Today we’re hearing from Gabrielle Skory, a teen writer, who has released her first book, The Pages of Red Diamond. You can read a sample here.
My name is Gabriella Skory, and I’m a 15 year old homeschooler. A little over a year and a half ago, I needed something to write while practicing hand writing. One of my favorite writing exercises is when you take two or three items in a room and make a short story out of it. So, I took my sister (girl) and a notebook that was on the table (forgotten journal). Then, one thing lead to another: What if there was something different about this journal? What if it was magical? What if it took this girl to another world?! I worked on that story for a couple of weeks or so, on and off, and then when summer came I stopped writing completely.
Once summer ended and school began, I came across what I had written and decided that I wanted to start up working on it again. After that, I just stuck with it. I just started falling in love with the story and the characters and I couldn’t stop writing! As I continued I would, here and there, feel discouraged – wondering how I was going to end the book, what was going to happen five chapters from where I was, wondering how I could develop the characters more. But whenever I felt like that, I found it best to stop thinking about where I was going and focus more on where I was. I personally find that as a writer, it’s much easier to take writing one page at a time – to not think about where you are going with your story, but to focus on where you are with it. And if I was still having major doubts, I would always just take a breath and take a break, then come back and take a look at what I had most recently written and decide if I needed to rewrite something. Or I would bounce some ideas off of my brother to get ideas if I were ever feeling like the story line was getting dry.
I found it very important to put in at least forty-five minutes of writing in a day, even if that meant you only accomplished writing a page or less. Being homeschooled I was lucky enough to be able to use an hour of my school time and dedicate it to writing. And then I would write even more once I was done with school. Once I had finished my book, after about six months of consistent writing, I was shocked! I have always been one to read a lot, and to have a book of my own was just amazing! But then I got to move on to the fun part – editing. Luckily my dad helped with much of it, but the next time I write I am definitely going to pay more attention to spelling and grammar because it will save me a lot of time in the end.
Gabriella Skory is 15 years old and has been homeschooled her entire life, along with three other siblings. Reading, writing, and performing are her three passions and what she spends the majority of her time doing. If she’s not doing one of those three things, you will usually find her babysitting, hanging out with friends or playing the piano.
Still filled with anger from her parent’s divorce, and tired of the peer pressure from girls at school, fifteen year old Hazel finds comfort in another world called Red Diamond. Hidden inside a secret book filled with Kings, Queens, sports cars and spy gadgets, the people of this world welcome her warmly as Hazel uses her martial arts skills to keep the criminals of Red Diamond at bay. Things suddenly take a turn for the worse, however, when Hazel encounters a threat to the people of Red Diamond that may be too big even for her to overcome. Will Hazel be able to save them from the treachery and the lies, or will she end up a prisoner of the world she has grown to love, never to see her home again?
The Pages of Red Diamond can be purchased at www.ThePagesOfRedDiamond.com