I am a fifteen year old novelist living in South Africa. Writing is very important to me, as it gives more power than I can ever imagine – and at fifteen, this is a very potent cure to most problems (it also gives off a whiff of alchemy, but the spice of life can be synthesized!). Why would I want to write? The answer is very clear, and embedded into human nature. We want to observe, carefully control and subtly twist to appease our own interests. That’s what I enjoy.

Growing up, the house was full of ideas, and I could never just be content with one. My grandmother was Miss South Africa 1963, but in a very stark contradiction to the general stereotype she was the most intelligent person I have ever known. She drove my interest for literature, for knowledge – and even partially inspired me to write ‘The Glass Forest’. My gratitude can never end, and as life moves on, it will only increase.

Since I have started writing, I will never stop. It is as if my contribution to the human genome will be this thirst, and I can only quench it by producing more literature. The ink for my next book, I dare to say, is already pooling into my pen. With each letter and with each black drop, it will only prove to me the vast store that swirls through all the empty spaces in our universe – You only need to look up at a night’s sky to see it.

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