Ellena Bartup penned her first story at sixteen. In fact, it was this debut novel titled His Nerd that earned the young writer a publishing contract with GALATEA.
While Ellena never took her writing very seriously until an English teacher pointed out she had talent, the signs were there. She received one of the best grades in her creative writing class. Still, she was shocked by the offer of a publishing contract. “It has meant a lot to me that people enjoyed my first story. I never expected to make it this far with my book.”
As far as writing process goes, Ellena likes to plot out her stories first. If she has a beginning, middle, and end in mind, she can work from there. Before she sits down to write, she’s got the characters named and their backstories worked out, but she’s open to making changes along the way. With His Nerd, she rewrote the ending and thinks the story is stronger for it. “It was a bit of a surprise, but I like it better this way. I think it makes it different.”
Originally, Ellena posted her writing on Wattpad, but a friend recommended Inkitt. After checking out the platform, Ellena thought her story would resonate well with Inkitt’s audience. Turns out, she was right! His Nerd became a hit.
Here’s a teaser from this coming of age fan favorite…
Ava is an invisible girl shoved into the spotlight after a cruel prank. Forced to join forces with the school’s bad boy to seek revenge, Ava gets more than she’s bargained for.
Do you ever have those days where you just don’t want to even get out of bed?
Yeah, today is one of those days. I groan and roll over looking at my alarm clock. It has already gone off twice but, I’ve snoozed it which isn’t the best of plans either, however, I’m only ten minutes late, nothing a quick rush around and a skipped breakfast won’t fix. Lucky me.
Crawling out of bed I make my way to the bathroom across the hall. Scrubbing my teeth and doing my business I stare at my reflection before walking out and heading back to my room to get changed and ready for school. Throwing on a pair of black jeans ripped at the knee and an oversized Harry Potter top with the Hogwarts crest upon it. When I say oversized, I mean two sizes too big for my petite figure but, that’s the way I like it hiding me from the outside world. I grab my ‘ugly’ pair of big black-rimmed glasses, ugly because that’s what everyone who teases me at school calls them, when they acknowledge me, and brush my excuse of hair into a loose ponytail on top of my head, letting the brown hair sway behind me.
It was the start of my final year of the sixth form, a new year and boy I was just dreading it, another year to be picked on, used and threatened. I couldn’t wait to escape and go away to university somewhere where I could have a fresh start.
Now eighteen and out of school, this Lincolnshire native plans to continue writing. Up next, we hear there’s a werewolf story in the works!
Check out Elle’s Inkitt Author Profile, and follow her for updates and new material.
Download the GALATEA APP to access Elle’s story and more!
