Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder
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nilahmagruder.com
Nilah "Nine Jobs" Magruder
@nilahmagruder.com
12K followers 710 following 5.1K posts
she/her. aka n. romaine white. making books and animated shows. master gardener.

OUT NOW: Creaky Acres.
UP NEXT: Hex and Havoc, Reel Love.

Work and stuff: nilahmagruder.carrd.co
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nilahmagruder.com
Was looking over editorial notes on my in-progress middle-grade GN about fishing and ended up just reading it. It's my big baby ace story that is also full of yearning, which is my preferred narrative weapon of choice.

And also worms.
Three sketchy panels from an in-progress graphic novel of a girl holding and looking down nervously at a container of wriggling nightcrawlers. She says, "That is... so many worms..."
January 16, 2026 at 2:50 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Hi I worked on THREE 57th NAACP Image Award nominees. Yes, that's how busy I am. Congrats to my crew mates on Ariel and Weather Hunters, and congrats to my partner in horse crimes @calistabrill.bsky.social!
57th NAACP Image Awards Nominees. Disney Jr's Ariel (animated show on Disney Jr.), Weather Hunters (animated show on PBS), Creaky Acres (middle-grade graphic novel from Penguin Random House).
January 14, 2026 at 6:44 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Welp, don't like that!
Gmail's new front page promoting Gemini and AI-powered e-mail.
January 14, 2026 at 2:24 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Hi #PortfolioDay, I'm Nilah and I'm available for children's book #kidlitart illustration. Picture books, chapter books, middle-grade and YA!

Animation studios, I'm also happy to chat about storyboard revisionist and writing opportunities. 👀

contact: [email protected]
nilahmagruder.com
An interior illustration from the picture book HOW TO FIND A FOX by Nilah Magruder. A small Black girl sits with her back to a boulder, a camera in her hands. She looks ahead at the viewer with a determined expression. On top of the boulder, a red fox peeks out and looks down at the girl. The girl doesn't notice. In the background, a chicken leg has been set out as bait. Interior illustration from WUTARYOO by Nilah Magruder. A small squirrel-like creature with long, fluffy ears and two horns on its head looks up at a mother wren, who talks to the creature from her perch on her nest of babies, nestled in a green hedge. Cover illustration for DACTYL HILL SQUAD, written by Daniel José Older, illustrated by Nilah Magruder. A girl and a boy holding a sword ride a pterodactyl through the streets of Civil War-era New York. Two more children are on pterodactyls, following closely behind. The group is being chased by an older man riding a tyrannosaurus rex. An interior map illustration for DACTYL HILL SQUAD, written by Daniel José Older, illustrated by Nilah Magruder. The map is drawn in black and white and depicts an alternate history Civil War-era New York.
January 13, 2026 at 5:16 PM
nilahmagruder.com
This is such a small thing in the face of everything else going on...

but the 57th NAACP Image Awards nominations were announced today and they left off the illustrators of four out of the five graphic novel nominees.

I remain dissatisfied with how comic artists are treated.
Outstanding Literary Work – Graphic Novel. Creaky Acres: A Graphic Novel – Calista Bril (Penguin Young Readers). Defiant: The Story of Robert Smalls – Rob Edwards (Stranger Comics). One Crazy Summer: The Graphic Novel – Rita William-Garcia (HarperCollins/Quill Tree Books). Parable of the Talents A Graphic Novel Adaptation – Octavia E. Butler, adapted by Damien Duffy, Illustrated by John Jennings and David Brame (Abrams ComicArts). They Choose Violence – Sheldon Allen (AWA Studios).
January 12, 2026 at 10:18 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Literally any.
Try again later. We limit how often you can do certain things on Instagram, like following people, to protect our community. Let us know if you think we made a mistake.
January 11, 2026 at 3:19 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Ohhhhhh.

