“I like to sing in my church choir, I like to write in my free time, and sometimes I like to draw,” freshman Anastasia Reimann said, brimming with creativity and religion. “I’ve always loved music of the church and singing in general. People told me I had a good voice … I attend St. Anthony’s Orthodox Church. My dad’s the priest there.”

Despite her musical involvement, Reimann dwells in literature. “I’d say fantasy or sci-fi at this point [is my favorite genre]. There’s so much you can do with it.” This adoration is prominent, as her favorite books are “Harry Potter seven: ‘The Deathly Hallows’ or ‘The Book Thief.’ I love ‘The Book Thief’ … the descriptions are amazing; it’s narrated by Death … so it’s pretty cool.”

Reimann does not simply read, however. She writes—and began her hobby at age ten. “I started typing on my mom’s iPhone; I got an idea when we were at a beach house in Oceanside. I’ve just kept writing since then.”

Her ideas have grown and merged since. “[What I write] all depends on the idea. I’ve written everything from contemporary to — right now I’m working more on urban fantasy, I think.”

“[My story is] about a covenant of vampires in Alaska. An orthodox priest ends up coming to their covenant and because they’re basically demons … they’re kinda repulsed by this guy.”

Reimann’s novel isn’t simply a clash of events between two opposing forces. She’s trying “to convey ‘the community saves’” with Ephesians 6:12 as her theme verse.  She summarized it as, “We’re not at war with people,” Reimann said. “We’re at war with evil spirits.”

She wrote her novel for an annual competition called NaNoWriMo, a quasi-acronym for National November Writing Month. NaNoWriMo.com states, “National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.”

Reimann reached roughly 60,000 words at the competition’s end. “I just hit two hundred pages last night, including the title page. I’m hoping to get it to 90k, revise it, and maybe … start querying [for a publisher]. I’m hoping to get it published.”

Amid her colossal literary passion, Reimann enjoys artistry. “Sometimes I’ll … try to draw one of my characters; and I remember one time I tried to draw a picture of my friend because we thought it was hilarious and it came out pretty well.”

“Life is all about balance,” Reimann said, transitioning to a talk of life. “And especially in high school you’re learning how to balance different stuff like … hobbies and sports.”

Between singing, writing and drawing, Anastasia Reimann’s relations with art and literature are abundant. If she could advise Classical High one thing, it would be to “just make sure you make time for yourself in order to relax and find that balance.”