Kind, reserved, humble, and hard-working—all things that describe the senior who has just written her second novel. Born in New Hampshire, Rachel Pond moved to Western during the summer before her freshman year for the creative writing pathway that was offered here. In her sophomore year, Pond was chosen and celebrated as a Shining Star, a program where students are recognized for their talent and future in the arts. In the coming years, Pond plans on majoring in English and becoming a teacher which is something that she “shines at, according to creative writing teacher Kelly Burnette.
The blurb at the back of “Curiosity Jones Killed My Cat”, Pond’s second novel, states, “…Lucy is perfectly content with her so-called boring life led by her dull self. But what if luck and chance have a way of sabotaging your plans and sticking to her some old ways? And if Curiosity Jones, her crush since 8th grade, has something to do with it?” Lucy, Jimmy, and Curiosity are the main characters of the book, and their relationships drive character development.
Pond began writing her new novel the summer before her freshman year. The title was inspired by a joke that she told her stepmom which played off the saying “curiosity killed the cat” but if curiosity was instead a person. She recently finished her over 400-page manuscript a few months ago and is currently in the tedious editing process. She hopes to publish it in the future, saying, “I believe the plan as of right now is to try to get connections in the publishing world. I did not realize how difficult that would be. If I don’t find a way in that way I might end up self publishing.”
Pond was inspired to begin writing from her dad who “is very much the same [as me]. He has a similar personality to mine.” Other than her father, Stephan King’s “On Writing” inspires her to write whenever in a dry spell. Her writing style is described by Burnette as, “not super flowery but provides enough vivid detail that you can really identify with her characters and imagine the setting that she’s created as if you’re there.” Pond wrote her first book in middle school which was “more of an experiment to see if I could actually write a book.” Aside from her novels, Pond also writes short stories and works on Western’s Literary Magazine.
During her junior year, Pond began the Writer’s Box club. 15-20 students attend each meeting, and Pond will lead lessons, brainstorm, or play games related to writing with fellow students. Pond created the Writer’s Box to “create a community where writers, and also people who are creative can support each other. It’s also kind of become a place for fun and chaos.”
According to Pond, “Writing has a way of not only unifying people, but helping people to understand each other… it’s a way for people to get out of their own worlds and out of their mind for a while and walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.” Specifically for young people, writing is important because it “helps them process their lives, the world around them, and their emotions,” according to Burnette.
