Meet Pranav Sunil, The Grade 5 Child to write Thriller Fiction

'Tales of Terror' is a new fictional book by Pranav Sunil, a grade 5 student of CMR National Public School. The book is a collection of 15 short stories about strangers, murderers, monsters, and terrifying events that cannot be explained. The author has captured the thrill and fear of these unexplainable events. It promises to keep readers hooked into the world of terror, the supernatural, horror, adventure, and fantasy.

The budding author has published the book on Amazon, available in Kindle and paperback versions. The blurb on the book reads – "Being followed home at night on a lonely street, finding a stranger standing in your kitchen at night with a bloody knife, realising that someone was visiting your house through a secret passage, finding piles of skeletons in a tunnel and much more."

Pranav was motivated to write the book to explore his creative side. Pranav is based out of Bengaluru and is currently studying at CMR National Public School (CMRNPS) in grade 5. His favourite fiction books that he has penned are the ones that are inspired by his role model, Stephen King.

The Telegraph Online Edugraph recently got into a candid chat with the young author to know more about his interests. “The past couple of years have been life changing for many of us. I was a person who spent most of my days outside my house. Apart from going home to eat and sleep I practically spent my entire evening outdoors playing until my legs fell off or until my mother had to remind me that I had a home and that I needed to spend time with my family for a while too. So, during the pandemic, I felt like a mouse trapped in a cage. I did not know how to keep myself engaged and at the same time not create any ruckus inside my house. It was around that time that I developed a keen interest in reading. Though I used to read earlier too, I used to prefer playing outside with friends. My parents encouraged me to read for two reasons. One, that reading would help me build my language skills and two they found the house more peaceful while I was immersed in the books. To help me even further, the Book Nook on Schoology provided me with a plethora of books for me to read without having to run out of space for the books at home. I remember writing book reviews for those books and submitting them. Book Nook truly helped me get exposed to a wide array of book collections from various authors that instilled in me the confidence to write someday” added Pranav

Stephen King once said, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." Taking a cue from the same, the young writer embarked on his journey to make a difference at a young age. “I started working on my stories whenever I had time and slowly my stories started taking shape. Once I was done with 15 stories my mother helped me with editing the stories and also, she helped me in making the illustrations for each story. The entire process, starting from choosing the font of the text to the title of the book was very fascinating. When all was done, we both sat together and designed the book cover ourselves,” stated Pranav.

There is a common saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, but eventually all of us decide the book we choose to read based on its cover. Having understood that, the young Pranav wanted to make his book cover as catchy as possible and together with his mother he worked on designing a beautiful cover. “We made my dad proofread the entire manuscript to avoid any missed-out errors. My mother then approached a couple of publishers who in turn helped us in publishing the book and making it available on the e-commerce platform. All through the process I used to share my excitement with my teachers too, who were equally excited about it and encouraged me constantly. We then eagerly waited for the author's copy to [arrive so we could] touch and feel the very first book I wrote” recalled Pranav.

As J.K. Rowling once said, “Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic”. Hence writers all across the world can create their own magical world with their words if they take the initiative to take the first step. “Apart from reading as a hobby, I have always resorted to music as a relaxation. I have been learning to play the keyboard for the past 5 years and I have been blessed with opportunities to perform on various stages a few times. I would utilise my free time learning to play new songs. Recently, I have also developed an interest in learning to play violin” said Pranav.

Child writers clearly indicate that there's no age as such to make a mark on the table of bestsellers. Ranging from good fantasies to some of the best thrillers, these young authors also have some great ideas to share with the world.