Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mikayla Meyers. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Mikayla, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
I have been teaching high school level English at a residential behavioral mental health facility for going on three years now. At this facility, I have been given the privilege to be a consistent, reliable force in the lives of children facing extreme traumas, addictions, and mental illnesses. While children are placed in this facility, I encourage them to explore creative writing not only as a creative outlet but as a coping skill and therapeutic activity. I have a benchmark set that any student who writes at least 23 pages of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, raps, etc. I will get their book printed professionally to keep and give to family and friends. This process has motivated countless students to express themselves through writing. One of the best moments I ever experienced as a result of this, was when I witnessed one of the boys (a boy who liked to appear tough and uninterested in others) read the poetry of a girl from another class. He didn’t know who wrote the poetry, and yet I saw him reading intensely, nodding to the pages. Then finally he said, “I feel this. This is tough.” He then proceeded to read the poetry aloud, insisting that his friends listen. Before I knew it, there was a crowd of rough-exterior boys vexed by the poetry of an anonymous peer. I introduced my answer to this question with this because my students are a crucial part of my creative passion. They’re creative, bright, and inspirational kids who have been shut away by society.
This is where I finally say that my most meaningful project is the one I am working on right now. I am currently working on a web comic titled “Killing Tadpoles.” This webcomic is a dark fantasy/horror comic centered around a nonbinary teenage protagonist. This protagonist is a representation of every student I have had; representing their traumas, mental battles, and societal circumstances. Through this character, I want to give voice to the silence the foster care system and mental health systems force upon kids-that these are kids society often closes away, forgets about, and later feeds into the prison pipe-line. This project is incredibly important to me since I am making it a platform to express the silent traumas of my students as well as my own personal rage at witnessing the fall-out of some of the most vile abuses a human could ever inflict on a child. In “Killing Tadpoles” my main character faces an abusive foster home, mental health facilities, drug addiction, self-harm and murder, among many other more paranormal challenges such as energy vampires, ghosts, and even Krampus. Due to the content, this comic is intended for adult audiences only. With it, I made sure to feature a trigger warning list including what triggers are featured on what pages so that readers can utilize self-care when reading.
Mikayla, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
The first time I knew I wanted to create stories was sophomore year in high school. I was working on a short comic story for my Latin class with a partner. We were working on the script for the comic and I wrote a line something like, “the stone was lathered in blood” and my partner said, “lathered… wow, that’s a great word!” That moment stood out to me and instantly I felt filled with an inner power to tell stories. However, what many people don’t know about me, is that I entered college as a Neuroscience major. I was following a scientific career path because my desire to be a comic book artist in high school resulted in responses such as, “that’s so competitive!”and “but what can you even do with that?” Half-way through my freshmen year in college, I submitted a transfer major request to be a creative writing major. I realized that as much as I loved science, research was a lot of hard work with potentially no recognition and no pay-off. I knew I couldn’t do that for a career. I am someone who likes to work at my own pace, create what I desire, and take control. By the end of my four years in college, I graduated from Susquehanna University with three majors in Creative Writing, English Literature, and Publishing & Editing as well as a handful of poems and prose pieces published in literary journals. I knew what I wanted, I wanted to be a writer; to create and put it out into the world.
Unfortunately, I struggled to find a way to make a living with my creative works. Instead, I created any time I was off work. Since college, I have been a forklift driver, support staff for intellectual and developmentally disabled individuals, and finally a Special Education English Teacher. Due to the demands of my day-job, I have focused my creative efforts on independent publishing. This path has given me the freedom to have total creative control over my projects. I have published two books; my debut novel “Cold Spots”, a mental health recovery story with a paranormal twist, and “The Farmhouse” a collection of horror stories. Both of these publications were given a 5-star review from Reader’s Favorite.
At the core of my stories are a few common themes that I am very passionate about: mental health, LGBTQ+ issues, feminist issues, and the unreliability of memory. My favorite type of story to tell is a good, classic, ghost story but with a modern twist.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
The best thing society can do to support artists and creatives is first to fund art programs and explorations in public schools. As a teacher, I am now realizing how little kids are exposed to the creative possibilities that the world has available to them. Children today are fed a curriculum, only to cough it back up, and are rarely given an opportunity to express their emotions or to even form an opinion. The harms of this are more expansive than I think we realize. Today, there are students at the high school level who struggle to connect to lessons and projects emotionally because they have not been taught how to express these potential emotional connections. Furthermore, students struggle to form an opinion. This increases their probability of taking information at face-value rather than thinking critically and asking questions. The ultimate result is emotionally underdeveloped kids with a deficit in critical thinking and a narrow imagination of life’s possibilities. Kids need to be given room to explore creative outlets, feel supported in their endeavor, and make their own choices about the results. Art is also a crucial doorway to teaching about society and critical thinking due to art’s ability to reflect society, counter-culture, and media. Students should be taught not only various forms of art and creative expression, but free ways to market themselves and grow in a community such as using social media, building free Wix sites, and exploring Canva’s design studio for logos, book covers, posters, and more. School focuses so much on what path students should take toward a career and not what paths are available to them for creative fulfillment. We’re more than just workers.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I had to unlearn is that creating art as an adult is NOT just for the best-of-the-best professionals. Today with internet and social media, anyone, beginner, hobbyist, or expert can create, share, and gain a following. Growing up, I thought of all the resources professional artists have as being exclusive luxuries. Today, that is not true. With YouTube, there’s now tutorials on how to make art from the simplest of supplies. Social media platforms to share art are free, and so are other resources such as Canva, Unsplash, and Book Brush. There are countless communities on social media now waiting to interact with new creatives and support one another. Personally, one of the best investments I have ever made as a creative was a payment plan on an Apple Tablet, an Apple Pen, and a $10 purchase for Procreate. Even these things are not 100% necessary either. An aspiring comic artist could draw on paper in pencil and ball-point pen and scan the pages at Staples and post them online for the world to see and interact with. Art is for everyone, no matter the income, internet status, or societal position. Success is also subjective. Comments such as “that’s so competitive!” And “how much money have you made, though?” And “how many people follow you?” Are all ways for others to project their view of success on you. You do not need to meet anyone’s definition of success but your own.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.authormmeyers.com/
- Instagram: @m.meyers_writing
- Twitter: @mikayla_meyers
- Other: RedBubble: MMeyersAuthor
Killing Tadpoles Webcomic Site: https://m.tapas.io/series/killing-tadpoles-/info
Killing Tadpoles Instagram: @killingtadpoleswebcomic
Killing Tadpoles TikTok: @Killingtadpoles