They might actually be punishing me bcuz I'm a new account and I haven't posted anything yet.
Grow Your Account Organically Instagram seems to give special conditions to accounts that meet specific criteria. For instance, new accounts appear to have stricter limits, while accounts with more followers (and followed accounts) have lenient limits. Likewise, Instagram is less likely to restrict features available to accounts with top-quality and engaging posts—given they don’t violate any Community Guidelines. There are ways to organically increase your activities on the app to avoid getting the Instagram limit error. The trick is gradually increasing the number of actions you take every day.
January 6, 2026 at 11:00 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Yes IG I think you're a mistake
Try again later. We limit how often you can do certain things on Instagram, like following people, to protect our community. Let us know if you think we made a mistake.
January 6, 2026 at 3:26 AM
nilahmagruder.com
...... *looks at camera*
Moribund. Adjective. 1. Approaching death; about to die. 2. On the verge of becoming obsolete. "Moribund customs; a moribund way of life." 3. In a dying state; dying; at the point of death. Similar: dying.
January 1, 2026 at 10:59 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Oh bless, I thought I lost the photographer's name after so long. His name is Jamie Pham. This photo is a classic meme now and gets shared everywhere but without credit. A real live photographer took this photo. He was at the zoo when I visited so I got to meet him too!
jampham.com
A photo which is now known as the TED Talk Gorilla meme, taken by photographer Jamie Pham. Kelly, a male gorilla at the LA Zoo, sits in an enclosure facing a crowd of people. Kelly's hands are turned up and its mouth slightly open as if it's talking.
January 1, 2026 at 12:58 AM
nilahmagruder.com
What was your biggest impact on the internet?

LA Zoo invited me after hours to meet their gorillas for this one.
Screen cap of a tweet by @nilaffle dated June 22, 2017. Text reads: This gorilla looks like he decided to have this undergrad philosophy lecture outside since it's a nice day." The tweet shares a link about weekend events from @LAist with a photo from the Los Angeles Zoo of a gorilla sitting in an enclosure facing a crowd of people. The gorilla's hands are turned up and its mouth slightly open as if it's talking.
January 1, 2026 at 12:53 AM
nilahmagruder.com
Stories like this are an engagement farmer’s dream bcuz there’s no source and no way of verifying whether it’s real. No definitive Google results except accounts sharing the same story verbatim across LinkedIn, Facebook, and now Bluesky, all copy-pasting with no indication of origin.
screen cap of a bluesky post by cutelilbottom.bsky.social. Post includes an uncredited photo of a child standing in front of a line of coats hanging from a chainlink fence. Text: "They found the coats on Thursday morning. Fifteen winter coats. Good ones, not garbage. Hanging on the chain-link fence outside Lincoln Elementary.No note. No explanation. Just coats zipped up like ghosts waiting for bodies. Principal Morris freaked out. Called the police. "Could be stolen"
December 28, 2025 at 2:40 AM
nilahmagruder.com
12-year-old Nilah thought there'd be way more drawings of talking animals in her future

then Sailormoon happened
partially refined sketch of two women with pointy ears necking
December 25, 2025 at 1:04 AM
nilahmagruder.com
The only way I'm getting done my next graphic novel on a part-time schedule (cuz I have a day job) is if I spend an average of 30 minutes per page. 1-2 hours on the sakuga pages.

