I am a writer. It’s something that I always remember doing. When I was seven, I would be playing “Author” instead of “House” with my neighbors. I wrote my first real story when I was 10—it was about a polar bear, a penguin and global warming. I gave it to my sixth grade Language Arts teacher who told me to hold onto it because I would be something one day. (I still have that story, as a matter of fact.)
Since I was 8 years old, my plan was to be a best-selling author. Not many can say that they’ve always known what they want to do, and I am so incredibly lucky that I found my passion at such a young age. From the time I gave my Language Arts teacher that story, I haven't stopped writing. When I was 13 years old, I won a writing contest to have lunch with David Lubar, author of "Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie." I was 15 years old when I won another contest to have an actual short story published in an anthology of short stories written by children aged 13–18. I was 18 years old when a literary magazine published an excerpt from a novel I had been working on at the time. My 60-something-year-old Creative Writing professor once said to me that he wanted to read my entire Young Adult novel. I’m almost always working on a novel or short story, even though I’m in school full-time and work 25-hour weeks. Writing is simply who I am.
The printed manuscript of my first full-length novel.
The printed manuscript of my first full-length novel.Writing has given me hope that I can make something of myself one day. It’s been an outlet for really bad days filled with panic attacks and depressive episodes. It’s let me feel how I truly feel. I’ve been able to create my own little world for three novels, as I set each novel in a fictional town outside of Philadelphia. Through writing, I’ve found one of my favorite bands, learned a few secrets about myself, and told stories about abuse, eating disorders and falling in love.
My passion for writing has stemmed into two more passions: reading and editing. At my parents’ house, I have three completely-filled bookshelves—most books of which are signed. I’ve been to a few weekend-long book festivals, and countless of book signings and author events. Young Adult author Susane Colasanti and I are totally Twitter BFFs, and YA author Sarah Dessen knows me by name because I go to her events so often—the pro of living so close to Chapel Hill! Another YA author, Lisi Harrison, once climbed up on a table to hug me and my best friend because she knew who I was, and proceeded to put the picture of us on her "blahg." As for editing, I was an editor for my high school’s yearbook staff, I had an internship with a publishing company when I was 17 years old, and I became Editor in Chief of a magazine that published me when I was 18 years old. The Wake Review made me realize that editing is what I want to do as my career—besides being a New York Times best-selling author, of course. I will gladly edit my friends’ papers, stories and poems. As I’m graduating from Wake Tech in a few weeks, I will not be serving as the Editor in Chief after serving for two years. I cannot even begin to express how excited I am now that I'm editing for Odyssey.
Left: YA author Susane Colasanti, November 2015. Right: YA author Sarah Dessen, May 2015.
Left: YA author Susane Colasanti, November 2015. Right: YA author Sarah Dessen, May 2015.I keep saying this, but I am lucky to have always known my passion. Not many find their passion by the time they’re my age now, 20 years old, or ever. Many go to college without having an idea on what they should be studying or what career they would like to be in. Many more choose a career field where they know they will make money even though they do not love what it is, solely because they do not know what they love to do. I sometimes have to remember to not gloat about having always known what I've wanted to do. I have to remember that others are not as fortunate as I am.
The short story that was published in 2011 by Peak City Publishing.
The short story that was published in 2011 by There are many passions in the world, like music, running, making people happy and cooking. My passion just so happens to be writing, reading and editing. I am honored to be able to put my passions to work for Odyssey, and cannot wait to see what happens.
