The Columba College 12-year-old loves to read and attributes her recent success as a writer to this passion.
Tori won the intermediate section of the New Zealand Puffin short story competition with her descriptive piece - Puffin Transformation - about a girl who starts growing feathers and shrinks into a bird.
The stories had to involve a puffin, and Tori admitted she initially had no idea what she was going to write about.
However, her extensive reading sparked a few ideas which grew into the award winning piece she submitted.
It was the first time she had entered a writing competition, and was surprised by the result.
"I can't believe it. It doesn't feel like it's happening. It's still sinking in."
Tori said the success has inspired her to enter more competitions and has strengthened her resolve to forge a career as an author.
She began writing three years ago when her parents bought her a laptop.
"I would just get an idea and then start writing. I've got about 50 short stories and lots of other unfinished stories ..."
Tori was one of 500 entrants in the competition, and two other Columba College pupils, Tiffany Robinson and Emily Williams, were finalists.
The junior section of the competition was won by Epsom Normal Primary School pupil Shreya Nair, of Auckland, and the senior section by Wellington East Girls' College pupil Bryony Campbell.
