14-year-old author comes out with second novel

New Delhi: Delhi-based Yashvardhan Shukla, who at that age of 14 years can be considered among the county's youngest novelists is out with a second book, a sequel to his 2014 fiction fantasy "The Gods of Antarctica".

The 14-year-old writer's new book 'A Space Odyssey' is a mythological-science fiction tracking the journey of a boy who travels to space to fight the Antarctican God of Death - Takhatus, who is plotting to absorb the energy of planets to cause destruction and establish his supremacy.

According to Yashvardhan, writing 'A Space Odyssey' was far more difficult than writing his previous book, both published by Reader's Paradise.

"It is mainly because the characters in my story had matured. It was longer (having almost twice the word count of The Gods of Antarctica) and required a lot of attention. The only time during which I could have worked upon my book was after 10 pm when I had completed my regular studies. The writing continued for 2-3 hours everyday and I slept after midnight," says Yashvardhan, a X std student at Mount St Mary's School here.

"During the exams, I had to discontinue my writing for a couple of months. I restarted writing in the summer vacations and my first draft was ready by the end of June 2015. A lot of editing was required. The book was re-read and edited more than six times. Cover development took place in the next month and the book was finally out in November," he says.

Speaking about the process of writing, Yashvardhan says, "It requires more patience than almost any other activity. At times you feel like giving up, but you have to get over it. Unlike my previous book, my studies were not disturbed while working on this one. I managed to juggle both studies and writing along with sports."

Inspired by the likes of Amish Tripathi and JK Rowling, the young writer is currently working on his third mythological fiction.