12-Year-Old Author Turned Nursing Student: Adaeze Macphilips on Grief, Legacy,  Her New Book

By CAVIMAGES Media

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At just 12 years old, Adaeze Macphilips did what many aspiring writers spend decades dreaming of — she published a book. Now 18, the nursing student and author is preparing to release her second book, The Shadow of Envy: Understanding the Green-Eyed Monster, while balancing hospital shifts with her writing.

In an exclusive interview with CAVIMAGES Media, Macphilips opened up about the loss that sparked her writing journey, the legacy of her late father, and why she believes nursing and storytelling are two sides of the same calling.

Macphilips published her first book, My Father's Legacy, in 2021 through Inspiration Publishers, Lagos. The 36 - page, seven-chapter prose collection with illustrations was written when she was just 12 — a fact she gently corrects when people say she was 13.

"I wrote my first book at 12 years old and not 13 years old, ma," she said with a smile.

The book was inspired by the loss of her father, a Vanguard Newspaper Editor.

"Every Father's Day is a painful reminder of his absence in my life. Dad, I wish I could just turn back time," she wrote in one piece. "Writing became my way of holding onto him."

But grief was not her only motivation. Macphilips also wanted to follow in her father's footsteps.

"My dad was a writer, and I inherited that love for books and writing," she said. "Publishing became a way of following my dad's path."

Even at 12, her stories tackled weighty issues — kidnapping, child labour, early marriage, exploitation, and the treatment of orphans — blending folkloric tales with contemporary problems.

"I believed children could handle truth wrapped in story," she explained.

Reflecting on what she learned about her father through the writing process, Macphilips said she came to see him as her hero and pattern.

"I wrote about his love, his hugs, and the way he showed up for me — those things shaped who I am today," she said. "The true legacy of a father is not written in his Will, but in the conscience of his children."

That lesson, she added, is one she is living out daily.

About herself, she discovered resilience.

"Despite the pain of being fatherless, I refused to give up," she said. "Writing helped me turn grief into purpose."

She also found her voice.

"I learned I could use stories to teach moral lessons about justice, greed, forgiveness and kindness," she said. "I realised I was carrying on my dad's legacy not just by missing him, but by creating. Today I walk tall into the future knowing I will soar."

Macphilips credited her father's career as a journalist for shaping her discipline, curiosity, and courage.

"My dad's newsroom was my first classroom," she said. "He showed me a woman can be soft and still be strong, and a writer can be gentle and still be powerful."

She recalled one of his favourite sayings: "If you are going to tell someone's story, tell it right. And if you are going to care for someone, care like it's your own."

That principle, she said, now guides both her writing and her nursing.

"In nursing, that means I treat every patient like they matter, because their story matters," she said. "In writing, it means I don't chase headlines. I chase truth and humanity. That's his legacy living through me."

The one lesson she carries everywhere, she added, is simple: "Do the work well and do it for people."

Now pursuing a nursing career while writing her second book, Macphilips said she sees no conflict between the two.

"I see nursing and writing as two sides of the same calling: caring for people," she said.

How does she balance them?

"Same energy, different rooms," she explained. "Nursing is hands-on, in the moment. You are reading vitals, pain levels, fear in someone's eyes. Writing is slower. You are reading subtexts, memory, and what people don't say out loud."

She said boundaries keep both honest.

"I try not to let one bleed the other dry," she said. "When I am on shift, I am fully there for bodies. When I am writing, I am fully there for stories. I don't think I could do one well without the other."

Five years after her first book, Macphilips said her writing has evolved significantly.

"At 12, my voice was big, loud, and curious. I was writing to figure out the world. I wanted to be heard," she said. "At 18, my voice got quieter but sharper. I am writing less to impress and more to connect. My purpose shifted from tell a story to tell the truth in a story."

Stylistically, she has learned to cut more and trust silence.

"I used to overwrite everything," she admitted. "Now I trust subtext and letting readers fill in the gaps. The sentences are shorter, but I hope they hit deeper."

Her second book, The Shadow of Envy: Understanding the Green-Eyed Monster, explores the root of envy, its destructive power, how to recognise its signs, how to overcome it, and how to build a culture of understanding and support.

"My first book was about wonder," she said. "This one is about consequence."

Asked what she would tell a 12-year-old who has a story to tell but is scared to begin, Macphilips offered three pieces of advice:

"Start messy. Big stories don't start big. They start with one sentence in a notebook, a voice note on your phone. Nobody writes a book on day one," she said.

"Scared is normal. Scared just means you care about it. You don't need the whole world to hear it yet."

And finally: "Don't throw away drafts. Every writer has terrible first drafts. That's where the good stuff hides."

Asked what one sentence she would hope her father would say if he could read her second book today, Macphilips paused, then spoke softly.

"I see you on every page, and you made me proud."

Adaeze Macphilips is a writer, nursing student, and living legacy. Her first book, "My Father's Legacy," is available now. Her second book, "The Shadow of Envy," is forthcoming.