Budding author Navya Sarikonda shares her passion for writing
A young author pursued her passion and published her book!
Navya Sarikonda is a young author from Atlanta. The Enchanters’ Child is her first novel, which she began when she was twelve. In addition to this novel, Navya has written several short stories. When she is not writing, she can be found reading or playing the piano and flute.
For more information on Navya Sarikonda's writing, please visit her websites: www.navyasarikonda.com and amazon.com/author/navyasarikonda.
The Enchanters’ Child Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/qrBBbPK7Re8
Navya tells about her own story:
It all began when I was little, seven years old, consuming any book I could get my hands on. It was then when I realized there’s something powerful contained in a book, an ability to evoke emotions and transport a reader to another world simply by words arranged on a page. It didn’t take long for me to desire to make worlds of my own and there I was, writing stories as a kid, not realizing it was the start of a larger journey.
I had initially gotten the idea for my novel, The Enchanters’ Child, when I was twelve. Previous to this work, I had dabbled in several short stories that I published onto my website, authorsorigin.com, but I began to aspire to start, and finish, a larger project to see where it would lead. Influenced by the fictional worlds of magic and otherworldly atmospheres of the books I was reading at that age, I decided to follow that genre in my writing for this book.
Writing this book was a long process. After spending two years sporadically working on the book, I decided to rewrite it when I was fourteen, incorporating some facets of the original writing but changing major points of the story and incorporating my growing writing style into the work. Once I started rewriting, there were many times when I was unsure where the plot was going or had to work on my writing style because I’m still growing as a writer. I also had to learn to balance my student work load as a high school student with writing this book, and school breaks turned into prime times to work on it. In that way, the process of writing this book taught me to utilize my time.
The Enchanters’ Child is a book about three teenagers teaming together, each for their own reasons, to defeat the Dark Sorcerer, the main antagonist of this book. Each of the three main characters has a unique past that influences the line of the story as they grapple with their identities, much like average adolescents. As they set out to complete their mission, they meet obstacles even in the form of their own secrets, which threaten to tear them apart. I sought to make this book one that can be enjoyable by any age, from small children and up.
I finally achieved my dream by publishing my book in December of 2018. The publishing process was an enormous experience as I learned what it takes to publish a book from sending cover letters to companies, to reviewing formats, to designing a cover. The process definitely paid off as the end product has resulted in a 280-page novel, and I achieved my childhood dream of publishing my own story to share with others. Publishing my work to the public was daunting and the thought of my work for others to read and critique was scary. Despite this, I’m glad to say that once I took the step to publish the book, I have been supported by family, friends, and readers as they read it. One of the best outcomes of this novel, is children approaching me and talking about how it has influenced them to read more and even to write their own stories. It has been a very humbling and overwhelming experience because inspiring others is something I used to only dream of doing.
This book has also provided me with the wonderful opportunity to donate 20% of my royalties to the St. Jude Children’s Cancer Research Center to help others. I chose St. Jude’s because of their help with my father’s close friend’s daughter who is currently battling against cancer, and I will always be grateful for how my book enables me to do this.
Overall, it has truly been unbelievable seeing The Enchanter’s Child on websites and stores such as Barnes and Noble, Amazon, etc., where it’s available for people to buy and read. This entire process has shown me the importance of persisting in a goal that’s been set and how the effort pays off.
As my journey continues, I am seeking to continue holding writing competitions for children to take part in on my website, authorsorigin.com, to inspire others to take part in writing and to show and shape their skills. The competition is held twice a year, during breaks during the months of June and December and will be judged by volunteers. I love the possibility of sharing the beauty of writing and to encourage others to pursue it.
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