Author of Tomorrow 2019 - Magdalena Deniz

Rot by Magdalena Deniz (age 18) is shortlisted for the 2019 Author of Tomorrow. 

While traveling along the Oregon Trail with his father from their failed farm in Missouri, a young boy comes to terms with what it means to be a man in Western America.

1. What is your favorite book?
   This question gives me the same feeling I imagine a parent feels when asked to pick their favorite child. At the moment, “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt is my favorite book. It creates such an illicit atmosphere, the book is quite impossible to put down. I mark-up my books, and it takes effort not to just underline every single word. 
2. Who is your favorite author? Or one who has inspired you and why?
   Maggie Stiefvater is my all time favorite author. She writes magic and makes it real, and it was through reading her series The Raven Cycle that I decided to give writing a try!
3. What is/was your favorite subject in school?
   English was always my favorite subject. It was the only thing that really made sense to me, and I enjoyed learning of all the different ways to see things in books. My english classes in high school always introduced me to amazing, intelligent teachers, who each helped me become a better writer in their own unique way.
4. What does “adventure writing” mean to you? Why did you choose to try your hand at adventure writing?
   To write an adventure story, to me, means to tell a tale of excitement. But I feel like the adventure tale of today is romanticised and doesn’t tell the stories of the characters that really suffer. When I decided to write an adventure story, I wanted to try to tell it from the perspective of someone who doesn’t experience the glamour of the classic adventure tale.
5. If you could ask an author anything, what would you want to know?
   I would ask how they know that a story they’ve written is finished. So many times, I find myself writing and am never able to understand where the story will End with a capital E. Most of my endings are ambiguous or open, and I’d like to challenge myself to change that.
6. Who would you consider to be one of your heroes and why? Does not have to be an author.
   I’m gonna pick a superhero duo, here. My high school english teachers, Mrs. Walsh and Mr. Leib, who have always encouraged me to be a better person and a better writer. They’re both brilliant, have always helped me with everything, and I learned so much from both of them, knowledge that I take way beyond the classroom.
7. What is the most adventurous thing you’d like to do, or place you’d like to visit and why?
   I would love to go along a hiking trail with my best friend for a few months. To travel together, read together, and write together, all while experiencing new things and meeting new people every day, would be an absolute dream.
8. Where do you find inspiration for your stories?
   Usually, I think of something to write based on something I’ve experienced. Whether it be a line of dialogue, a setting, or even an entire story being based on something I’ve experienced, there’s a little bit of truth behind everything I write. Rot for example, mentions plums and rabbits. This is because I had a pet rabbit when I was in elementary school, and also because my brother happened to be eating a plum in the kitchen as I wrote.
9. If you could time travel, where would you go and why?
   I’d love to live in ancient Greece. This is partially because I took AP art history, and loved learning about ancient greek art and sculpture, and also because I love Percy Jackson.
10. What three words would you use to describe your story?
    “Soul-stirring” because I’d like to think that my story leaves behind a certain emotion, sadness or maybe just shock, that lingers; “raw” because I believe my story shows everything for how it is and doesn’t really sugar-coat the harshness of the situations the main character finds himself in; “mortality” because above all else, this story shows how a boy learns to define death.