Welcome To Marie's World...'Neath Crescent Light

She has been compared to JK Rowling and her novel was said to be better than Eragon. Her resumé is nine pages long, single-spaced – and she’s only 17 years old.

Marie Rubzen is an Australian teenager born to Filipino parents. Marie spent her tween years (from 12 to 14) writing a novel and getting it published in time for her 16th birthday. Even more remarkable is how that novel, ‘Neath Crescent Light, shocked the pants off professional book reviewers who were quick to compare her to JK Rowling and declare her novel better than Christopher Paolini’s Eragon.

Her achievements are so diverse they question limits and shatter stereotypes. She has been getting scholastic awards (for Math, Science, Reading, Writing, English, Italian) since she was seven. As a pianist, she has earned honors for classical as well as modern performances. The same goes for her skills as a dancer, with a preference for jazz and hip-hop. She also excels in vocal technique and tae kwon do.

Complete with a map of the crescent-shaped Shazra as well as a pronunciation guide to unlock the unusual words used, ‘Neath Crescent Light is essentially a tale of good versus evil. Uncannily, the then 12-year-old writer created a sophisticated tale of how evil grew from an obsession for youth. A powerful sorcerer’s thirst for immortality enslaves four teenagers who must do battle with magical forces to attain freedom for themselves and their people. Certainly, this is complex work for an adult, let alone a minor prohibited by law to marry, vote or drive a car.

Even so, the teenager swears her life is far from surreal. “I still read my favorite books; go out with my friends; and I still have to study really hard for school. When other people my age learn that I have published a book, they’re usually surprised and sometimes a bit disbelieving. When I first told my friends about my book though, most of them laughed and said that they saw it coming. Well, that’s what I get for writing novelas in their birthday cards!

“I’m not really sure of what people think when they read my book, but I’ve been told that it is good. A lot of people have been asking when the sequel will come out,” shares Marie by e-mail.

Our online chat interview reveals much of the spirit and excitement Marie infused in her novel. Born in New South Wales, she was raised decidedly Filipino. Her Aussie accent, she explains apologetically, keeps her from speaking a language she grew up understanding pretty well. Frequent visits to the Philippines have made her an avid fan of Goldilocks products. While waiting for the famous fast food chain to spring up in her neighborhood, she makes do with homemade versions of polvoron which she shares with grateful friends. Quite possibly, bedtime stories told by her parents (including tales of “the girl who turned into a pineapple and…the beautiful girl who lived in the mountains of Los Baños, Maria Makiling”) gave her an appetite for the fantasy genre.

“I’ve always loved reading books since I was a little kid. I guess I liked them so much that I wanted to create my own. So I did,” she explains rather simplistically about how she became a writer over the course of her short childhood. “I loved the Deltora Quest series when I was younger. Garth Nix’s Sabriel, and Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief are also some of my faves. My parents are also both avid readers, but I think I have developed my own taste.”

By age nine, she was churning out winning poems and short stories. Though they were still little victories, Marie kept writing with the support of her family, friends and teachers. ’Neath Crescent Light was a short story she wrote in Year 6. Inspiration for plots and characters came from what she knew best – people, experiences and dreams. As animatedly as one could be via chat, Marie confesses that Xyrnid (one of the main characters) was a depiction of a “crazy and hilarious” friend whose bad luck was matched by his creativity in “getting out of messes.” Somehow, almost instinctively, she left the story hanging – allowing it to grow at a later time.

That time came soon after, during the holidays between Year 7 and 8 when her family moved from the country town of Northam (where she finished her primary schooling) to the West Australian capital of Perth. Since she still had no friends in her new home, Marie wrote “to entertain” herself. She explains: “Although I did want to write a book for quite a while, I wasn’t sure if it was realistic that I’d be able to publish while so young. I wrote in the style that I enjoyed and, being a teenager, I suppose that’s the style that came through. My sister Frances, who is now 14, was the first to read my novel. I remember her trying to guess what would happen next, and who was actually who.

“Writing is one of my favorite pastimes, and I try to fit it in between my schoolwork and social life. Usually I find time to write on holidays and spare weekends, meanwhile concentrating on my academic subjects during the school term. I think if you love doing something, you’ll find the time and place for it. I suppose finding a healthy balance is the important bit. It was one of my childhood dreams to publish a book one day. About half-way through ’Neath Crescent Light I figured that it might actually be possible. So I told my parents, who encouraged me.”

Ironically, it was her youth that kept her almost powerless in the real world. Suspecting that her novel was being rejected on account of her age, Marie stopped mentioning how young she was. The rejections, as if to prove her point, were replaced with interested queries. In the process, she also learned a thing or two about the publishing business.

For one thing, publishing houses refused to consider unsolicited manuscripts which did not come from literary agents. And when Marie finally got the nod from four literary agents, their terms were so unacceptable her parents Bien and Fay decided it was best to self-publish her novel. This was how her raw manuscript landed in the hands of professional reviewers and, much later, her editor. 

“Meeting her for the first time was pretty scary, partly because I’m naturally quite a shy person, and partly because I was terrified that she was going to shred my manuscript to pieces,” Marie now admits. “Fortunately she was quite nice – thorough with her editing, but nice – and since working with her I have learned even more about writing and the publishing business. The most shocking experience so far would have to be the moment when I first held my book in my hands, with its shiny cover, 432 creamy pages and its own barcode on the back, fresh from the press! Until then, the writing had been fun, the editing had been painstaking and educational, and the publishing process was basically a long wait (more than a year after I completed the full manuscript) – but finally holding the finished product in my hands totally blew me away.”

Rivalling that elation was witnessing her books sell at book signings. The profits do not, naturally, come close to those of the Harry Potter series. Still, Marie has devoted part of her earnings to her dance company; the primary and secondary schools she has attended; World Youth Day (which she attended last July); and the rebuilding of the Cathedral in Perth.

Among her most immediate goals is to pass her end of Year 11 exams. Next to that would be to complete the sequel to ’Neath Crescent Light (already half done) and get it published. Though an exceptional student, having been ranked in 2005 among the top 1 percent in the Australian Mathematics Competition for Westpac Awards, the incoming high school senior at Lumen Christi College wants nothing more than to have fun while still maintaining her grade point average.  

Future plans, at this point, are still hazy at best. Says Marie: “I still haven’t decided on what course to take after high school. I’d love to do medicine, but there are also so many other possible careers that I would like to look into. Whatever it will be though, I will keep on writing. I’d love to continue writing fantasy novels. Fantasy stories seem to be constantly swirling around the back of my mind. I don’t think I’ll ever stop writing fantasy; it just spills out of my head and onto paper. Other genres are also fun and interesting to write, and hopefully I can continue to publish books, in other genres as well as in fantasy.”

As if being a novelist at 16 wasn’t enough of a sign what her career should be, Marie remains truly uncertain about what else she can accomplish. “I hope that what I do will benefit others as well,” she stresses. “I am passionate about trying to make a positive impact on the world, however small my part may be.”

Then, finally allowing her suppressed ego to speak up, Marie adds that it would be “pretty awesome” for something she has written to be made into a movie. The next line she types on her computer keyboard, almost predictably downplays her accomplishments. “I hope that I will be that lucky at some stage.”

At 17, if luck is all she needs, she has more than enough time.