 Congratulations. Your short story, Zapped, is a finalist in this year’s Beyond the Stars (an anthology of NZ intermediate school writing). Tell us about your story. What inspired it?
My story was inspired by the misunderstandings at school. Sometimes girls would be angry at each other because they assume the wrong thing about each other. You’re a student in your spare time. So tell us really, how important is grammar? I think grammar is important because otherwise writing can be misunderstood, or can be difficult to read. Name the writer (dead or alive) who you would most like to have dinner with and tell us how the evening goes… I would most like to have dinner with Wendy Mass, author of many books:“11 Birthdays”, “A Mango-shaped Space” and “Candymaker”. I like these books because they are unusual, and I think Wendy Mass would be an interesting person to meet. Tell us about your work in progress. I’m writing a story about a girl trying to fit in at a new school, and the adventures and issues she has before she realises the value of a true friend. YA fiction, of all the genres, is addressing the real issues. Discuss. I think that YA fiction addresses real issues. Where do you see your writing taking you in the future? I’m not sure where my writing will take me in the future. Anything else you would like to say about being a writer? Everyone is a writer, some people just don’t know it.  Congratulations. Your short story is a finalist in this year’s Beyond the Stars (an anthology of NZ intermediate school writing).
Tell us about your story. What inspired it? What inspired my story was mostly the dream of exploration that all people have as a young child, to explore and travel the world discovering unspeakable things, but everything on Earth has practically already been discovered, so the next resort is outer space. This is basically based on one of my childhood dreams of travelling to a new planet and discovering a whole new race of humans and creatures. You’re a student in your spare time. So tell us really, how important is grammar? Grammar is very important, no matter what job you want you will have to use grammar, even if you decide to be something like a police-officer or a P.E. teacher, there are still forms and paperwork you will need to do for everything, it is probably the most important subject. Name the writer (dead or alive) who you would most like to have dinner with and tell us how the evening goes… I would LOVE to have dinner with the author of my favourite book called Jaguar Trials, her name is Ruth Eastham. The story is based on archaeology and discovering El Dorado, one of my main childhood dreams were discovering a place like El Dorado or Atlantis, and in this book a set of kids discover El Dorado. We would discuss awesome lost and mythical places such as Atlantis or El Dorado and archaeology as well as probably mythical creatures and talk about the exploring she has done in her own life. Tell us what you see you'll be doing in the future. I want to become something that involves travel but also pays well, I want to see the world before global warming or pollution or other things destroy it all, that is my desire in life, but a good salary would also be a good thing too. Also in my life I will probably look at writing books about my experiences, especially if I have some rather quirky ones. YA fiction, of all the genres, is addressing the real issues. Discuss. YA fiction is a great way for teens like myself, to feel like your among people who know how your perspective of life feels and is going through the same changes and life you are as a teen. It features many adventures and stories that teens are more interested in and are more comfortable reading rather than fantasy lands with oversize butterflies as such. Where do you see your writing taking you in the future? Hopefully my writing will take me great places, make me able to share my story as well as the story of other fictional characters and make a world of all the things that you wish would happen but is just impossible able to happen. Anything else you would like to say about being a writer? Being a writer takes a lot of self-confidence, it takes a lot of self-motivation to finish long stories, because there a whole lot more distractions in life that will distract you from writing, because trust me, I have sooo many unfinished stories that I would love to finish but when I come around to doing it I never do because theres always something else more interesting to do. A good thing to do is just put in your schedule a certain amount of time dedicated to you finishing off your story. I think that out of all the hundreds of stories that I’ve started I’ve only ever finished one. So strive to finish your stories because just maybe one day it would become as famous as Alice in Wonderland or the Wonderful World of Oz Nathaniel Bormans is 13 years old and goes to Saint John’s College in Hamilton, Waikato and has grown up in a Roman Catholic family. Nathaniel comes from Dutch descendants and he has moved around the North Island quite a bit living in places such as Tauranga, Te Awamutu and Dargaville. He dreams of travelling the world and his life goal is to visit every single country in the world, and wants to write a book about his adventures as well as a fiction series. When he grows up he wants to go to university and live in either Europe or North America, and then become the director of an adventure cartoon series for Disney XD or get a job that involves travel but is also very well paying. “Strive to do the impossible and then it becomes possible”  Congratulations. Your short story, The Unfathomable, is a finalist in this year’s Beyond the Stars (an anthology of NZ intermediate school writing). Tell us about your story. What inspired it?
