Charlotte’s Story Makes Impact

Waimea College student Charlotte Brooks, 15, has won third prize in a short story competition which received 9000 entries from throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Her story, entered in the action and adventure section of the 2000 Schools’ Short Story Competition, was the only New Zealand prize winner in the high school division.

Charlotte said she drew inspiration for her entry, entitled For the Sale of Our Lives, from her Austrian-born grandparents. “They were in the war and had to leave Austria to escape.”

She said she put herself in their position to write the story, which tells of a tense nighttime escape across the border.

Charlotte said a love of reading had led to her to be a budding author at an early age.

“I remember my best friend and I getting together to write a mystery story when we were seven or eight, when we loved the Famous Five books.

Since then Charlotte has written scripts for her brother Jeffrey, 18, who likes to make video skits.

She said she was unsure if a writer’s lot would be lucrative enough for her.

“I’d really like to write stories and sell books, but it’s hard to say if I could make a living from it.”

Rebecca Newport from Waimea Intermediate was a finalist in the primary school section.

Published: 20/06/2000
Source: The Nelson Mail

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