If anyone were ever born to be the writer of Beyond the Pages, a new column dedicated to researching authors and analyzing their writing styles, it would have to be Cora Roberts. Entering her first year with clay, thirteen-year-old Cora’s love of books began with her parents who gave her a passion for fairy tales and fantasy. As she grew, however, her love of stories spread to the people who wrote them such as Andrew Peterson, S. D. Smith, Shakespeare, and Brian Jacques. Together, this love of stories and her fascination with the ways in which they are made shaped her into the perfect candidate for clay’s first Beyond the Pages columnist.
Outside of her newfound position at clay, Cora is not only entering into her fourth year at TPS but also her third country. After having already moved from Virginia to China when she was four for her parents’ mission work, Cora’s family was evacuated from Wuhan in 2020 due to Covid via cargo plane and relocated to Taiwan. Now settled there alongside her parents and three younger siblings, she has continued to spend her days not only reading but writing as well, a passion that has grown in her ever since she was nine. Using her skills as an artist as well as a writer, she has gone as far as to begin writing and illustrating her own book with a main character almost as quirky, dramatic, and creative as she is. In addition to writing and drawing, Cora enjoys playing volleyball and spending time with others. She also recently fell in love with another of the arts after performing in her first musical.
As much as her creativity defines her, however, all it takes is spending a small amount of time with her to see that nothing has shaped her more than her deep passion for Christ and his message. Growing up a missionary kid, Cora experienced not only the exciting side but also the difficult goodbyes and hardships of being on the mission field, yet even so has begun to feel God’s call to spread His message throughout the world, whatever form that may one day take. Even after the hard move from China, her faith has only grown under the influence of her parents, and more than anything else, she wishes she could tell the entire world how much Jesus loves them. Without a doubt, both the staff and readers of clay are truly lucky to be able to welcome Cora Roberts to the team.