Thrills and Chills with Megan Miranda ’99
Night falls on campus. There’s a chill in the air. Students creep out of their dormitories and across the darkened grounds to attend a mysterious gathering in the Caspersen History House.
It could be a scene from a thriller, but it’s actually a Q&A with New York Times bestselling author Megan Miranda ’99. Miranda returned to Peddie’s campus to lead a workshop for the Creative Writing Signature Experience students, chat to the Library Book Club over lunch, read a chapter of her upcoming novel, You Belong Here, to a packed Efros Auditorium and offer her expertise as a published author to Peddie’s students.
Miranda’s tales of mystery and suspense have been met with great success and an avid reader base. Her novels All the Missing Girls and The Last House Guest are New York Times bestsellers and Reese’s Book Club picks.
As a girl growing up in New Jersey, Miranda knew she wanted to attend Peddie. “[Peddie] was a fantastic experience. It really changed the trajectory of my education and the types of things I was interested in, and opened my mind to a lot of different possibilities,” Miranda said.
Leigh Wood, director of Peddie’s Creative Writing Signature Experience Program (and Miranda’s freshman English teacher), said Miranda was a memorable student. “She was very organized, a good critical thinker and a good writer. It’s no surprise that she would go on to have a career in the written word,” Wood said.
Miranda excelled across subjects and had a particular passion for creative writing, but practicality pushed her towards a career in biotechnology and later as a high school science teacher before finally writing her first novel, the young adult thriller, Fracture.
When Miranda thinks back on that choice she made, she doesn’t feel any regret. However, she wants to make clear to students who feel pressure to make the same decision: “You really don’t have to choose,” she said. “Everything I did before becoming a writer has inspired the types of books I write. It’s given me more material to draw from and created a unique perspective. Don’t be afraid to change paths and explore all of your interests, whether that’s in the form of a new hobby or a new career.”
This visit to Peddie also gave Miranda an opportunity to step back into the classroom, where she led Peddie’s Creative Writing Signature Experience program through a series of prompts and writing exercises. “There’s something about these students,” Miranda said. “Everyone is so engaged and willing to share and be creative in a way that’s so refreshing. That’s so important in any creative endeavor and in any learning environment.”
That collaborative environment is intentionally cultivated in Wood’s classroom. Creative Writing Signature Experience students work together for two years, reading, writing and critiquing each other’s work in a tight-knit community. It builds strong relationships in the classroom, and it also helps students build the courage to share their work with the world. “It makes them braver and more confident,” said Wood. “There’s a lot of courage involved in reading your own words in public. I try to celebrate that with them.”