Teen Seen: Meet Avery Taylor (Mary Strand)

This month at YA Outside the Lines, we’re doing teen interviews. (Thus, a longer-than-usual blog from me!) We write for teens, so we should actually talk to them, right?

ABSOLUTELY! They deserve to be seen. And heard. And listened to.

Because they’re going to change the world.

Meet Avery Taylor!

Today’s interview is with Avery Taylor, a senior in high school (at an unlucky time, thanks to COVID-19, to be a senior in high school). I first knew her as a ski racer with my own two kids on Minneapolis Alpine Ski Team, the ski team for all Minneapolis public high schools, but a couple of years ago I got to know her in a different way, when she participated in National Novel Writing Month for the first time. Since ski racers are all about the finish line, it came as no surprise to me that she won NaNoWriMo in her first time out of the gate.

Let’s get started: Avery, can you tell us something about yourself?

I'm a high school senior and creative writer. I started by writing really bad fanfiction. Now I write better fanfiction (as practice) and YA short stories. I am going to attend university next fall to study creative writing in my constant pursuit to be a published writer! When I'm not writing, you'll find me on the ski hill whapping gates, going as fast as I can for my high school ski team or working out in the offseason to prepare. 

Tell me about your fanfiction and how you started writing it. Also, are you really only writing it as practice these days, or do you ever dream of taking it as big as something like Twilight?

I started writing fanfiction when I was around thirteen and published it to Wattpad. The first one to gain attention was one about Divergent (that I can't read anymore without cringing or crying tears of laughter): it had about 50K views before I took it down. After that, I wrote fanfictions on pretty much every book I read and became attached to, from Legend by Marie Lu, to Harry Potter, to a few less widely known books. Many of these aren't published to any online source; they either don't feel polished enough or aren't finished. I write them as a way to satisfy my imagination about what could have happened, and as a way to improve my craft. The main plot was already created along with characterization and setting. All I had to do was write a new little plot and keep to the original voice of the author. This helps me gain my own voice, and learn how to make a strong plot.

Nowadays I have branched away from only writing fanfiction in favor of writing short stories and novels. I am currently taking a creative writing class where we try every genre of writing, such as poetry, journalism, creative non-fiction, and short stories. I have always had a particular adoration of YA crime and mystery, either in a novel or short story. I'm currently focused on short stories to work on my craft on a smaller scale. I do hope throughout university to move to write novels as well and maybe a book of short stories.

Avery's idea of a perfect apartment: FILLED with plants

I love your taste in fiction! Or at least fanfiction! Getting 50K views on your Divergent fanfiction is amazing. Have you ever submitted anything to an agent or publisher? And tell us about your experience with NaNoWriMo: what writing project did you undertake for it, what did you think of NaNo, and would you do it again? (I’ve probably done NaNo six or seven times, but not always at the right time for me, so I’ve “won,” or gotten 50K words, only three times. But I do love it.)

I do plan on getting things published! I am currently writing pieces that I either plan to submit to literary magazines, or put into a collection of short stories. I participated in NaNo during my sophomore year in high school (2017). It was definitely stressful, especially at the beginning when I was getting used to writing almost two thousand words a day. There were a few days where I would lie in the kitchen and cry or have a dance party to the High School Musical soundtrack. Despite that, it was still one of the best experiences of my life. Some highlights include the dance parties, the community, my newfound speed-typing skills, and the end. The end for me was incredibly emotional; I sat and cried tears of joy for a solid thirty minutes. At the time I thought this was going to be my debut (spoiler alert: it wasn't). I would do it again, just maybe when I'm more prepared and not also trying to tackle school and ski season. 

You never know what might turn out to be your debut! The very first novel I wrote became my debut novel, but I sold it 12 years after writing it. (Also, I’ve had exactly zero dance parties while doing NaNo, probably to my kids’ relief, but I’ll put those on my to-do list for the next time I do NaNo!) Before I ask about skiing (which is a great love of mine, too!), tell me: what YA books have influenced you — or, on a similar note, which YA authors would you fangirl over if you met them?

Dance parties definitely help the writing process, especially after sitting in front of a screen for hours. 😎

Unfortunately, Avery is NOT
headed to Hogwarts this fall

I actually got to meet Marie Lu, who is my primary inspiration. I was speechless when I met her and started crying. I would 100% cry if I got to meet her again. Her book Legend really inspired my dream of becoming an author. When in doubt or during a creative drought, I will go back and read her books. Other YA books that inspire me are Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling (which showed me that third person doesn't have to be stupid or boring, and now third person is my preliminary way to write.). Though it isn't YA, I also really enjoy The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins because of the ending. The book really inspired me to write thrillers, because hers was so good. 

Thanks for the book recommendations! Speaking of favorite authors, do you have any thoughts on what adults who write YA can do better?

I think adults write YA really well. In my eyes, I genuinely don't think that there is anything authors could do to write YA better. There's always something for somebody. 

Last but SO not least: SKIING! I love to ski (too fast for my own good!), but alpine ski racing takes it up several notches. You went to the state meet with your MAST team this year: huge congrats! Tell me what you love about ski racing, and anything you don’t love, and ... what are your post-high-school plans for skiing?

Avery hitting gates!

Skiing has always been a core part of my family, practically every member on my mom's side getting in skis by the age of five. I started racing six years ago. (Probably one of my bigger regrets. I wish I started earlier, because not only would I be better, but I could have had more time with the sport. Six years went way too fast.) This sport was the highlight of my high school career. I met some of my closest friends and pushed myself where I didn't know where I could go.

This was my favorite part of the sport. It pushed you, but you have such a strong support system behind you, cheering you on and supporting you every step of the way. This is especially prominent at races, especially the day-long invitationals. Invites were probably the best part of racing. They were incredibly stressful and exhausting, but we had adrenaline all day to fix all of the problems. Invites always had really high energy. The racers at the top of the hill were either watching people go down to analyze the course and any problem areas, talking with friends and coaches, or warming up for their race run. It's hard to describe what it was like, especially for people who don’t ski. The only way I could describe it is home, somewhere so familiar and comforting.

Sadly, I don't plan to ski while I'm at university, at least not competitively, as I will live a five-minute walk away from the beach. Someday, though, I plan to join an adult league or similar group because skiing just isn't the same when you don't get to hit gates.

I’m with you on the excitement of invitationals. I’ve spent a lot of hours at them! (Hot chocolate and I are close friends as a result.) Avery, thanks again SO MUCH for this interview. Best of luck in college, with writing, and on future ski hills!

Mary Strand is the author of Pride, Prejudice, and Push-Up Bras and three other novels in the Bennet Sisters YA series. You can find out more about her at marystrand.com.