hopes you do, too.
You can find her at any of these places:
And here’s the book itself, all brimming with magic and beauty and intrigue–isn’t it positively gorgeous?!
Ginger has lived in seclusion, with only her aunt Malgarel and her blue cat, Halcyon, to keep her company. Her sheltered, idyllic life is turned upside-down when her home is attacked by messengers from the world of fae. Accompanied by Halcyon (who may or may not be more than just a cat), an irascible wysling named Azrael, and a loyal fire elemental named Salazar, Ginger ventures into the world of fae to bring a ruthless Queen to justice.

Without further ado, here’s the dedicated, talented authoress herself . . .
*****
Tell us a little
about yourself! Personality, interests, how
you take your coffee—whatever.

I’m an
INFP – a severe introvert who adores people. Writing is my greatest love, but
when I’m not writing I’m probably making art or reading. (I’m currently reading
Jennifer Freitag’s ‘Plenilune’ for the first time since I beta-read it. I’m in
love all over again. She inscribed it to me and called me the ‘kitty-cat foxy
bomb diggity,’ which probably says more about my personality than I ever
could.) I take my coffee black and strong enough to eat the spoon.

Because many of
us here are on our own writing journeys, could you share a little bit about
yours?
I
was always an avid reader, and I fiddled with writing now and then. I never
finished anything until I turned twelve, and wrote a short story called ‘The
Pegasus on the Mantle.’ I submitted it to Girl’s Horse Club, an online
gathering for horse-loving girls, and I consequently forgot about it – until I
received the notification I’d won! After that, I couldn’t stop writing. It was
the push I needed. It’s been rocky and I’ve had phases (I once went through a
depressing phase where everything was…well, depressing) – in fact, after
writing for over a decade, I’ve only recently fallen into something I can call
a ‘groove’!

What was the Paper
Crowns journey like, specifically?
It
was more of a jaunt than a journey. It took a total of one month to complete,
and was far from grueling – it was a literary vacation. Most of my novels are
definitely grueling journeys, no matter how much I love them, but Paper Crowns
was something else.

What are some of
the sources of inspiration that fueled this story?
I started reading Julie Kagawa’s ‘Iron Fey’ series, which inspired me
to also write something fey-ish. I’m not a fan of Julie’s writing, but the
concept was fun, and there are a million different ways to work it. Owl City’s
‘Sky Sailing’ album prompted the idea of Ginger’s Blessing.

What’s your
favorite part of writing?
The characters.
Everything I write is very character-driven (occasionally they’re so
character-driven that the world-building suffers during the first draft, but
that’s what first drafts are for, right?).

What’s the
hardest part?
For me, the hardest part is
always editing and revising. Editing, because I’m really terrible at seeing my
own typos and errors. Revising, because when I write something, it (usually)
feels ‘set in stone.’ Changing it feels like sacrilege. (When I break this
rule, however, I break it in really spectacular ways and end up with two
entirely different novels.)

If you could
spend a day with one of the Paper Crowns characters, who would it be and
why?
It would definitely be Azrael. He
would infuriate me half to death, but it sure wouldn’t be boring.

Your book deals
with magic (wysary). Can you talk about how this fictional magic meshes with
your Christian faith?
I think many
Christians believe modern fictional ‘magic’ conflicts with Christian faith.
Most of the time, this isn’t true. Many years ago I did extensive research on
this, because every time I dug into magic and Christianity, it seemed like a
‘Christianity vs. Magic’ fight. It’s a fight that’s completely unnecessary the
majority of the time. ‘Magic,’ as we know it in most fiction today, simply
isn’t in the Bible. Not anywhere. Necromancy, communication with demons, and
divination – these things are condemned in the Bible, but turning someone into
a bird or creating paper objects that fly? That kind of magic simply isn’t
mentioned. The terms ‘witch’ and ‘wizard,’ as found in modern Bible
translations, didn’t even exist at the time of the original text. You’ll find
the meaning of the original words to be more in line with ‘necromancer,’ etc.
Before I carry on too much – I believe magic is extremely complimentary to
Christianity, and is very easy to mesh.

