For Marissa Watson writing is like speaking – it just came naturally and it’s the teenager’s vivid imagination and talent with words that have driven the publication of her very first novel.
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The young Merriwa student has recently accomplished her Higher School Certificate, but that has been overtaken by the excitement of the arrival of her debut novel printed in paperback.
The 18-year-old has been writing creatively for about six years and she lost count of how many books she wrote after 11, however this is the first she has had printed for sale.
The 40 chapter book ‘Glass Bones’ features “a girl whose family were murdered by vampires when she was young and she subsequently falls in with a group of huntresses who go around schools in Miami and rid them of vampires.”
With a clear sense of adventure and characteristic nature, Marissa is one of those people who will write all night and sleep all day saying she “writes her best at night”.
‘Glass Bones’ took her just 18 days to write, which she said has been her fastest production to date.
The former Merriwa Central School student recently finished NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) - a program where she wrote a 50,000 word novel in a month.
Marissa is hoping to do a mass order and sell her book locally, while she works on her next creation – ‘The Poseidon’s Girls Trilogy’ - which she hopes to have on the book stands for Valentine’s Day 2014.
She said although she had had two short stories published through a competition at school, it was pretty mind blowing to have her first big masterpiece in her hands.
Inspired by her great imagination, random thoughts and snippets of conversation, Marissa writes, edits and designs the books from cover to the end.
With a dream to become a professional author, Marissa is embracing every opportunity she finds and in February she will be one of six Australians to attend a nine day writer’s retreat in Tasmania after receiving a worthy scholarship.
“I am really happy and proud with what I have achieved so far,” Marissa said.
Marissa plans to study a Certificate II in Floristry at Kurri Kurri TAFE next year while she continues to strive towards her goal.
‘Glass Bones’ is available from Smashwords, iBookstore and Barnes & Noble Online; however it will be available in hard copy at Hunt-A-Book in Scone in the New Year.
To find out more or see what Marissa’s up to, you can visit her blog at rissa books.blogspot.com or join Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and Penguin in following her on Twitter.
