Interview with Caroline Cerilli, Author of "Finding Courage"

Interview with Caroline Cerilli, Author of Finding Courage

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• Question: Could we start off by having you tell me a bit about yourself and your piece?

​"I am a sophomore at Huron High School. My favorite activity is being involved in Huron Players, and I usually do costumes. It’s such a fun way to meet new friends and put together a cool show. My piece, Finding Courage, was originally written for an English assignment. When I heard about the Pufferfish submissions, I decided to work on it further and really consider my characters. Actually, I had come up with my characters for an 8th grade writing prompt but I never gave them enough time to build them a full story. I’m really glad I finally got them on paper!" 

• Question: Why did you write a story based around fictional characters manifested in reality? It sort of reminds me of one of the other pieces we are featuring, Getting A Grip On Reality.

"I wrote about fictional characters in the real world because when developing Marjory’s character, I wasn’t sure if she was actually kept busy by all of her characters or if she just imagined them around her to keep her company. I wanted to leave it sort of ambiguous. It’s not really clear if Eloise and Max are truly there." 

• Question: Why did you decide to make your main character, Marjory, a children’s book author? She seems discontent with the fact she cannot write about all the things she is interested in. It is interesting that the “darkness” which she never had to opportunity to write about is the thing that tries to take her main protagonist from Marjory.

"I made Marjory a children’s book author because I imagined her as someone with a sad childhood and young adult life. I wrote Max to portray that part of her old self, troubled and negative. As Marjory got older, she learned to be happy, and she wanted to make sure that other kids would always be able to have that feeling. I don’t think Marjory is dissatisfied with her writing, so much as she has moved beyond her past and doesn’t want to revisit it. Darkness was like a symbol for her younger years, and at the end of the story she is finally able to be free of it." 

• Question: How do you think these characters which you created as a part of your story would behave if they lived with you?

"If Max and Eloise lived with me, I think they would be a handful! Marjory sympathies with Max a lot, but his pessimistic attitude could get pretty annoying. I like Max, but I think he would be very frustrating to deal with as he is very purposefully contrary. I relate more to Eloise and her nervous but never dispirited perspective. They would both certainly keep me busy!"

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To learn more about Caroline, Finding Courage, and her writing, join us at the release of The First Edition of Pufferfish Magazine, in which she is featured, Saturday, April 30th at 310 E. Washington St. ​(see Facebook event for more details)