What’s next on
your writing/publishing agenda?
I plan to
finish editing ‘Dark is the Night,’ the first in my Southern urban fantasy
‘Salvation’ series. I’m still writing ‘The Dying of the Light,’ my futuristic
sci-fi Japanese Robin Hood, and I need to edit and revise ‘Paper Hearts,’ the
sequel to Paper Crowns.

What advice
would you give to other young writers?
Don’t
view writing as your career. You want to be a writer? That’s fantastic – but
don’t burden your writing with thoughts like, ‘You need to make me enough money
to live on.’ Write because you love it, and support yourself with another job.
If your writing takes off in a big way, congratulations! That’s amazing! But
give your writing the freedom it needs without trying to make it support you.

*****
Fabulous answers, Mirriam! I especially loved your piece of advice at the end there. It’s something I need to take to heart–giving my writing room to breathe by not depending on it as a source of income, at least not right away. Thanks for the freeing perspective! And thank you so much for stopping by!
To my fellow wayfarers, voyagers, and questers: who’s eager to read Paper Crowns? (Hint: ALL OF YOU, BECAUSE IT’S FABULOUS AND YOU NEED A SLICE OF MIRRI-MAGIC IN YOUR LIFE.)
P.S. The Paper Crowns blog tour lasts for the month of May. All the stops are listed HERE. There’s book spotlights, guest posts, more interviews, etc., so I encourage you to check them out!
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Four Elements of a Successful Villain – guest post by Josiah Dyck

Tracey Dyck 38 Comments

Today is a special day, my friends! First, I am at my friend’s wedding right now (so this post is scheduled to go up on its own).

Second, I’m featured on Stori Tori’s Blog, in a post called So Your Character is From Canada, in which the other contributors and I discuss our country. Do check it out! I know the previous instalment, So Your Character is From Australia, was super informative and entertaining.

And third, my brother Josiah has kindly produced a guest post of his own for me to share with you! As a fellow writer, he and I are often the first ones to hear each other’s story ideas, talk out the plot knots, and flail excitedly over the latest fictional development in our WIPs. And today, Josiah invites you into a discussion about villains. I’ll bow out now and let him take the stage . . .

~*~



Let’s talk about villains.

Authors tend to focus more of their
creativity on the hero. That’s all well and good, but villains are vital too.
We shouldn’t simply brush them aside, or create them with a half-hearted
effort. Without opposition, your protagonist will never grow; without creative
opposition, your readers will become bored whenever the villain shows up.
Let me offer you an analogy showing the
importance of successful antagonists. Seeing as my sister’s blog readership consists
largely of females (if the commenters are any indication), I have tailored this
analogy to that gender.
Suppose you are looking to date a guy, and
you have only two options. One guy is the very epitome of a stereotypical young
male: he lounges around at home playing video games while eating Doritos, he
acts like an animal around his friends, and he tries to be suave around girls.
The other guy is the polar opposite: he’s got personality, interesting hobbies,
and maybe even a measure of class. He can be a gentleman around peers both male
and female. He doesn’t put on an act because he can just be himself. Which guy
are you going to like enough to date? (If you answered “The first one,” we need
to talk later.)
It’s the same way with villains. You must
successfully craft your villains so that your readers like them in some form or
another. Their opinion of a story may not be as high if you offer an antagonist
who lacks creativity.
“But what makes a villain successful?”
you may ask. That is a very astute question, one which I will try my best to
answer. In order to do so, we must discuss elements that enhance a villain.
This is not a comprehensive list, but rather a few things I’ve noticed that
strengthen a villain. I shall offer examples from various forms of media.
1. They’re human.


Close your eyes for a moment and reflect
on some of your favorite antagonists. Why is it that you like them? Think about
it long enough, and you just might discover that one reason why they’re your
favorite is because they are human.
I’m not talking about being a Homo
sapiens. I’m talking about a villain who is capable of being a real person, who
can show emotion, who is not above flawed human nature. It’s a powerful thing.
Your readers will connect with him that much more if he is deeper than those
villains who think they can rise above the rest of humanity. That kind of
antagonist can work, and I’ve certainly written villains like that. But we can
relate to the guy who feels the sting of betrayal as much as any one of us, or
that girl who has a soft spot for someone and will do anything for that person.
An example of a human villain is Loki
(cue the fangirling). He may like to think of himself as higher than mere
humans, but this is not so. He obviously craves some fatherly approval, which
Odin doesn’t give, especially after the incidents in The Avengers.
Learning that he was born of the Frost Giant race distresses him and causes him
to feel betrayed for not being told this before.

