Merlin Young

My name is Merlin Young. I have six siblings, so I've always had to fight for attention in my household, and I soon discovered that being the only one in the family who's written multiple novels was enough to get me some attention. I also realized that sometimes writing is just so freeing because I can write everyone to be exactly how I want them to be, so I don't have to worry about fighting for my characters' attention.

I remember the first book I ever finished, which is Almost Lost Forever. I started writing it in a spiral bound notebook in the eighth grade. Then a major tragedy struck when someone stole that notebook of mine. It took weeks for it to be returned to me, and by then, I thought that I'd never be able to find the motivation to keep going. But then I got my first computer, and I typed up everything that I already had, and I realized that I just really enjoyed writing, so there was no stopping me from there.

The biggest help to me has always come from my high school creative writing teacher, who never stopped encouraging me to keep writing, and who was always so excited to read each new story as I wrote them. She's the one who would go through and edit my stories, and she always had so many good things to say to me that I couldn't help wanting to keep writing. It's just something that I really enjoy doing, and I can't imagine ever stopping.