I was born April 16, 1984; I'm now 25.
I have always loved to create stories. My earliest tales were told to family members before I knew how to write. I started my first “novel” in first grade, hand writing it in a pink diary with hearts or something on the cover. Some well-meaning relative gave the diary to me, probably without ever guessing that it would become the home of a science fiction novel about the intergalactic origins of the cats that were worshipped in Ancient Egypt.
My imagination has always been my driving characteristic. After the pink diary story, in second grade I tried to co-write a novel called The Hope to Get Out with my best friend. Shortly after, my father allowed me the use of his computer and I began a story about people who lived on rafts... which I later lost because I password-protected it and while I remembered the password was “dragon,” my spelling was so bad I couldn’t figure out how I had spelled it.
Years later, in the summer after fifth grade, I started Red Moon, a story mostly about my friends (with a vampire thrown in for fun) that became my first finished novel, my introduction to Nyeusigrube, and the springboard for all the writing I have done since.
What made you want to be a writer?
I get this question all the time, and I point out that I have always been a writer in that I have always loved to write. The only decision I had the chance to make was whether or not I would submit a manuscript for publication.
What made me want to be a published writer was a friend of mine who hated reading. She usually took months to finish (or put down and not finish) even a short book. One day she asked to read one of mine, because she felt left out that I had shared it with all my other friends, and not her. I gave her a manuscript, never expecting that she would read it- and she gave it back to me the next day, and asked me where the next one was.
That was when I decided that maybe my work was good enough to try publishing. I write because I love to write; I tell the stories for myself, because I want to know how they go. I publish for the people who, like that friend, write to me later and say “Your works inspired me.”
How and when did you get published?
How did publishing at such an early age change your life?
Again, I am asked this question frequently, which is why I include it in this list, but it always seems funny to me. I signed my first contract when I was in eighth grade. How do the lives of most people change between eighth grade and the middle of college?
If I had never published a novel, would I still be interested in teaching? I don’t know. Maybe I would have gone with my dream to become a veterinarian. If I had never published a novel, would I have met the person who is now my best friend, and who has changed my life strikingly since I met him? I don’t know. We first met because his teacher knew of my books and bragged about me, so he knew who I was and said hello. Big things; little things; life-changing things. It's impossible to know what caused what. Writing has had a huge impact on my life, but so much has changed in the last several years that it is impossible to know how much was due to publishing, and how much was due to simply growing up.
Are you in school now? Where do you go to school?
I recently graduated with a Master of Arts in Teaching from Northeastern University.
I have a cockatiel named Thief and a Bengal cat named Prince Chivalry, known to many as Chivas.
How can I get in touch with you?
The best way to catch me is through the message board. I frequently check it, and often post.
Amelia Holt Atwater-Rhodes