However, what could very well be his
greatest human attribute is his love for his mother. I’ll never forget that one
scene in Thor: The Dark World that makes me almost cry every time I
watch it. [SPOILER ALERT] Frigga is murdered by Malekith, and the sorrow of it
all gets to me. The saddest part, though, is at the very end of the sequence,
where we can’t hear anything but music. Loki is reading when a guard comes and
says, “Your mother is dead.” Loki simply nods, and the guard leaves. Loki
stands up, and nothing happens for a moment. Then Loki uses a blast of his
telekinesis powers to knock over the furniture in his cell.

This brief scene—which lasts no more than
ten to fifteen seconds—sharply conveys Loki’s grief and rage over Frigga’s
death. [SPOILERS OVER] It’s a powerful moment that brings me close to tears and
shows that Loki is indeed human. And we feel for him because we have also
experienced sorrow over the death of someone in our lives. It goes to show that
human villains are some of the best kind.

2. They have
conflicting values.


I’ve noticed some successful villains
have values that go against one another. This technique—which works for protagonists
just as well—is effective. It adds an element of unpredictability to your
antagonist. I first learned about this in the book Writing Fiction for Dummies. If you haven’t read it yet, I strongly encourage you to amend the
situation. It’s quite helpful, with tips on everything from worldbuilding to
writing queries.
But I’m getting off-topic. Every
character has a value, or, at least, they should. A value is something that is
most important to the character. Say you have a villainess with a value that says,
“Revenge is most important to me.” This makes her more interesting than if she
didn’t have any values, but she’s still a flat character.
That’s why it’s important to have two or
more values. If they oppose each other, your readers will become drawn to your
villain, because she’s now become a round character. Suppose she has a husband
who’s dying of cancer. Now she has a second value: “Curing my husband is most
important to me.” What’s the result? Hooked readers and flying sparks as the
values collide.

You may have heard of the classic
villain Darth Vader. Black-armored and caped Sith Lord? Has a bit of an asthma
problem and fights using a glowing red light on a stick? Well, anyway, this dude
has some conflicting values, which the abovementioned book briefly touches on.
They are “Power is most important to me” and “My son is most important to me.”
These are obviously going to collide, and when they do, it’s going to be big.
As it happens, they create some conflict
on more than one occasion. And each time they do, we wonder which one will win
out in the end. Vader, at the climax of episode 6, chooses his son over
power—and it costs him his life. But it certainly creates a villain of
intrigue.
3. They are unique.
Suppose we have an antagonist who’s
really cliché. This villain plots and plans and schemes, but he can’t for the
life of him come up with a splendidly evil idea. But not to despair! He has the
ol’ fallback for all good villains: take over the world . . . just because!
Right. That makes him so interesting.
Look, nothing’s bad, per se, with the
“taking over the world” plot. It’s just that it’s so overused. Your antagonist
needs to be unique. (And if he is going to rule the world, he needs to have a
strong motivation for doing so. But that’s a whole other topic.)
Too often, we as writers don’t infuse our
villains with uniqueness. But it’s such an important thing to do. If you’re
wondering what you could do to help make your bad guy stand out, it’s actually
easier than it sounds. Think about some of your friends. What makes them
unique? You may just get ideas for your own villains. He may dress a certain
way. She might have a peculiar mannerism. Maybe he’s superstitious and tries to
be careful about where he walks. She could be extremely paranoid about anything
and everything. The options are virtually limitless.