To sum my work up in a few words, my short story, 'The Unfathomable' is about a person who is burdened with a terrible power. They have the ability to see their future, and these visions have always been accurate. The story follows them as they leave their home planet, and enter 'Earth' to see whether or not they really could change their future. I was inspired to write something futuristic as I have been reading a lot of fantasy books lately. Quite often there are prophecies, some true, some false, and some unfinished. I think the idea of our futures, and the effect that our choices have on them is an interesting and important concept, and it was something that I wanted to explore more through my writing. You’re a student in your spare time. So tell us really, how important is grammar? Honestly, grammar is not the most interesting concept to learn, but it is important. When you write, you write in a way that makes the story as enjoyable an experience as possible for the reader, and you can bet the reader is not going to enjoy reading your work if they don't make sense. Name the writer (dead or alive) who you would most like to have dinner with and tell us how the evening goes… Christopher Paolini. I imagine I'll be doing quite a bit of eating, and (hopefully) I'll be able to glean a few tips about fantasy writing from him. Tell us about your work in progress. Currently, I'm attempting *key work, attempt* to cough up a fantasy novel. It's not going very well, as I keep on procrastinating, and trying to finish reading the 'Inheritance Cycle' instead, BUT I'm hoping that NaNoWriMo this November will give me the push that I need to finish my novel. Right now I'm envisioning a work written from a different perspective, involving amnesia, elemental magic and a long war. Maybe even a war that spans over a quartet. YA fiction, of all the genres, is addressing the real issues. Discuss. I think it depends on what and which books you define as 'Young Adult', but I think that YA books are a good way to express challenging concepts and issues to readers in an appealing way. Every book has strong themes and real-life issues running through it, and YA fiction is no exception to this. Where do you see your writing taking you in the future? Ideal situation: I finish my novel this year, get it published, and continue the series at a leisurely pace all the whilst becoming a full time author. However, ideal situations sometimes may not be the most probable but I remain optimistic and will continue to work towards my dream. Anything else you would like to say about being a writer? I was inspired to become a writer as I always have lots of ideas floating around in my head and once I was able to put them on paper, they merged themselves into a story. Everyone has a different perspective on things and with these different mindsets, everyone has the ability to create works of intriguing literature that could be shared with the world.  Congratulations. Your short story, The Hunted, was a finalist in this year’s Beyond the Stars (an anthology of NZ intermediate school writing). Tell us about your story. What inspired it?
My story was set in medieval times; it was about two young men tracking down a vicious creature called the Shadow Lion. It was stealing food from the town and the pair were sent to hunt it down. But the men find out that the creature was taking the town’s food to another fallen Shadow Lion. The men didn’t kill them, but instead, the town’s people started leaving off cuts of meat in farm paddocks each night. I was inspired to write this story because, often things are not as they seem and most problems can be solved with communication. You’re a student in your spare time. So tell us really, how important is grammar? Grammar is so important for a writer. Grammar is how you make your story flow. It gives your writing suspense and detail. Name the writer (dead or alive) who you would most like to have dinner with and tell us how the evening goes… John Flanagan. His work inspired me to start writing. I wouldn’t be the writer I am today without his work for me to aspire to. Tell us about your work in progress. I’m currently working on a science fiction chapter book. I’m trying to write longer stories while still keeping them interesting. YA fiction, of all the genres, is addressing the real issues. Discuss. The bestselling young adult fiction books are usually the stories that you can relate to. The stories sometimes have a message that connects to our world today. They make people think about behaviour and society. Where do you see your writing taking you in the future? When you’re a good writer, you have so many options and career paths that you can pursue. In the future I hope to see myself as an author, journalist or script writer. Anything else you would like to say about being a writer? When you’re a writer it’s so important to speak your mind with passion and voice, but to also have a message that people can relate to.  In Year 9 at Katikati College, Ashleigh Templeton likes to draw, play hockey and squash and read vampire stories. It turns out Ashleigh’s also a pretty good writer too, winning the Year 8 Section in last year’s Beyond This Age national writing competition with her fantasy suspense story, Mirror Mirror, which is to be released this week in Beyond This Age a collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror stories by New Zealand intermediate students.
Initially, Ashleigh’s story started out as something the class was doing, part of their school work, but Ashleigh says she took the story home and did lots of work on it, discovering that writing was ‘quite fun.’ That doesn’t mean to say it was easy. Ashleigh admits that she finds finishing stories hard, a problem encountered by many more experienced writers. However she offers this writing tip for other young writers: ‘Put your writing away and think about it for a while, and then come back to it.’ Ashleigh has two younger siblings, a brother and a sister, but she hasn’t included either one of them in her prize-winning story. Instead, in the tradition of famous stories such as Snow White and Alice through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll), Ashleigh’s story explores the sinister ‘side’ of mirrors, everyday objects found in almost every room of the house. ‘Mirrors are quite creepy,’ Ashleigh says. ‘I always wonder what’s on the other side of a mirror because you don’t actually know.’ What does she think about the experience of entering a competition for the first time? ‘Entering the competition was amazing – having a story published. It’s amazing having a book finished, something that other people can enjoy.’ Ashleigh says she didn’t have any particular readers in mind – just other kids her age. She’ll says definitely be entering some more competitions. Beyond This Age is a writing competition for intermediate school students held annually in Term 4 with the best stories (chosen by a panel of writers) included in an anthology of the same name. If you’d to know more about writing competitions for students take a peek on www.youngnzwriters@weebly.com If you’d like to read Ashleigh’s story and others like it, go to www.oceanbooks.co.nz or ask your librarian for a copy of Beyond This Age. |
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