Ada Pridgen, a fourth-year studying English, is a three-time published author. This year, the young author released her third novel, “Zero Gravity,” at 21 years old.
Pridgen has been writing for almost 10 years and began publishing when she was 18 under the name Elizabeth Pridgen with her first book“The Life of David Earl Penning” in 2018 followed by“Neverafter” in 2019.
Pridgen said she didn’t expect to get published at all, let alone being able to publish three books.
“I’ve always had the ambition to be a published author, like other great writers such as Rick Riordan, who was my biggest inspiration,” Pridgen said. “I honestly did not think that I would get published initially, now being in my early 20s it just feels so surreal.”
Pridgen was homeschooled up until college and developed a strong passion for reading. She was mainly inspired by her mother who was born in the Philippines and learned English by reading every page in an old dictionary. Her mother’s enthusiasm for words and reading sparked Pridgen’s love for stories and literature, leading her to read books such as “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak and putting her own words and thoughts on paper.
Pridgen said her scenic upbringing in Castalia, North Carolina provided daily adventures she was able to transform into ideas for stories.
“I was very energetic, always playing outside with my cousin and younger brother, either in the woods or corn field,” Pridgen said.
At 17 years old, Pridgen said she had her doubts about completing her first novel “The Life of David Earl Penning.” As a senior in high school, she wrote the western-style novel for her great-uncle, with whom she was very close. The first draft took her three months to write and about six months to revise.
“Since I didn’t have a writer’s group, I turned to some of my relatives for feedback,” Pridgen said. “They all liked it, even though it was different.”
It was later published by Outlaws Publishing LLC in 2018 who also published her second book a year later.
Pridgen said she transferred to NC State from Nash County Community College in fall 2020 and fell in love with the school’s English Honors program. She took a variety of creative classes from poetry to fiction and joined the English Club.
“Before attending State I already had two books under my belt, but that class just gave me the motivation to keep pushing forward,” Pridgen said.
During her time at NC State, Pridgen enrolled in ENG 510, a literature class which involved reading middle English poetry. Dr. James Knowles, associate teaching professor in English, was her professor for the class. He explained that the medieval texts inspired Pridgen and helped her in choosing her genre. She said she sourced her inspiration from the medieval romance and modern fantasy tropes and conventions to produce work both modern and archaic in nature.
“Ada was very confident and versed as a fiction writer in modern genres,” Knowles said. “I think that the challenging medieval texts that we read in this class pushed her in some different directions that she hadn’t explored before. She was really excited about it.”
Pridgen said her third book has been an enjoyable challenge.
“By the time I started writing ‘Zero Gravity’ about a year ago, I definitely felt as if I found my own voice,” Pridgen said. “I felt not only challenged, but also comfortable enough to the point where I wanted to maintain such a tone.”
Pridgen said she enjoys writing fantasy due to its nuanced nature and because it can help people.
“There’s so many ways you could approach the genre, and it could still be fresh and unique,” Pridgen said. “It’s just something that I don’t think ever necessarily has cliches. And I strongly agree that the fantasy genre does help people overcome their everyday struggle, because it is something that has helped me. I truly believe it’s why the fantasy genre is one of the most popular in literature.”
Many authors choose to infuse their characters with elements of themselves, but Pridgen built her characters based on traits inspired by her friends at NC State. As for her regimen as a writer, she sets aside at least an hour or two each day for writing and jotting down sentences in addition to penning down ideas that surface when inspiration strikes.
Pridgen said she advises aspiring writers to read a lot, encouraging them to recognize writing as a challenging yet rewarding journey, especially for women writers.
“Now for women writers, I would say to be as honest and fearless as you can when it comes to writing your stories,” Pridgen said.
Looking ahead, Pridgen plans to return to the NC State Graduate School for the MFA program in creative writing as well as find a literary agent to help strengthen her career as a professional writer. She also said her next novel is already in the making as she brainstorms and gathers her fresh ideas on paper.
You can find Pridgen’s third book “Zero Gravity” here.