(these were 45 minutes and 30 minutes)
A spread (two pages) of inked art from an in-progress graphic novel showing a 12-year-old girl with curly hair attempting to enter her school, being turned away by a teacher. The girl then talks to another 12-year-old girl and is clearly frustrated.
December 23, 2025 at 10:44 PM
nilahmagruder.com
okay I finished a page
sketch of two women with pointy ears necking
December 23, 2025 at 9:06 PM
nilahmagruder.com
In a certain light, it's a little funny that Toonboom sent a notification of price increase and then sent an apology email saying, "Sorry, we sent that previous price increase by mistake. We actually meant to charge more."
Your subscription has been updated. A change has been made to your Storyboard Pro - Annual Desktop Subscription - Gold Support Included subscription. You will be charged $752.00 (plus applicable taxes) at your next renewal.
December 10, 2025 at 9:06 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Fun fact, indie booksellers are always happy to order books, even if they don't have them in stock, for you to pick up in-store or have shipped. Heck, you can even ask faraway indie bookstores to ship a book, or you can purchase through bookshop.org and support indies across the US and the UK!
Graphic that reads "This holiday, shop small. Order books from your fave indie seller or bookshop.org." Graphic includes the cover images of three children's books: Wutaryoo, Creaky Acres, and How to Find a Fox.
November 28, 2025 at 6:49 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Here’s Adobe’s AI tool suggesting I not read my own novelette bcuz it’s too long. The central purpose of many of these gimmicky AI tools is saving users time, which doesn’t get at the actual problem: that we’re so crushed by the weight of capitalism that we lack time for meaningful pursuits.
Screen cap of a PDF document in Adobe Reader partially obscured by AI Assistant tabs. One reads “This appears to be a long document. Save time by reading a summary using AI.” Another says “how can we help yuo with this document?” and offers prompts like “Summarize this document,” “What are the main themes of the document?” “What conclusions does the author make?” or you can ask a question.
October 19, 2025 at 2:19 AM
nilahmagruder.com
Me writing characters that readers don't like
A screen cap from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Goldar, a monster in gold armor, holds a crying baby. Rita Repulsa, a villain, looks down at the baby and laughs, saying, "Yes, cry! Cry harder, baby!"
October 16, 2025 at 6:10 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Drawing comics is so funny. I just happened to glance at this panel and realize I did not draw Dizzy's neck. Got literally everything except the neck.

Anyway buy Creaky Acres, now with 2% less neck!

www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/558467...
Cropped image of a drawing from Creaky Acres, a graphic novel, depicting a smiling girl with her head floating above her shoulders.
August 21, 2025 at 1:35 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Hey #GenCon2025, I’ll be joining the Good Morning Gen Con show bright and early Saturday at 9 am! You can find us at the Streaming Stage or YouTube at Catalyst Game Labs.

www.youtube.com/@catalyst-ga...
Good Morning Gen Con! Saturday 9 am to 10 am, Gen Con Streaming Stage and Catalyst YouTube. Guest for the show is Nilah Magruder, author and artist of M.F.K., Creaky Acres, Marvel, Disney-Hyperion, and more! youtube.com/@catalyst-game-labs
August 1, 2025 at 2:31 PM
nilahmagruder.com
On my way to #GenCon2025! Packing at the last minute, per my usual. Here's where you can find me. See you there!

www.gencon.com/gen-con-indy...
Gen Con Writer's Symposium, July 31-August 3, 2025. Schedule for Nilah Magruder. Friday, 3 pm: Writing for Art: Graphic Novels and Comics. Saturday, 11 am: book signing. Saturday, 1 pm: spotlight.
July 30, 2025 at 1:31 AM
nilahmagruder.com
I normally don't do character redesigns but Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School has been living rent-free in my head for thirty years and I finally decided to do something about it. #illustration #characterdesign
Digital illustration of a purple vampire with wavy hair named Sibella. She wears a purple and white varsity jacket with the letter G on the left breast, a black jumpsuit with a red belt, white socks, and white sneakers. She leans against a sports ball hamper, smiling and waving at the viewer. Digital illustration of a mummy girl named Tanis. The ends of gauze strips form bangs, pigtails tied with red bows, a skirt, and socks that cascade over blue sneakers. She is looking off-screen with a quizzical expression.
July 8, 2025 at 2:44 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Look at this bumblebee sleeping on a coneflower.
A bumblebee sleeping on the exposed stamen of a purple coneflower (echinacea purpurea).
June 25, 2025 at 1:23 PM
nilahmagruder.com
Decided to take a career quiz and this is honestly peak comedy.
Screen cap of the results of the career quiz. Top result is animator.
June 20, 2025 at 1:22 AM