"I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions." – James Michener (U.S. novelist and short-story writer, 1907-1997).
This is perhaps the ideal way to describe an author's feelings as he pens the words that weave into a novel and it is also possibly the best way to describe 14-year-old author, Lishan Perera.
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| 14-year-old author, Lishan Perera. |
A student of the Colombo International School, Lishan, who has always had a passion for reading and writing, has written and published four books – The Killer, Pure Evil, Time to Die and No Second Chance, each of which is different he says, as he varies his style.
His first book The Killer, published in 2006, is about a ruthless killer who plans to make the detectives of the LA Police Force pay for something they had done in the line of duty.
The other two books, Pure Evil and Time to Die came out in 2007. The former, set in the fictional town of Woodbridge, is a tale of horror that centres around 17 year old Sandra Burns while the latter is a tale of murder and crime set in New York City, revolving around Matt Masters, a homicide detective from the NYPD, who finds himself battling two cold blooded murderers.
Lishan will also be publishing a book of short stories this year, titled No Second Chance.
Apart from books, he also tends to draw information from movies and newspapers. As part of his school curriculum he studies English Language and Literature, which includes creative writing, and he feels that this too has helped immensely.
Having encountered no problems in getting his stories published, Lishan said, "I think anybody can write and get their stories published and the age barrier is not a problem at all." Three of his books were published by Vijitha Yapa Publications, while Time to Die was published by Perera Huessien Publishing House. While all his stories are fictional, Lishan said he tries to make them "as realistic as possible."
Among the authors who have inspired him are James Patterson, Geoffrey Archer, J. K. Rowling, Ashok Ferry, Nihal de Silva and Michael Ondaatje. When asked about his future plans, the young author said he wants to do aeronautical and aerospace engineering while continuing to write as a hobby. He also said that apart from his family, his English teacher and friends have been a great influence and have helped him immensely in pursuing his hobby.
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