“I HAVE CHORTLES!”
There’s a villain whom I’m sure you’ve
never heard of, and I don’t mean that sarcastically this time. He is a Beanish
named Fawful, from the Mario & Luigi video game series. What makes this
little guy one of my favorite video game villains of all time is his use of
Engrish and his amusing food metaphors. For those of you who aren’t sure what
Engrish is, it’s “a slang term for the misuse or corruption of the English
language by native speakers of some East Asian languages,” according to Wikipedia.
An example of Fawful’s speech is, “In the
last moments of the finale of the finale, when relief leads to negligence that
begets rashness . . . That is when the comeback that faltered comes back and
beats your pathetic comeback that I scoff at!” And here’s a food metaphor of
his: “Now a Midbus battle will unfold like an angry dip of many layers on the
chips of wildest hopes!” It’s crazy, but it makes Fawful unique, not to mention
humorous.
4. There are many
types of villains.
This probably comes as no surprise to
you, and it goes hand-in-hand with the above element. Trying out various types
of villains can help keep your antagonists unique. For example, there’s the
sympathetic villain, who often has a tragic backstory that can shape him in
various ways. The misunderstood villain is one who may have noble intentions,
but others see his actions as evil. Some villains are loved by us because of a
redeeming characteristic of theirs, but we hate them at the same time because
they’re devious and wicked.

What about the villain who is purely evil
and enjoys inflicting pain on others? One might compare them to the Joker as he
was described in The Dark Knight. Alfred tells Bruce Wayne, “Some men just want
to watch the world burn.” Then there’s the antagonist who is controlled by a
higher being; whether or not she’s actually evil is up to you. Someone could
even use an anti-hero as the main opposition: they’re not really bad, but they
still don’t have heroic qualities, and could end up hindering the hero. The
list goes on and on.
Another one of my favorite video game
villains is one from Super Paper Mario, who goes by the name Count Bleck (“Bleh
heh heh! Bleck!”). At first, he just seems like an antagonist who wants to
destroy all known worlds. However, he is actually a sympathetic villain, named
Lord Blumiere, who has lost the girl he loved. Distraught and convinced she is
gone forever, he becomes embittered at the world. Without his love, his life
has no meaning. He pilfers a magical book, known as the Dark Prognosticus, to
destroy his dimension and sets his gaze on terminating all others. But little
does he know that the book’s power has magically influenced him. I won’t spoil
the ending of the game, in case you decide to play it, but it has a bittersweet
finale that you wouldn’t expect from a Mario game.
[source]

For the Rooglewood contests, I’ve
determined that not only do I want to use a different genre for each entry, but
I also want to use different types of villains to keep them unique. For Five
Enchanted Roses, I had a villain who went by the alias “the Master,” and
whose real name I won’t disclose. Karnu was the name of the antagonist for Five
Magic Spindles.

My friend Christine contrasted the two
quite well: “[The Master] was fascinating in the fact that he was off his
rocker. Like we’ve said before, those kinds of villains are super interesting
and fun. He was manipulative and coy, which kept me guessing. But I like how
Karnu is so confident and powerful. While [the Master] did things in secret and
more delicately, Karnu just bursts in the room all, ‘BOW TO ME.’ He just oozes
with power and it makes me nervous for our heroes. I like when books make me
nervous. It keeps me on the edge of my seat. So, all that to say, I like them
each differently. I liked [the Master’s] quiet manipulation, and Karnu’s
powerful cunning.”
Is one villain better than the other? No,
because they’re both different and unique in their own ways. That’s why it’s so
important to try out different types of villains. They might be human, they
should have conflicting values, and they also should be unique. There are other
elements that make a villain successful, and, like I said, this isn’t a
comprehensive list. But if you apply these to your antagonist, readers will
definitely be more interested in your character and will consider the villain
to be a successful one.
If you have any questions, feel free to
ask them in the comments below. I’d be happy to answer them as best I can. May
the writing force be with you!
Josiah is an avid writer and enjoys
crafting stories for the enjoyment of others. He placed second in a Christmas
story held by a local newspaper. He was also one of ten nominees (writing as Feral_Mutant) in the “Write Like a Ninja” flash fiction contest for LEGO/Scholastic. He thoroughly enjoys
soundtrack music and owns twenty-odd albums. For most of his recent works, he
has created playlists to go with them, and is working on one for Christine
Smith’s Burning Thorns novel. He believes pizza should be its own food
group.
 
