Dark is the Night by Mirriam Neal – Book Spotlight

On By Elizabeth S.1 Comment
Graphic Credit – Morgan G Farris

Skata only has one goal in life—to seek out the vampire who turned his wife and kill it. When he finally tracks the vampire to the small nowhere town of Salvation, South Carolina, he realizes he has stepped foot into something bigger than himself. He’s going to need help—and that help may come in many forms. Between the vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, and an unusual preacher, Skata may be in over his head.

It is my privilege to be part of introducing Dark is the Night to the world! The above is the summary of a novel written by a very dear friend of mine, Mirriam Neal. It is being published this week and will be available on Amazon by Friday (the 25th)! (Links coming soon!)

To give you a little insight into the author …

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 medias, or join the Citadel Fiction newsletter: https://www.subscribepage.com/b1h5v9

And now that you can check out the rest of Mirriam’s work and her blog, back to the novel!

I’ve had the great advantage of having read this novel already, multiple times in fact because I really did enjoy it that much! So I’m hoping I can use a little of my knowledge to impart how wonderful this book really is.

Mirriam Neal’s Dark is the Night is easily one of my favorite novels. The stunning cleverness of the plot, the life breathed into the characters with each word, the whole town of Salvation is alive on the page. I am definitely a sucker for character driven stories and this story is the home of so many characters that have become close to my heart. They’re supremely well written, each unique and alive in their own way.

Nearly every character in this novel has absolutely stolen my heart. Upon reading Dark is the Night for the first time, it felt as though I was meeting tangible people, not just characters on a page. And now, having reread it multiple times, they feel like old friends. Finding strong, well-written characters isn’t always easy, but Mirriam seems to create them with no trouble at all.

Furthermore, on the subject of characters, Mirriam is a master at writing dialogue. The dynamic of the characters alone would make this novel worth reading, to not even mention the cleverness of the plot! Each one has a distinct voice which comes through with astonishing strength through their speech. I can practically hear each character’s voice in my ears as I read, which is one of the things that makes this novel so wonderful.

In particular, keep an eye out for Angel, who you’ll meet fairly quickly into the novel. He’s complex, snarky, and my absolute favorite character in this story. Truthfully, he’s one of my favorite characters ever. I’m sure you’ll come to love him as much as I do.

But the characters aren’t the only attraction of this book.

Mirriam has done something else I’ve seldom seen accomplished at all, much less done well.

She’s managed to bring together both the Christian and Supernatural fiction genres into one and has done so with impressive dexterity. Moreover, as someone who previously kept my distance from the Supernatural fiction genre because of its frequent conflict with Christian doctrine or values, I’m especially impressed with Dark is the Night. 

It manages to give you a Christian outlook and message at many points throughout the novel without becoming a sermon. I think this is a crucial need in the genre of Christian fiction and Mirriam has done this perfectly.

Her style allows Christian readers to enjoy a novel containing supernatural creatures without sacrificing or transgressing any of their values, rather, quite the opposite. As I said before, she has a strong grasp of how to put Christian principles into her work without being heavy-handed in the slightest.

Overall, this book is a classic and I hope it you come to love it as much as I do!

What’s in a Name?

On By Elizabeth S.Leave a comment

Perhaps you’re wondering about my choice of name for this blog.

I believe names are very important, which is why I took a lot of time deliberating over this one. And the answer to “Why Elegant Adventures?” comes with a little bit of personal history.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always sort of imagined myself as an adventurer. Whether it was something I really was or something I only wanted to be, doesn’t really matter. A somewhat Vernian sense of exploration has always been a driving force in my outlook on life. It influences my taste in art, where the I want to travel, my general attitude. The word “adventure” alone has a lot of important connotations for me.

And now for “Elegant”. This is a little more complicated. Though I was a tomboy as a kid, I began wearing modest feminine dress when I was a teenager. I quickly realized this was a brand new outlet for self expression that I hadn’t anticipated. My fashion philosophy quickly became “Anything you want to do, you can do in a skirt.” And I’ve lived by it for years now. I’ve cleaned barns, fixed fences, taken care of animals, and a million other things, all in a skirt.

(Although admittedly, sometimes with a pair of shorts underneath.)

Wearing skirts was in interesting phenomenon for me. It didn’t make me less myself, even though at first it meant I was dressing drastically different than I used to. In fact, I’d say it made me more myself. I’d always had that tomboy streak and I still do, but I’d also always wanted to be beautiful, elegant.

And that’s where that word comes from for me. The most feminine word I always used to describe what I wanted to be was elegant. An Elegant Adventurer. I found feminine dress was the perfect way for me to be both.

So to answer the question in the title of this post, the title of this blog is a little peek into my identity.

Introducing: Me

On By Elizabeth S.Leave a comment

“To live will be an awfully big adventure.”

Hello and welcome!

The quote above is from one of my favorite movies: Hook. And it pretty much sums up my outlook on life, which is why I’ve chosen to make it the tagline of my blog.

This blog is going to primarily be a lifestyle blog, so we’ll get into a wide variety of topics.

A Little About Me

I’m a young traditional Catholic from the Deep South. I attend the Extraordinary Form Latin Mass, do modest feminine dress, write fiction, and am studying to get my Master’s in Theatre.

I’m a graduated homeschooler, a sanguine-phlegmatic ENFP, Disney nerd, and Latin enthusiast.

My purpose

I have many reasons for starting this blog, but among some of the most prominent are to give support to young Catholics attending secular colleges, help women realize they can achieve feminine dress, talk about homeschooling, and perhaps even give a little writing advice.

There often aren’t enough resources for many of these things, so I wanted to provide some support for other young people living lives similar to my own. One of my favorite things to do is connect to people and share life experiences. And thanks to the internet, a blog is the best way to extend that ability past the people I can meet in person.

I look forward to getting to know you and sharing this journey!