She’s all of 19 and already has three books to her credit; the latest one, It Will Always Be You, having released only last week. For MCC student Megha Rao, her tryst with writing began at the age of six, when she took to creating her own comic books.
“That was my first brush with writing. Back then, all I really wanted to do was draw, and so I began creating my own comic books. Soon enough, I realised that I would have to do the accompanying speech bubbles too, and that set the ball rolling in terms of writing,” she says.
The book, a young adult fiction, is about a boy, Aditya, and a girl also called Aditya, their clashes and subsequent romance. According to Megha, the idea for the book came to her following her interactions with a friend of the same name. “At first, I was amused that a girl was called Aditya. But when I got to know her better, I realised that she was, in fact, a very cool person, incredibly gutsy and inspiring. I knew then that I wanted to write about her, so in It Will Always Be You , I drew inspiration from her. The book is a rock-star novel and it was the perfect outlet for a person like me, since music is a vital part of my life,” explains Megha.
In her own words, the book is about finding the right person and about finding love in the oddest of places. “But it is not just romance. The book also goes deeper to deal with issues like bullying, the importance of family, finding your individuality and rising to the top against all odds,” she explains.
The third-year B.A. English student, who released her first book Alice: The Netherworld in 2012 at the age of 16, confesses that though she finished writing her latest book that same year, it took her two-and-a-half years to find a publisher. “I was determined to find a good publisher. Some of the deals would seem like they were clicking, but would fall through soon enough due to various reasons. Writing is dedicating a couple of years of your life to the book. Not being able to get it published can be discouraging. Fortunately, I found a publisher and the book is now in print,” she says.
Megha, who loves reading Sylvia Plath, Arundhati Roy and soft romances, calls herself an impulsive writer. “There are times when I cannot write a word and then there are times when I do nothing but write for days at a stretch. Once I’m done with the first draft, I give it a month before I get back to reading and working on it. It’s my way of striking a balance,” she says.
Megha now has her hands full with her next book that is slated for release next year, as part of a two-book deal she signed with her publisher.
