Novelist and Published Author: And She’s Still in High School

Fiona Page wrote her first novel at 13. Since then, she’s written dozens of other pieces, including her short fiction story Blue Moon that beat out thousands of other submissions for publication in Phi Theta Kappa’s magazine Nota Bene. Phi Theta Kappa is the national honor society for two-year colleges.

“I’ve had other pieces published, but this publication is particularly special because I’ve submitted to the magazine before and was rejected,” Fiona says. “To be accepted this time, especially with a short fiction piece is a huge honor.” 

Nota Bene is Phi Theta Kappa’s yearly honor’s anthology that highlights the writing and artistry of Phi Theta Kappa members.

Fiona, a homeschooled dual credit student studying Liberal Arts and English at CNM, worked on Blue Moon, which tells the story of a cursed family, for over a year before submitting it for consideration.  

“The idea for Blue Moon came to me over a year ago when we were writing about haunted objects in my writing group,” she says. “My object was a spool of blue ribbon and from there I developed the story about a cursed family. It went through several rounds of revisions and edits, but all the time and effort was worth it in the end.” 

Along with Phi Theta Kappa, her CNM course work, and her high school classes, Fiona is also an editor for CNM’s Leonardo magazine and participates in French club. Fiona will graduate this spring and plans to transfer to UNM where she’ll major in English and minor in mathematics.  

With so many accomplishments already under her belt, Fiona feels prepared to take on the next chapter of her life and has no plans for slowing down. She also wants to encourage other high school students to take advantage of CNM’s dual credit program.  

“I’ve been taking college courses since I was 15, and it has absolutely helped me feel confident in my transfer to UNM,” she says. “It’s also helped me meet new people, understand different perspectives, and find opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.” 

Interested in becoming a dual credit student? Check out the Dual Credit webpage!