Sev Emanuel Pretila is a fifteen-year-old Fil-Aussie who now lives with his family in South Australia, Australia. His name is the shortened version of his paternal grandfather’s name, Severino. The name means “severe” or “stern” yet Sev is neither; he is fun-loving and friendly although he takes the important stuff seriously if need be.

He was only eleven when he wrote the original version of his debut book, which he then called “Nandi’s Quest.” One of his most favourite recollections is when his parents were freaking out because it had been taking him a very extremely-long time to finish his homework. He recalls those days of seemingly-heated discussions and lengthy pep-talks about time management, meeting deadlines, a sense of responsibility and all the works. He admits he may be exaggerating things, but he says he can’t help but describe that experience as something even verging to the tipping point of rage and war although in the figurative sense. Ultimately, his parents soon realised that he wasn’t only writing a short essay – that he was actually coming up with an almost-full-length novel that is quite unusual for his age. Well, those memories are mostly his mum’s – as she has always been Sev’s proverbial fan.

Publishing this book had been a long-delayed plan of Sev’s family. However, everything changed for the better when his youngest brother, Noah Emanuel, was born in 2020. The year had been an eventful and even a tearful one, but he and the rest of the family had been focusing on the everyday blessings. Thus, with those among other factors at hand, this book persisted.

Like the main character of the book, Sev used to like reading way back his primary school years when he got his Premier’s Reading Challenge Hall of Fame Medal. That was when he wasn’t too swamped with high school advanced school work yet. His favourite authors include J.K. Rowling and Roald Dahl.

Also during his elementary school years, he ended up as his class’ STEM student leader and the graduating class’ Principal’s Award recipient. He is one of the few students who gained entry to the Ignite Program, a highly-competitive high school program exclusively for gifted and high-achieving students.

On his free time, Sev enjoys other hobbies. Earlier on, he used to take the time to play the bass guitar but more recently tried exploring lead guitars on his own. He has been part of several school and state band performances over the years. He relishes those years when he used to play with his local basketball club and primary school basketball team, and became his team’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) for two consecutive years. A karate black belter, he was so brave when he first joined the competitions. He competed against adults because there was nobody else in his age group, and even became a state champion of South Australia at one point.

More recently, he got the Gold Medal in the State Ethics Olympiad. His team also bagged the Silver Medal in the inter-country Australasian round where they emerged as the top-ranking Australian contingent. He also represented his school in the United Nations Youth Conference and in a United Nations Security Council Mock Session. Included in his accomplishments is being adjudged as one of the best debaters in Debating SA’s inter-school competitions. He is a mere Year 10 student, but he has already become part of his school’s senior debating, band and ethics teams. 

For so many years, he has been taking the time to learn medical stuff to fulfil his dream of becoming a doctor someday. Recent events have been making him consider other career alternatives, though. Nonetheless, he hopes to pursue a field he will enjoy while being able to help others as well in one way or another.