Ayza Soza

My name is Anthony. I'm 19 years old and am currently a sophomore at High Point University. Let me get this out of the way, I'm horrible with poems; both writing and reviewing. If anyone who writes strictly poems reviews one of my pieces, I thank you very much, but i will not be able to return the favor, knowing that i wont be able to provide helpful feedback. If you should sometime write a short story, send it my way, and I'll try my best to assist you there. Thank you.

ABOUT ME

I was born and raised on the Jersey Shore and even though I'm going to be moving away sometime in the future, I will always consider it my home. I am proud to be from New Jersey. I hope one day to return to New Jersey. Other than writing, I'm a big fan of music and film. I've played the drums nearly my entire life and have a vast collection of CDs that spans nearly every genre. Film is a newer interest to me. It greatly interests me.

BACK STORY TO WRITING IN MY LIFE:

I guess from a young age I've always had a small interest in writing, but it really became a serious thought as a career my sophomore year of high school. During my early years, I would write, illustrate and publish (me stapling it together) my own stories, usually about sheriffs or secret agents.

The summer between my sixth and seventh grade year, I took a two week summer creative writing course at a local community college where I wrote a story about an attack on the US. Because i didn't have much of a creative mind then, I based the attack in Hawaii, like Pearl Harbor. About two months later, September 11th took place.

I gave up writing for a part, but never lost my love for it. From middle school till halfway through sophomore year, I wished to become a doctor, which was a joke, because I was strictly a right-brain thinker while the medical field is filled with math and science, which I never excelled in.

My sophomore year, I got my true inspiration to become a writer when my English teacher assigned a creative writing assignment based off of a obituary. This story is posted on here under "An Officer and a Scoundrel". She praised me and I took off from there.

I have taken two creative writing classes in high school, attended a creative writing class at the UARTS in Philadelphia, and taken a course in college titled Fact or Fiction: Finding a Form which was taught by novelist Lynn York.

WRITING IN MY LIFE NOW:

Now I'm a sophomore at High Point University focusing on an English-Writing and Communications-Journalism double major. My short story "The Willow and the River" has recently been published in High Point University's literary journal Apogee.

My short term goal is to become a journalist, living in the Charlotte area who will eventually turn into a highly successful novelist.

I wish to someday become a famous, award winning, bestselling author remembered years after my death for novels that have created controversy and angered many.