She’s 13-years-old and hopes to be in culinary school one day. Prisha Jain, like others her age, is chock-full of dreams and well on her way to achieving them. Unlike her starry-eyed peers, however, Prisha Jain already has a full-length published work under her belt. The Dead Revived, a fantasy novel about a woman named Susan who finds herself catapulted into a fantasy world of superpowers, took six months to write and marks her first foray into the literary world and she hopes it won’t be her last! She talks to Ralph Alex Arakal about the joys and challenges of being a teen writer in the millenial world of tiny-tales and Instagram.
Books were her constant companions growing up and perhaps it isn't all too surprising to see Prisha Jain where she is today. All of 13, she is already a published novelist, part of a growing but still exclusive group of prodigious young authors. As she waded through different styles, she found that fantasy appealed to her most and devoured everything she could lay her hands on, from "the Rainbos Magic Series to Harry Potter and different works around the world," Prisha smiles. "It reduces me to tears at times and makes me laugh out loud at others." According to Rajeev and Chhavi Jain, parents of the seventh-grader from Greenwood High, this was always likely to be a path their daughter would take.
Spinning a convincing yarn is one thing but as every writer soon finds out, publishing is as demanding a task. It was a challenge but one that proved to be a valuable learning experience as Prisha made her first steps towards realising her childhood dreams. "It took me about six months to complete the book since I didn't want to interrupt my academic schedule. It took another six months from there to be published. Once I was done writing the book, we sent a synopsis to a few publishing houses and received positive responses from three of them."
In her debut novel, the darkly titled, 'The Dead Revived,' the teen novelist tells the story of Susan, a young woman who hopes to lead a normal life but ends up flying to a supernatural world after a bridge break down. The ardent reader-turned-author views writing down her ideas as her escape route. Looking up to works of JK Rowling, Sarah J Maas, John Green, Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir, the young novelist, who lives with her parents on Bannerghatta Road is now working on a sequel.
Multi-talented Prisha who also is a dancer and a chess-player manages to juggle her hobbies on a daily basis giving writing top priority. "Finding the time to write and focussing on my academics as well led to the work being slightly delayed. I'm passionate enough about it to make time during the weekends and in the evenings, too," she says.
However, things weren't as easy as she thought. Finding a smooth transition from chapter to the next, filling out the characters convincingly and guiding them to the right situations - these are aspects she would like to work on. Why then did she step away from the contemporary, tiny-tale form of writing that has proved so popular on social media? "It was instinct, really. I also believe that partnering with a publishing house is another way to keep my motivation going. I knew it would take time to find my comfort with this form as I was accustomed only to short stories and poems, which were part of projects and assignments at school," she says.
An aspiring baker, something which she claims to have inherited from her mom's genes, Prisha is planning to fly to France post school to pursue higher education in culinary arts, specifically desserts. "I see myself at a café, owned by me, sitting by the window, just finishing another chapter of my book," she smiles.
So will writing be a hobby or a profession for Prisha? This is what she says: Someone once said, between the pages of a book is a lovely place to be. And I couldn't agree more. I don't think there is such a thing as too many books, just not enough bookshelves!
