On the write track
I am your typical teenager. High on ambition and bubbling over with ideas. I am academically-inclined, but I also make sure to keep myself updated on Ranbir Kapoor’s latest girlfriend,” says 15-year-old Shreya Mathur, who’s making her debut as an author in the literary circuit.
HarperCollins India has acquired rights to Shreya’s Young Adult novel on the basis of a synopsis and sample chapters. Interestingly, the novel also had offers from four other publication houses.
Her book, But Ira Said… is about a teenage girl called Ira, who discovers that she can predict question papers and the twists and turns her life takes thereafter.
“When 15-year-old Ira discovers her ‘ability’ to predict question papers, she thinks that she has gone nuts. Ira has to deal with her enthusiastic bunch of friends, unbelieving parents and supremely greedy teachers who all have their own vested interests at heart,” Shreya explains.
Shreya felt the lack of young adult fiction actually written by young adults in India. “Being a teenager, I think Indian teens and their parents would relate to the emotions and nuances in my book,” she says.
But did writing her debut book mean giving up or cutting down on Facebook, computer games and girly pasttimes? “While I do enjoy all these activities, I am a voracious reader and love writing much more. So, writing the book provided a welcome break during my study leave for the Board exams,” says Shreya, who completed her Class 10 and calls herself a contemporary writer, and a keen observer of people.
“I absolutely love Jane Austen. I don’t think anyone on earth has read Pride and Prejudice as many times as I have. While I enjoy all genres, my favourite writers are J.K. Rowling, Jeffrey Archer, Paulo Coelho, Sophie Kinsella and Meg Cabot. Among Indian authors, I like Anuja Chauhan and Vikram Seth,” she says.
While she loves her affair with the written word, she’s not too sure of a full fledged career in writing. “I intend to take up science at one of the good junior colleges in Mumbai as soon as the admission process starts. But I will definitely take up a profession in the creative arts. I wish to continue my writing while pursuing a career in architecture,” says Shreya, who’s based in Mumbai.
“I enjoy creative arts. I have always tried to maintain a diary, but I tend to be lazy occasionally. Besides writing, I enjoy sketching, painting, watching movies and listening to music. When I’m not doing the aforementioned, I am forever on the phone with my friends,” adds Shreya, who approached the publishers through literary agency Writer’s Side.
For now, the spunky girl is firmly on the write track, and all set to ink her name in the publishing industry.
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