Today we’d like to introduce you to Myah Ariel.
Hi Myah, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
More than 14 years go I moved to Los Angeles after completing film school at NYU with dreams of getting a job in Hollywood. I first worked as a receptionist on a studio lot and spent several years attempting to “pay my dues” with hopes of working my way up to becoming a studio executive. Needless to say, that dream didn’t materialize for me but I did get a lot of industry experience- everything from working film premieres and awards shows, to reading and providing notes on scripts that were in development. I even got to sit in on marketing and distribution meetings and manage the internship program. Eventually I went back to school at USC to get a master’s degree in arts journalism. I thought I might become a film or tv critic. But I ended up working to design and produce academic and career programming for the school for several years. Then the pandemic came and I got the inspiration to try writing my first novel that would be loosely based on my experience of trying to “make it in Hollywood”. Within a year and a half of starting that first draft, I’d gotten a literary agent and sold the book at auction to a major publisher.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has been everything but smooth. I was twenty-one when I moved to LA and made very little money with a job that offered no benefits. I also faced near constant rejection and lost count of the number of interviews for Hollywood assistant jobs I went out for. Either I lacked the experience or “wasn’t the right fit” for the roles. I really thought that if I just kept at it, eventually one of those doors would open but they never did. After a year and change, I moved up from receptionist to office coordinator at the studio. I spent the next few years in this role essentially as “everybody’s assistant” but was still not any closer to becoming a creative executive in training. After graduate school, I worked in academia for several years where I found a lot of fulfillment but also faced challenges- particularly after becoming a working mom to a child with special medical needs. Ultimately, writing my debut novel and getting that first book deal is what gave me the freedom to create the life that I have now.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a novelist who writes commercial romance and women’s fiction. I’m most proud of taking the first step to write my first manuscript at the height of the pandemic, after becoming a new mom, and while working a full-time job. I made the time in the wee hours of the night to focus on the craft and business of traditional publishing and it ended up working out. I’m also proud of the stories I’ve written so far: When I Think of You and No Ordinary Love. These are stories that center Black women fighting for breakthroughs in life and in love. And the readers who’ve connected with them have been the bright spot of this entire experience.
Any big plans?
I plan to keep writing, and to branch out into the upmarket and speculative genres with my writing. I hope to see my projects adapted for the big screen and to be involved in a producing capacity. That way, the dream I had of working in moves when I first came to LA at 21, will be realized- just in a different way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://myahariel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myahmeetscute/?hl=en
Image Credits
credit to author’s instagram
