Virginia Mason’s favorite subject in school is science, but it was her writing that garnered attention from a national magazine for young writers and artists.
Mason, 12, of Hoboken, had her story “River God” published in the July/August issue of Stone Soup, the magazine by young writers and artists.
The magazine was once called the “The New Yorker of the eight-to-thirteen set,” according to a press release.
Less than one percent accepted
Stone Soup receives hundreds of submissions every week, and accepts less than one percent of the work it receives for publication.
“When I was little, on the way to school, my dad used to read children’s magazines to us,” Mason said. “So I kind of already knew about Stone Soup. Our teachers told us that the magazine was accepting short stories, and I thought I should try.”
‘I was really excited. I started freaking out, and jumping up and down.’ – Virginia Mason, age 12
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“I was just sitting in the kitchen,” Mason said. “I always write short stories about girls as main characters. We were just upstate, so I was thinking about the Hudson River.”
Mason submitted the story in October, and found out in February that her work would be published. She described the waiting period between submission and finding out the result as what seemed like “a long, long time.” It was her first attempt at being published in the magazine.
Finding out
“They sent an e-mail to my dad, and one day he was going through his inbox and we read it,” Mason said.
The young writer was elated when she heard her work would be featured in the prestigious children’s magazine.
“I was really excited,” Mason said. “I started freaking out and jumping up and down.”
“In ‘River God’, a summer day at the river turns magical for three friends when a mysterious woman beckons them to follow her,” according to a Stone Soup press release.
Stone Soup was founded in 1973. Each issue contains 10 to 15 written selections. In its 36 years of publication, Stone Soup has published writing by children from all 50 states, Canada, England, New Zealand, Australia, Africa, and Indonesia. The stories are also accompanied by illustrations rendered by children. The magazine receives approximately 250 submissions per week, and only publishes 10 to 15 stories every two months.
Not only a writer
Virginia does not have any plans to submit more stories just yet, but says she may do so in the future.
Though her writing may have grabbed the eye of a large publication, she also takes part in a plethora of activities other than writing.
Virginia takes piano classes, and will soon start to take singing lessons.
“I might want to be a writer, but I also like to figure skate, so that might be something I want to do,” Mason said.
Virginia recently finished second in a mid-Atlantic figure skating competition.
The eighth grade Hoboken resident’s work appeared on page seven of the magazine, accompanied by an illustration by 12-year-old Zoe Yeoh of Salem, Conn.