April always brings a cluster of festivals, including my local writing festival in Abergavenny. It's always a special weekend, a chance to catch up with friends and meet new people, but this year it was extra special.
A few years ago, I was Patron of Reading at a high school in South Wales and, after I'd spent a day there talking about careers in writing, I was contacted by a student, Mckenzy Dominy, who asked me if I could give him some feedback on a novel he was writing.
It was good - way better than the stories I'd written at his age. I sent him some notes and my copy of Stephen King's ON WRITING. It was a lovely end to my year as Patron of Reading.
The story didn't end there. A year or so later, Mckenzy contacted me again to tell me he was publishing his first book, a YA supernatural thriller. And last weekend, with two books published and other exciting projects on the horizon, he joined me for an interview at the Abergavenny Writing Festival.
He is sixteen.
I didn't know it at the time, but he wrote his first book, Why the Good Die Young, as a way of pulling himself back together after his Mum died. When he finished writing the book, he didn't think he'd be able to publish it, but his Dad gave him some advice 'Just do it.' And so he did.
Mckenzy is currently studying for A levels and plans to go to university, and keep writing, of course. I believe he will.
To everyone out there who is facing a challenge that feels impossible: 'Just do it.'
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You can find Mckenzy on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/mckenzy.dominy
1 comment:
Wow!
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