~*~
 
Tracey here again! Wow, this makes me want to go brush up own villains . . . polish them until they gleam with a malevolent glow. Point #4 gives me ideas for all sorts of new baddies, too! And–I may be somewhat biased here–but I have to say that the Master and Karnu are both superb examples of well-crafted villains. Thanks so much for a wonderful post, Josiah!
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Interview with Artist Kianna Giesbrecht

Tracey Dyck 12 Comments

I am about to burst with excitement, questers! Because today marks a momentous day in the history of the world! (Or, you know, the history of my little slice of the internet. Same thing.) Today I have the privilege of hosting my very first interview!

This particular adventurer is a dear friend of mine whom I’ve known for years. She’s a fellow creator, but not only does she write: she also dances and arts. (Which is most definitely a verb, okay? People art. She arts amazingly.) Her sketches and paintings are stunning, and the craziest thing is that she basically taught herself. I know there are probably more artists than writers among my readers, but some things hold true no matter what creative medium you choose.

She possesses a dry, quirky wit and a brilliant smile and a soft heart. I think you’ll find the following chat rather inspiring. Plus ALL THE PRETTY PICTURES. Petting is allowed. Stealing is not. Ahem, carry on.

Ladies and gentlemen, questers and adventurers and journeymen and traveling minstrels, I give you . . . Kianna!

Self-portrait of Kianna

~*~


Tell us a little about yourself—personality, hobbies, favorite dessert, anything!
Hi. My name is Kianna Giesbrecht, I’m 20 years old, and here’s a little randomness about me:
I’m a neat person, though when it comes to painting I somehow manage to get paint all over myself. When I draw, my pencils tend to end up in my hair, behind my ears, and/or in my mouth.

My first painting I ever did on canvas, as opposed to cardboard or whatever I could find, I think was when I was ten. And it was a copy, off of a pot holder we have, of the Buchard Gardens. At that time I had no idea it was a real place, only that it was pretty. I showed my dad and he recognized it (so I guess it wasn’t bad :)) and he said, “Hey, I’ve been there.”

I like to draw people. It’s funny, ’cause often I’ve gotten the comment that “aren’t people hard to do?” I dunno. I’ve been drawing people my whole life. I really like the expressions of a person. Maybe that’s why I favor that art subject.


I love eyes. LOVE eyes! They hold such character, mystery, and beauty.

I like tigers. My favorite color is green. I love sunsets and thunderstorms and butterflies. I like to bake. I’m a daydreamer. I love the fall. I love cold weather. I like dance and listening to different genres of music. I love the sound of violins and the saxophone! I sometimes write poems. I love dabbling in writing novels. I like fantasy, fiction, mysteries! I like old school animated Disney classics: Tarzan, Treasure Planet, Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Robin Hood, etc.

I was homeschooled from grade 2-12. (Awesome!)

I LOVE vanilla ice cream! I’m a little claustrophobic, dyslexic, random, and weird. And I love hugs!

How long have you been drawing and painting?
I’ve been doing art for as long as I can remember. I started with scribbles and coloring and making little doll houses out of cereal boxes.

What made you start?
I dunno. I was never put into art classes or anything. Art was something I simply did. It wasn’t something I necessarily understood to be art at the time, only that I loved to create. It was fun. Made me feel good. The one place where I made sense as a struggling school student, and I could be free to express myself in the only way I knew how.

 

What do you love most about creating art?
I think what I love most is that it’s your own. You can study and learn the techniques, but ultimately how you apply them is up to you. Art is a story—it should tell a story—and that story is yours, your decisions. And that’s something I absolutely love about it. It’s passion that can be expressed in so many different and creative ways. It’s only as limited as your imagination. It’s something you can share with people. It’s a vulnerable, personal, beautiful thing. Your talent is a gift from God. What you do with that talent is your gift to him. So between you and him—from one artist to another—to create something is like nothing you could experience from anything else.

What inspires you?
Inspiration is a funny thing. It can hit you or it can seemingly hide from you. And I realize it’s different for everyone personally. But art is a privilege. Poetry in color. A mystery not meant to be solved. ART IS EMOTION. So: whatever moves you.

I get inspired by anything. Whether it’s something I heard, like a quote for example, that begins to form a picture in likeness to the words that dawned the inspiration. Or, say, the screeching of a train slowing down. Reminds me of nails down a chalkboard . . . Ooh, shiver . . . Or like claws. Yes. So right away I get this bud of a picture, thinking how I could interpret something really cool from that. (I think of Fantasia, how shorts are created by the aroused imagination through music. That kind of symbolic art is cool.)

