5 Questions with Mikayla
Mikayla began writing creatively when she was 9 but didn’t start to take her craft seriously until she was a freshman in high school. She has always been an avid reader, finding the works of Tolkien, Dostoevsky and Shakespeare to be the most influential in developing her storytelling. Among other authors she also enjoys Agatha Christie, Terry Pratchett, Tom Clancy and Patrick O’Brien. Her current writing projects include a play about the Troubles in 1970’s Ireland and a high fantasy series inspired by Turkish/Occitan culture(s). Apart from reading and writing, Mikayla loves hiking, traveling, sports (Go Bills!/Go Bayern!), studying history/languages and gaming. Mikayla currently resides in New Bremen, NY in the Adirondack region.
1. What totally ordinary thing are you unreasonably good at?
Overthinking.
2. What’s the weirdest thing that has ever inspired you?
A ketchup bottle may or may not have inspired an idea for a 90’s Mafia screenplay…
3. If you had a personal mascot, what would it be?
St. Anthony because I’m always losing things and he always comes through for me.
4. What’s something tiny that shaped who you are today?
A hole in the ground where there lived a Hobbit…I probably wouldn’t be writing at all if I hadn’t read Tolkien; no other works of fiction have moved me as his continue to do, both creatively and spiritually.
5. What’s a wildly unpopular opinion you stand by in your creative field?
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin is an overrated fantasy ripoff of the Claudius series by Robert Graves. Sorry not sorry!