Madison Vettorino
By Ali Booth
If you google the name Madison Vettorino, you’ll find a picture of a crying, although happy, 13 year old. It’s from the day she found out her novel, All That Glitters, had been picked up by a publishing house for print.
“Everybody expects me, as a writer, to be able to put things into words. But that day was surreal. I can’t find the words to describe what that felt like,” she says of the moment her talent for writing was recognized.
It was that same ambitious 13 year-old-girl who set her alarm for 4:30 a.m. to write before school and then rushed home from 8th grade to write more. “We have a pool and all my cousins would come over,” she remembers of the summer of 2011. “I loved swimming with them but writing was more fun so I’d be inside all day at my little laptop!” Madison giggles as she looks back at her early teens. “My parents always taught me to do what I’m passionate about, but I was crazy about writing. They knew I was crazy!”
The now freshman magazine journalism major and English writing minor from Connecticut hasn’t changed much. She has a list of 100 things she wants to do in life. “It’s all over the place,” she says, counting off her goals. “I think of myself as someone who has a lot of different aspirations. That’s what makes me unique,” says the self proclaimed girly girl and hockey lover. “I like the idea of not being what people expect you to be,” Madison adds.
Visiting Peyto Lake in Canada, writing for Teen Vogue, learning how to skate backwards, opening a book store/tea shop, living in New York City: these are just a few of the things she hopes to accomplish. And she’s already begun checking some off of her lengthy list. “I had a goal when I was younger to write 50 novels throughout my lifetime and I know that sounds lofty and ambitious…but I’ll try.”
“But I’ll try” are the words Madison has chosen to live by. She’s never believed in shying away for fear of failing. “Most of the times people see failure, and it’s all in their head,” she says, explaining her positive outlook. “There will always be a breakthrough. I really believe in that. As long as you don’t give up you can work through any self-perceived failure.” She admits that writing doesn’t always come easy. There are days where she wants to slam the laptop shut and walk away, but she recognizes that you owe it to yourself to keep trying. “I don’t believe in pursuing things because you’re good at them. I pursue things because I enjoy them and that’s how you become good at things,” she explains.
While writing is a consistent in her life, she’s seen her passion grow and transform. “Ten years from now your ideas might be different or life may be different so your writing is going to be different,” she says. Right now, she’s writing poetry, short fiction and articles for The Circle. But, she hasn’t left her ambitious 50 novel goal behind.
“I’m definitely going to publish again,” Madison says confidently, sure of herself and of her future. “Who sits down at 13 and writes thinking they’re going to publish a book at 15?” Not many. Five years ago, Madison sat inside on a summer day calling every publishing house she could find on Google, asking them to publish her book. “They basically all said ‘no, sorry we don’t do that.’ They thought I was just a random kid,” but she didn’t give up. And she still hasn’t.