Is She The Next J.K. Rowling?
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Catherine Banner started writing the outline of her book when she was just 14-years old. Five years later, this 19-year old has not one but a trilogy (series of three books) in the works and there is already talk of a film version. Her first book, 'The Eyes of a King', hit bookstores earlier this week.
Catherine, who lives with her parents in Cambridge, England, has always loved reading and writing stories. She recalls stapling together papers and creating 'books' with pictures and stories when she was really young.
As she grew older, she continued to write short stories after school. Then at the age of 14, inspired by 'The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', she got the idea for her book. She started writing her ideas whenever she had the time, sometimes even while sitting in class at school. Soon, the ideas evolved into a magical tale set in two parallel worlds - England and an imaginary land called Malonia.
At sixteen, she was fortunate enough to meet a literary agent who was interested in seeing what she had written. To her surprise, the agent found a publisher who loved the book and agreed to publish it. In fact her publisher thinks she may have found the next J.K. Rowling!
Catherine is now keeping her fingers crossed that kids love the book as much as she and her publisher do. She has already completed the second of the three books and is about to embark on the third.
Catherine, a straight 'A' student who will attend Cambridge University later this year for a degree in English, says that she will continue writing after this trilogy, but about something else. Below is a sneak preview of 'The Eyes of A King'.
THE EYES OF A KING, By Catherine Banner
The story begins with 15-year old Leo who does not have much to look forward to. He attends military school and lives with a grandmother he fears, in the country of Malonia. He has magical powers that he is afraid to use, because the rulers of Malonia would frown upon them.
Then one day, he finds a mysterious blank book in the snow that changes his life. As soon as he touches the book, he knows there is something special about it. As he opens it, he starts to 'see' different stories in the blank pages. In those, he meets two teenagers, Ryan and Anna, who live in a totally different world called England. While initially, Leo uses the book to get away from his boring life, he soon becomes so involved with the stories that they become part of his life - and slowly he, Ryan and Anna become part of the same world.
Think this is something you may like? - Click on the link from Amazon.com below and buy the book now.
Sources: Random House, DailMail.Co.Uk
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68 Comments
demosthenesover 7 yearsSooo relatable...i get inspired then start writing a story before i get the title...im hoping to be like her soon
comedianover 7 yearsI havent even heard of that book
swirlycoolover 7 yearsI love J.K Rowling!- CHASTITYabout 8 yearsBOOKS are o.k. but donors LAT on is no s u 'll :/ opp'm oa m is
happypug12over 9 yearsI am writing a book too, and I'm going to try to publish it!
lemonade11over 7 yearsGOOD LUCK!!- swirlycoolover 7 yearsHave you gotten in published yet?
xaaragirlover 8 yearsI wish you luck! I hope you everyone know the name of book and i will buy it!
redheadperson22about 9 yearsThat's so cool! I love writing too. I've written a lot of not-so-short stories (the longest being over 50 pages) and I'm working on about 6 currently. I hope, by the time they're finished, some of them will be novel length.
peacheslarueover 9 yearsThats really cool! What's it called and whats it about!- happypug12over 9 yearsI'm actually trying to write 7 books at once, but the one that I'm working on right now is called "Mysteria is my Home."
kitten7260over 7 yearsI'm writing, like, ten books
lavanderover 9 yearsomg, im tring to write a book too, its not working out well :)- kitten7260over 7 yearsThat's okay!
- xaaragirlover 8 yearsIf you can dream it you have the capacity to do it!
nikukyuover 9 yearsWoah 7 books at once! Ur amazing! I'm better at just thinking up stories than writing them, but I wrote a book called "big eyed dear". I'm now thinking of writing a play 'bout a vampire who can't stick blood. So, he moves to live with the humans, and makes friends for the first time in his life. He loves living with them, but soon discovers that the humans had somehow used witchcraft and made all the generations of vampires blood sucking slobs. I haven't worked out the details after that.
bluehorse3over 7 yearsOh my gosh, that's what I do too!! I think of a cool title and a tiny bit of the idea of the book and then I never write it!! :(
smiley4over 7 yearsMe too! I think of cool ideas ideas at random places and write, like, half the book in my head and then when I have a chance to write it down, I blank and never remember it again! =( I hope one day i will sit down and I will remember and i can write them down!
- happypug12over 9 yearsWell, to make a good story I would say the first thing you should do is write your ideas down and do some research. There are some online thesaurus websites that you can use to help you. Oh, and for your vampire play, you should describe how the vampire feels after he makes this great discovery. Does he feel sad, or angry at the humans, or confused. Its good to explain how your main characters feel in plays and stories. There has to be some drama, heart-felt emotion, and more drama! At least, that's my opinion. : )
- happypug12over 9 yearsI've already written 2 chapters; I'm working on chapter 3. Here is an excerpt from the book: Behind her was a small hill, and to her left and right were weeping willows. But what was in front of her made her feel numb. Too many mountains to count loomed above her, so high she couldn't even see where they ended. The mountains where as black as coal, and they looked too steep to even try climbing. And on one of the crevices of the mountain, there was a girl. Like this comment if you think my excerpt is good!
- xaaragirlover 8 yearsI can't wait! i hope you reallly get it published soon!
- nikukyuover 9 yearsIt's awesome! Ur a gifted writer! And thanks for advice for my play!
- xaaragirlover 8 yearsI agree!
- happypug12over 9 yearsYou're welcome! I love to help! Thank u, nikukyu!
kiki556over 10 yearsthis sounds like a good book to read- bullied kidover 10 yearssounds good. I will read anything anything fantasy!!
otterover 10 yearsI want to read that!
articulaover 10 yearsnever gonna beat J.K sorry :(- meepabeepover 10 yearsj.k rowling has already been a milestone.... im readin her books.............