If I’m sad, I’ll draw or paint in reflection of that, same if I were happy. But both of those opposite ends of the scale are things that equally excite me.

I LOVE COLOR. I love creating things that pop, but things that are interesting to me and not necessarily usual. As well, I love to create things in the reverse; that are gray; are an intriguing image of pain, or hope, or anger, even strangeness—meaning something very unique, very creative-licenced. I believe art is a safe place to express any emotion. It’s simply giving face to whatever I’m feeling.

 

What’s the hardest part of an art project?
For me it totally depends on the project—especially my mood. If I’m frustrated, I have to take a break or I’ll probably ruin it. But then it’s always an experiment for me, and I’ve been realizing, even if it takes a dozen tries, it’s never a waste as long as I learn something.

If I wanna draw something that I don’t know how it’s supposed to look, that’s a very hard part of any project. But that’s why I’ll look up references, snap pictures, pose my head so I can copy it—whatever. Nature is the best teacher. And art is a journey. You never ‘arrive,’ which I think that’s the beauty of it. It’s about the climb; about amazing yourself. Gary Jenkins likes to say, “Art is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get.”

There’s definitely things that I like to draw less than others. Such as hair. Hair is not my favorite thing to draw most days. But nothing is so hard, for me, or challenging rather, than first getting the outline right in order for the later fill of details to turn out.

The most satisfying?
Stepping back to take in the finished project and being amazed at myself. The gratification of the reaction of friends and family touches the heart like nothing else. But mostly to say, “I did that,” to amaze myself, even if midway through the project I feared wouldn’t turn out right. That is a very beautiful, very satisfying thing indeed.

Where people/experiences have helped you grow as an artist?
Friends and family have always encouraged me with my art. (Which is a needed natural nourishment.) Without that I don’t think I would’ve developed my self-taught art as I have. So their support has naturally influenced my growth. But recently I’ve had the privilege to do some illustration for family. It’s challenged me in a very new but good way. Being able to give face to my own ideas is awesome in and of itself, but then also to experience giving face to someone else’s ideas is very exciting. To assist in something so unique as someone else’s imagination is incredible.

Where do you hope to go with your art?
First of all, art is such a big part of who I am—it is me—it gives me a voice. It’s something I can’t imagine doing without. But I honestly don’t know where I hope my art to go. Naturally I’d love to do it full-time, and I have had half a dozen paid requests and several requested gifts.

Illustration is something I’m interested in, or simply filling requests. All I really know is that I want my art to mean something to people.

Any encouragement for fellow artists and creative people?
Art comes in so many different forms (acting, photography, dance, music, baking, fashion, whatever!). And art is for everyone. So if you wanna do it—do it. But be you. Explore. Experiment. Enjoy! Embrace your passion and bask in its beauty.

Now, if you’re like me, it’s not always something beautiful.

“Creativity takes courage.” —Henri Matisse

So if you’re feeling unappreciated, remember you’re smart and talented. Someone is cheering for you. Always.

Never give up on what makes you smile!

“Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.” —H. Jackson Brown, Jr. 

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” —Albert Einstein

So dare to dream, to be vulnerable, bold, courageous. Get excited! God is. He wants to be a part of what you do. Art is loose. Your gift. Free. Beautiful. A perspective on life, and what you make of it.


Say it with me: “I’M (you’re) AWESOME.”

Fan that flame.

<3
someone like you

~*~
Thanks so much for joining us and sharing your heart, Kianna! I love how you said that God is excited about our dreams, dreams that He’s given us. He’s even more excited about it than we are. And that is truly mind-blowing.

 
Well, readers, I wish I could link you to a slice of internet belonging to Kianna, but alas, she dwells in the mysterious land of No Internet. The Q&A you just read was copied off an exchange of good old-fashioned handwritten letters. But do drop a comment here for her—I’ll be printing off everything to give her a hard copy later, and we’ll see if I can find a way for her to personally respond to all of you too.

 
I know you’re bursting already with comments and questions, so I’ll shut up and let you have it!
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