Issue date: 9/22/04 Section: Arts

For most nineteen year olds having their name in print isn't on their list of things to do, but for junior Michelle Sibiga it took years of hard work to finally leave her stamp on something that generations would be able to enjoy.

That stamp came in the form of "The Diamond's Eye: A Collection of Works," a book, years in the making, that will finally be released nationally on Oct. 1.

In this interview, Michelle explains everything one need to know about "The Diamond's Eye," as she takes a break from writing her second novel.

Suffolk Journal : What exactly is The Diamond's Eye: A Collection of Works all about?

Michelle Sibiga: "The Diamond's Eye" is a compilation of poems, prose, and short stories that I started writing when I was ten years old. It's divided into three categories: Sincerity, Hurt and Fury. The book touches upon the discovery of friendship and love, a preschooler's wandering mind, a ravaging flood, an obsessive stalker and more.

SJ: How did you come up with the title?

MS: I actually got inspired by my German Shepard Diamond and thought it fit perfectly.

SJ: Now in another twist of names you actually published the book under your pseudonym Mandy Aurora Copeland, why didn't you keep your original name?

MS: I thought it would be more intriguing to use a pen name like most other authors.

SJ: How long have you been working to get something you wrote published?

MS: Roughly two years.

SJ: Why did you choose to make your first published book a collection of works instead of a single story?

MS: Well because most of the stories I had written so far were short stories and not long enough to be a single book and I also had poems and prose that I wanted to have published and I had hoped to do it all as a complete set.

SJ: How did you come up with the ideas for the short stories?

MS: That's a good question. At the time I was writing them I was posting them on a message board online and I wrote what I thought people would like and the stories turned out to be a hit with my fan base online. And for every story that I wrote I felt inspired to write more. I call it writer's inspiration.

SJ: What's your favorite story in "The Diamond's Eye?"

MS: I don't have just one favorite story, but the two that I like in particular are "The Windfall" and "Dismal Sign." The reason being is because they are the latest stories I have written for the book and I feel that my writing style has grown between my previous stories and these.

SJ: Which genre interests you the most?

MS: Suspense. I like to write suspenseful stories because it keeps the reader guessing so they aren't able to put the book down.

SJ: And finally there are very few young adults that have a published book under their belt and you are one of them. It is a rare achievement. When did you hear that you were going to be published for the first time and what were you feeling?

MS: I found out December of 2003 and I was definitely shocked, but completely excited and I shared the news with everyone I knew right away.


Michelle Sibiga, or rather Mandy Aurora Copeland's, book The Diamond's Eye: A Collection of Works, will be released to the public on Oct. 1, 2004. Advance orders can currently be made through amazon.com.

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