Another Writer Reaches Silver Pen: Mackenzie Lauka!
We’ve got our next Silver Pen, and we couldn’t be more proud! Mackenzie Lauka of Indianapolis, has already written >15,000 words, and we’re barely a week into NaNoWriMo 2017!
If you want to give Mackenzie a shout out, you can find her on her website, Twitter, Instagram, NaNo, or leave her a comment on her Malala Fundraiser page. 
Read below to learn more about how awesome Mackenzie is! And maybe YOU will feel inspired to hit Silver Pen too.
What is your favorite book and/or author, and what draws you to them?
My favorite author is Jodi Picoult. It astonishes me how she is able to take such a wide range of social issues and make incredible, powerful stories around them. Her range of what she is able to write about, and consistently do it well, is inspiring.
Is this your first book? If not, what was the first book you ever finished writing?
This is my fourth year competing in NaNoWriMo and will hopefully be my third win. I have yet to go back and finish my two previous NaNos though, as they need a lot of work, but one day it will happen! The first story I remember finishing was back in middle school about a girl who lost her parents and tried to figure out her new normal. It was only 30 some pages, but for a middle schooler it seemed like a lot!
What’s the working title of your NaNoWriMo17 project?
It’s a nonfiction piece called I Don’t Know What I’m Writing.
Give us an elevator pitch of your project.
Every day we face challenges trying to figure out our place in the world and who we are as individuals. With the world and other people putting pressures on us to be a certain way, and act a certain way, it is easy to get lost and overwhelmed. I Don’t Know What I’m Writing is a guide to navigating the world and its many pressures. It is reminder that it’s ok to not know all the answers, and that no matter your current place, you are not alone.
Share your favorite line/short paragraph from your book so far.
It’s been said that we have to hear things seven times before we understand them, that it takes seven times of processing information in our brain before we accept it and recognize it as fact, but I don’t think that’s the case. I don’t think there is a set number that determines when something stays and when something goes. No matter how many times we hear something, I think we always need to hear it again.
How did you hear about the Mighty Pens?
I think it was on Twitter from a tweet Susan Dennard made!
What inspired you to join the Mighty Pens?
My day job is a curriculum writer for a non-profit organization and education is very important to me. It’s heartbreaking to think young girls around the world don’t have access to education. I want to do everything I can to make an impact on people’s lives and giving them an education and opportunity to grow.
Congratulations once more, Mackenzie!! And keep on powering on!!