Cooperstown's Rebecca Miller may not like labels, but at 14-years-old, she's already earned one that will likely stick with her for life: writer.

Based on the strength of her short story "The Unique Mind of Ophelia," Miller earned one of 20 openings for Alpha, a science fiction, fantasy and horror workshop for writers ages 14 to 19.

According to Alpha's website, the 10-day workshop is held once a year in Pittsburgh, Pa. and is designed to help develop the skills of talented young writers with an interest in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror.

Miller said she likes writing fantasy, but doesn't think people should label or call it exactly that.

"Magic and unreal things happen, but it's more like speculative fiction," she said. She described speculative fiction as writing about impossible things and events taking place in situations close to real life.

Miller is the daughter of Marly Youmans and Michael Miller of Cooperstown and she will enter ninth grade at CCS next year. She said the story she submitted to Alpha for consideration was a revision of a story written in Ann Olmstead's eighth grade English class about a girl named Ophelia. All applicants had to submit a 2,000 to 6,000 word story.

In her story, Millers said a strange little person starts appearing to Ophelia, a person whom her parents couldn't see. The little man helps her through some rough times at school, where she is picked on, but as she grows, she sees him less and less.

Then one day while she is home alone, a burglar breaks into her house. The girl tries to summon the little man for help. She sees him for just a moment, but then he disappears and the next thing she knows, the burglar is dead.

Years later, she's on medication and the reader is left wondering about Ophelia's sanity, Miller said.

"Probably she's schizophrenic, but you never know, (the little man) could be real," she said.

Miller said her inspiration for such tales can come from almost anywhere, including her own life experiences.

"Sometimes just a word or phrase will set me off on a whole story," she said. "Almost anything can make you feel inspired."

Although "The Unique Mind of Ophelia" is one of the few stories she's finished, Miller said her passion for writing really took off when she attended Brookwood School in third grade. Each day, they spent an hour or a half an hour just writing.

"That was my favorite part of the day," she said. "Now I'm doing it more to help develop a discipline. If I just pick it up and drop it, it's just not going to work."

Even if her passion didn't develop until third grade, Miller's mom said her talent was recognized at an early age. As a first-grader at Stone Academy, an arts magnet school in South Carolina, Youmans said her daughter was the first child to win a place in the school's "Written in Stone" Hall of Fame for winning the school writing contest three times.

Youmans, an author herself with six books published in her name, said the workshop will be a good experience for her daughter.

"I'm glad she's going and I think it's kind of a first step at finding out how serious she is about writing," she said. It will also be good for Miller to meet with other kids her age who are just as crazy about writing and reading as she is, Youmans said.

Although she is an established author, Youmans said she has never pushed any of her three children into futures as writers.

"I'd rather know my child is doing something where she'd be solvent," she said with a laugh.

Miller said writing is in her future, but she also plans to attend college so she isn't totally dependent on her pen. She said she's looking forward to the workshop and hopes to work on her pacing and plotting skills.

"I have trouble working out where my story is going," she said.

The conference is scheduled for July 19 through 28 and costs $900.