Burning by Aaron Ding is the winner of the 2021 Author of Tomorrow, 11 years and Under.

Burning: Burning is a short descriptive story centering on a firefighter’s experience traversing a burning home. Despite all the odds, he manages to fight through the smoke and dust to attempt to save a young girl trapped in a room. However, as the house begins to collapse, he has to make the decision that would be the ultimate sacrifice.

An Interview with Aaron: 

WNSF: What is your favourite book? 

My favourite book would definitely be Illuminae, written by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. This is actually the first of a three-part trilogy called the Illuminae Files set in the far future, with wormholes and ruthless evil corporations. It’s a wonderful space opera that really pulls you in from the start through its ‘file’ structure (hence the name Illuminae Files). Instead of simple words on white pages, readers are pulled into a gripping storyline with print-outs of different online conversations and transcripts that are files gathered from the events. In addition, this book also tells the deep, impactful stories behind not only the main characters but the minor ones. This book of zombies, heroic main characters, romance and moving scenes probably needs another thousand words to appreciate its out-of-this-world magnificence. Truly fantastic – although with some quite mature and some dark themes, it’s an essential read if you’re willing to brave it!

WNSF: Who is your favourite author? Or one who has inspired you and why?

Roald Dahl is an amazingly inspiring author. His stories really show what it means to write freely. Instead of writing huge, descriptive paragraphs that leaves a story slow and dragging (what I’ve been struggling quite a bit with over the past year), he has a freestyle use of humour, fantastic characters and a pace that is just right. And his completely random story ideas - imagine writing a story about a boy and a chocolate factory! – that seemingly destroys writer’s block and turn out fantastically.

WNSF: What is your favourite subject at school? 

My favourite subject is Maths! I balance this logical, often challenging part of my life with an occasional relax on the couch, drawing and writing stories. This balance lets me write creatively while also keeping my stories logical and well-structured.

WNSF: What does ‘adventure writing’ mean to you? Why did you choose to try your hand at an adventure story?

I think of an ‘adventure story’ as a story where characters venture through fantastical worlds and challenging situations. It’s great how an adventure story can stretch from a universe-spanning sci-fi drama to something as simple as walking down a street. That’s why I tried - there’s a whole lot of creativity to apply.

WNSF: If you could ask an author anything, what would you want to know?

How do you improve your work and deal with criticism? Even as a pretty amateur writer, it’s sometimes hard to accept my parents’ or siblings’ advice on how I can change my writing. I would love to know how professional writers both cope with this criticism from editors etc. and at the same time improve their stories.

WNSF: Who would you consider one of your heroes and why?

My parents are my heroes! They not only support me through all the stages of my life but also encouraging me to do the things I aspire to be, and keeping me steady through rough waters. They’re just as good as any Marvel superhero.

WNSF: What is the most adventurous thing you would like to do, or place you would like to visit and why?

Go onto the International Space Station. There’s something about that feeling of being in deep, dark empty space hundreds of kilometers above your home planet that seems so thrilling. And the fact that the only thing separating you from the black void is a few centimeters of metal and other materials. It would be great seeing the Earth from a distance, our planet in all its glory.

WNSF: Where do you find inspiration for your stories?

Everywhere mentioned above, and more. All the things I’ve seen, heard and experienced all contribute to my range of ideas and creativity! I often come up with ideas at the top of my head just by reading a book or watching the news – in my case, Burning took some inspiration from the terrible Black Summer bushfires from last year.

WNSF: If you could time travel, where would you go and why? 

The far future. Sci-Fi and spaceships are a great interest of mine and I would love to see if humanity reaches a far enough point that those things would be possible – and if so, what these technologies would look like. In addition to that, it would be fascinating to see how humanity would have coped with our current crises and progressed forward.

WNSF: What three words would you use to describe your story?

Bravery, Sacrifice and Flames.