Chase dreams
Time magazine’s ‘most influential teens’.
and human rights campaigner who was shot in the head by the Taliban, and frankly a little freaked out to find herself in the same company as Bieber, the Canadian singer, actor and heartthrob.
For those yet to catch up with Reeks’s work, she began writing love stories about teens partly because she was fed up with so many books aimed at young people being about vampires, werewolves and wizards (though she grew up on Harry Potter herself and cites J.K. Rowling as one of her role models).
She self-published her first novel, The Kissing Booth, a rollicking romance set in California, on Wattpad, the story-sharing website, and watched amazed as her tale attracted 19 million readers across the globe.
Random House subsequently published The Kissing Booth and her second novel, Rolling Dice, and has commissioned her to write a third, Out Of Tune.
Despite her literary success, Reeks began a physics degree at Exeter this autumn – she is aiming for a twin career as scientist and author – and was busy preparing for her mid-term exams when the news came that she was on Time’s list. She takes the accolade seriously.
“A lot of the potential role models for young women – people like Miley Cyrus – have a bad reputation, probably because of the media manipulating things rather than anything else.
“Being on this list gives me status as a role model – it will give me more weight helping young girls to achieve what they want to. It’s good if my achievements are seen as things girls and young women can look up to, aspire to.”
Reeks (@Reekles) gets tweets from writers even younger than her inspired by her success. “They tell me I have given them more confidence in what they are doing or have prompted them to put their work online. I’ve achieved something they dream of.”
She is also delighted if she prompts young people, especially girls, to read. “It’s really great when I get messages from people saying they don’t read a lot but have enjoyed my books and are now looking for other things to read.”
Reeks, who was the only girl to study physics in her Form Six class, also puts a lot of effort into tweeting about science. “I try to get younger girls interested in physics. They may think it’s not just a boy subject if I’m doing it.” It may be her toughest challenge – girls account for only about a fifth of students on her course.
As an author who got her break on the Internet, Reeks is a passionate supporter of online communities.
“When I started writing I had no friends who were writers and so I thought it was a strange hobby. Then I found an online community of other girls who liked writing and that was a big confidence booster for me. I felt, OK, this is something that is not that strange, it’s just uncommon.
“There tend to be a lot of negative stories about teenagers on the Internet but it is a good place to show your talent off. Publishers are finding a lot of people online now.”
Happily, Reeks gets very little aggressive attention on the Internet. “I get ‘This book sucks’ once in a blue moon. The vast majority – 99% of comments – are really positive.”
Reeks is polishing her third book in between lectures. And no, she does not feel the need suddenly to write more serious fiction because of her success.
“I don’t feel I need to write something grave. I feel I need to write something that girls can relate to. I’m experimenting with different characters, different storylines but want to keep it relatable to teenagers.”
Despite everything, Reeks still does not get stopped on the street. “That hasn’t happened yet. Partly it may be because I don’t wear glasses in publicity shots. In real life I always have my glasses on.”
Her final message to those she has influence over?
“Even if sounds a bit cheesy, pursue your dreams. Don’t let anyone get in the way of your dreams. Even if you get knocked back, work hard, carry on.” – Guardian News & Media