Fangs, Skins, and Whiskey-Scented Candles: An Interview with Mirriam Neal

I'm excited to welcome back Mirriam Neal for another interview, this time to discuss her new novel, Dark is the Night. (In case you missed my review of Dark is the Night, you can find it here.)

ED: Last time we talked about a book of yours, we spent some time discussing your redemption of certain mythical characters. With Dark is the Night, you're not so much redeeming these characters as taking a different tack on them. Which aspects of vampire (and werewolf) lore were you most excited to explore? What drew you to these creatures and this genre?

MN: Honestly, as much as I enjoy the physicality of creatures like vampire and werewolves, it’s their psychology that fascinates me the most. You have people who (mostly) used to be human, and can remember it all, and still look human to most people—but have been altered into predators in ways most people can’t see. It goes beyond having fangs or howling at the moon, and getting to explore those dynamics is like Christmas for me.

ED: Salvation is populated with a lot of inhuman folks, some of which you barely scratch the surface of before the story ends. What creatures or aspects of lore are you most excited to explore in future installments? 

MN: I’m excited to bring lesser-used unnatural creatures into a Southern Gothic town. My Dungeons & Dragons DM, Tyler, would call it reskinning, and that seems like the perfect term. Taking something that seems wildly out of place and modifying it (without lessening its power) for a completely different situation. Dark is the Night stays fairly close to the typical vampire-werewolf cast, but as each book in the series progresses, so does the amount of unnatural creatures.

ED: Any chance of a Cassis-centered prequel? (He's tied with Angel and Colton as my favorite.)        

MN: Probably not, I’m sorry to say—but I don’t want to back myself into a corner so I’ll add, ‘You never know.’ Just to be on the safe side.

ED: As I was reading the book, I couldn't help but draw connections to The Vampire Diaries. In what ways did that show influence Dark is the Night? Were there any elements you consciously steered away from to keep yourself from repeating what others have done?

MN: Oh boy. You know when you get inspired by something, write a book, and then realize it’s TOO similar, and you have to tweak it? That was the first draft of Dark is the Night. There are still some similarities (which will be obvious to anyone who’s watched TVD) but the story, characters, etc. have moved, and continue to move, away from the constraints of their original inspiration. I consciously steered away from the kind of witchcraft in the show (which was also, ironically, the reason I stopped watching it) because there’s witchcraft, and there’s witchcraft. My characters aren’t messing with dead spirits because they fully know better.

ED: Were there any other stories, shows, or movies that influenced this story world and its characters?

MN: I’ve always imagined Skata as Jensen Ackles, so in that way I guess you could say Supernatural—but aside from that personal casting choice, nothing else really influenced the Salvation series (as far as I remember). I know other things did but they're too subconscious to recognize.

ED: What would you say the major themes are for this book and the series as a whole?

MN: Redemption. One hundred percent. Redemption in all kinds of ways.

ED: Your characters have a way of leaping off the page with complex histories sometimes only hinted at. How much of that is planning for the future and how much is just bringing characters to life?

MN: I would say most of the things I hint at are definitely being brought up later as larger plot points. I enjoy hinting at things way too much to leave them alone once I do it. I’m a big fan of Chekhov’s Gun—so if I mention A Thing, and you Notice It, then it’s probably coming back up later in the book or series.

ED: Why is everyone in this book so much fun to read about?

MN: It was purely accidental.

Image courtesy of Morgan Farris

ED: You don't shy away from the consequences of these characters' actions. They're in a war and often have to face difficult decisions. What drove you to keep the violence in this story, particularly in certain scenes involving the questioning of antagonists? Are there consequences to some of these decisions that we won't see until later books?

MN: I never want to shy away from violence, especially ethically questionable violence. I want readers to wrestle with questions as much as my characters do. People don’t always make the nice, or right, decisions, and that will always have a consequence whether internal or external.

ED: On a scale of Bob the Tomato to C-3PO, how stressed are Easton and Colton going to be keeping this crew from killing each other?

MN: Gandalf.

ED: If Dark is the Night were a scented candle, what would it smell of?

MN: Whiskey. No modifiers. Just straight whiskey. Just absolute ‘are you all alcoholics, why does it smell like whiskey in here.’

ED: Do you have any reading recommendations for those of us dying for the next Salvation book?

MN: I wish I could point to something and go ‘This is a lot like that!’ but nothing comes to mind immediately so I’m going to be That Person and recommend you write books so that I can eventually read them.

ED: If you had to choose: would you be a vampire with an insatiable appetite and a guilty conscience, a werewolf with no control over your wolf self, or a shapeshifter with no conscience but unlimited resources?

MN: I’m going to have to say . . . a werewolf with no control over my wolf self. Because at least the people around me have a moment of ‘oh, she’s changing,’ and would be able to scram before I fully wolfed out. 

Dark is the Night is out now! Get the paperback here or the Kindle edition here.

MIRRIAM NEAL is an author frequently masquerading as an artist. When she’s not scrubbing
paint off her hands, she’s thinking about writing (actually, if she’s being honest, she’s always
thinking about writing). A discovery writer, she tends to start novels and figure them out as she
goes along and likes to work on several books at the same time—while drinking black coffee.
She’s a sucker for monsters, unlikely friendships, redemption arcs, and underdog protagonists.
When not painting fantasy art or writing genre-bending novels, she likes to argue the existence
of Bigfoot, rave about Guillermo del Toro, and write passionate defenses of misunderstood
characters.


To learn more about her fiction and art, visit her website: https://mirriamneal.com/, where you
can find a full list of all her social media, or join the Citadel Fiction newsletter:
https://www.subscribepage.com/b1h5v9