While most student were sleeping, eating, and possibly working out over the summer, Reece McDaniel, a freshmen here at Ascension was winning a state-wide writing contest.

Reece competed in Louisiana Writes with more than a 1,o00 applicants. He entered the contest as an eighth grader in the 7th to 8th grade age group and placed first.

“Framed” was the name of the short story that Reece’s winning story. According to Reece, “‘Framed’ is about a man who is framed for murder over a gambling debt and is trying to get out of prison, all while using Hurricane Katrina as his coverup.”

For winning the contest,Reece will receive his own copy of the anthology, a medal of honor, and a certificate presented to him by the Governor Bobby Jindal at the Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge on Nov. 2.

Reece says that he enjoys writing fiction stories and that they come to him very easily. He does not like writing essays for school or answering essay-like question, nor does he like writing about himself. He just prefers fiction.

“I got the prison idea off the Internet and my mind just rolled off that,” said Reece. “The starting point is the hardest point, but once I get started, it just flows.”

According to Reece, writing is his escape, where he enters another world and has nothing to worry about.

“It allows me to express myself in ways I otherwise could,” stated Reece.

This year, Reece is trying new things like writing songs lyrics instead of sticking with writing short fictional stories. According to Reece, “writing song lyrics is a lot different that writing short stories.”

Another main reason Reece likes to write is because of his seventh grade teacher, Mrs. Pharris, who believed in him and gave him the confidence to pursue writing.

Besides writing, Reece also enjoy fishing, playing guitar, golf, and hunting.

“I LOVE fishing with my dad and brother,” he said. “I like saltwater fishing better than fresh, because the fish are bigger, more colorful, and taste better.”

Although Reece does not believe that he is good at playing golf, he still loves to play and spend time with his dad, brother, and uncle.