The Latest Addition

Meet a New Writer

COURTNEY DILES

When Courtney Diles was seven years old, a teacher observed her imaginative tendencies and asked her mother to make sure she, the teacher, was invited to the girl’s first book signing. Her mother passed on the message, and soon Courtney set the bizarre goal of become a writer while she was still a kid.

At the age of fifteen, she completed the first draft of Sunrise - a young adult fantasy novel she designed by piecing together compelling dreams from throughout her childhood. Sunrise has since earned second place for the SWA Juvenile Writing Award and first place for the M. L. Brown Award for YA Lit. As a freshman at the University of South Carolina Honors College pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing, she still hopes to be on the shelf before her pre-frontal cerebral cortex completes its development.

Fun facts: She is a boy scout Venturer, a synesthete, and possibly a full quarter Native American. She has had three broken wrists resulting from incidents involving airports, tiny bikes, and plastic ninja swords. Her blog is www.courtneydiles.wordpress.com.

Courtney's first posting follows.