Alexandra Adornetto

Australian author Alexandra Adornetto is living the dream of young writers everywhere! She published her first book, ‘The Shadow Thief’, at just thirteen years old. Now seventeen years old, the gorgeous Aussie teen has had three best selling books and is making her American debut with ‘Halo’, a love story about an angel named Bethany who falls in love with a human while trying to save the world. Get to know Alexandra Adornetto, the ‘angelic’ teen author who makes writing bestsellers look easy!

About Alexandra
Q: What do you do on a typical day?
A: “I spend most of my days writing, editing or doing interviews. I also spend time traveling around Australia or to the USA on promotional visits.”

Q: What do you like to do when you are not busy writing?
A: “I just love to hang out with friends, go to the movies or see a show. ‘Phantom of the Opera’ was recently on in Melbourne and I’m still singing the songs around the house.”

Q: Why did you become a self described ‘recluse’ while writing your debut novel?
A: “When writing ‘The Shadow Thief’ I had an overwhelming desire to finish the project. It took over from everything else and became my sole focus for a while. I didn’t want to be a recluse but I decided to work this way because I was at this creative peak with a hundred ideas running through my head, and I wanted to get them all down. I had this idea that there was no time to lose and so figured that locking myself in my study was the only way not to break my focus. It worked for me because the first draft of the book was finished in a few weeks!”

Q: What is your favorite thing about being a writer?
A: “Being a writer is wonderful because you can create whole fictional worlds/characters and the author is omniscient! You also get to make your own working hours, which is a rare thing in other professions.”

Q: Do you have any authors you look up to?
A: “My writing role-models are authors like Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton. They inspired me to write simply by the sheer volume of work they produced and the lasting impact they have made on some many people.”

Q: Now that you’re a best selling author, do you get treated differently by your classmates?
A: My friends love to make jokes about it and any media attention surrounding it. They think it’s funny listening to me on the radio or seeing me doing a TV interview. But all this is in good humor and my friends are incredibly supportive. Now that they know what is involved in the writing process, they understand what I mean when I say, ‘I have a deadline and can’t go out.’

Q: Do publishers take you seriously as a teen author?
A: Nowadays this isn’t a problem anymore, because I have established a profile of sorts; but when I was trying to get published and contacting different people for advice it was a little frustrating. I have a mature sounding phone-voice so people thought I was eighteen to twenty. When I told them I was thirteen their tone changed very quickly! I got told on so many occasions how brutal the publishing industry is – I think they were trying to protect me from heartbreak! I am very grateful to the team at Harper Collins who did not see my age as a barrier but rather as a positive. They have always treated me like an adult.

Q: What advice would you give aspiring teen authors?
A: My advice to anyone would be to take constructive criticism on board and make your work as good as it possibly can be before sending it off to a publisher. I also think young people need to ensure they have developed a distinct style/voice in their writing.

Alexandra Adornetto "Halo" >