Tiana Dora Nongkhlaw, an 10-year old from Meghalaya has become the youngest published author from the State after being adjudged the winner of the Young Author Academy creative writing contest.
Her book, “Lost Angel and other stories,” was published on Amazon after she completed it in November 2020 under the guidance of Annemieke from the Young Author Academy.
While conceptualising, visualising and writing down original short stories is not everyone’s cup of tea, for Tiana her passion to write and tell made up bed-time stories to her young brother as well as writing greeting cards to family and friends since the age of three has now got all her imagination pulled out in a book.
The book features heartwarming stories and poems on love for animals, friendship and care for the elders besides others. It features The Friendly Dragon, The Cat with No Tail, Mr. Muscle, The Toymaker and poems, Oh! Ticking Clock and The Green Banana.
The young author was able to complete the book in two months. Talking about her inspiration Tiana says, “I have always enjoyed stories. I would make up stories for my younger brother before bed and wrote a few. My parents would always encourage me to write.”
A class V student of Loreto Convent, Shillong like other students amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Tiana had to find time juggling between school lessons online and to complete her book. “I try to find time for everything, so I did my school lessons in the morning and tried to finish it before afternoon. I usually do my writing in the evening when I have free time.”
Tiana was able to submit her complete book to the competition in August, 2020.
Putting Enid Blyton’s books as her top favourite books, the young author when asked about her greatest learning experiences said, “As I am still a young author and ‘Lost Angel and other stories’ is my first book, I am still learning through everyday experiences. I have a long way to go and hopefully as I grow up, I will learn more and more from my teachers, my parents, my writing and reading.”
In her message to young aspiring authors she says, “I never imagined I’d win when I submitted my story. To me, the chances were like one out of a thousand. But I tried and gave it my best. You never know what will happen if you don’t try. So, follow your heart and you’ll be in the right direction.”
Her parents, Banshemphang Tham and Gloria Jean Nongkhlaw said writing comes naturally for Tiana. “We always encourage her to read and write. Book fairs are her favorite events and we always make sure to attend.”
Speaking about their expectations before Tiana entered the competition, the parents said, “The international competition was for kids between 8 to 16 years. We did not expect her to win but we wanted her to participate and gain a valuable experience.”
The paperback and kindle edition of the book are available on Amazon USA, UK, Japan, Australia, Canada and UAE. As for now, only the kindle edition is available for the Indian market, her parents informed.
