She may only be 16 years old, but Rebecca Snow of Parksville is well on her way to a career as a best selling author.
The PASS student recently won third place in the youth category of the 2015 Islands Short Fiction contest for her story Ethereal.
The contest, which is open to writers on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, is co-sponsored by the Nanaimo Arts Council, the Vancouver Island Regional Library, and the Vancouver Island University Department of Creative Writing and Journalism.
Snow, who is a self-admitted book worm, said it was librarian Susan Pierce at the Parksville Library who encouraged her to enter the contest.
“She knows that I like writing because she read a couple of chapters of my stories and she said you should enter and I thought hey … that’s cool,” Snow said.
She spent several weeks writing the 1,500- word fantasy themed story which she said started in her imagination.
“I had the base for the ghost story but I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep it in my head or put it down on paper but I thought it might work for a short story because it is not very long and involved,” she explained.
In her short story, a man in his 20’s named Jeremiah finds a ring. When he goes to pick it up there is another guy named Daniel who turns out to be a ghost who is connected to the ring. The ghost bullies Jeremiah to take him to see his fiancé for one last time. There is a supernatural theme that runs through her story and Snow said she has always enjoyed that genre.
“I have always like fantasy. That is what I like to read and what I like to write. That is just what happens in my head.”
Besides writing, Snow loves to read and currently her favourite author is Rick Riordan.
The New York Times best seller has created several successful book series and Snow said she would love to follow in his footsteps.
“It would be nice to be on the best seller list. It would be amazing to have people who look up to me and enjoy my work. That would be awesome.”
It was the first time Snow had entered a writing contest and she said she’ll enter more in the future. She won a $100 prize for her effort and of course made her mom very proud.
