Victoria Memorial: At 15, Anusha Subramanian has two books to her credit, the first published when she was 11.

The young author is busy preparing for her Class XII board exams but managed to take time out for a chat with her father and author Ravi Subramanian at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet, co-organised by Victoria Memorial Hall in association with The Telegraph .

Anusha wrote her first book Ponylicious when she was nine. It was about four ponies that were lost. "When I read that I realised my daughter had the ability to write," said Ravi, a banker who writes corporate thrillers.

Encouraged, Anusha embarked on her second venture. "Since dad was writing, publishers were more accessible. So I gave it a shot," was her candid explanation.

"When she wrote a full-length book, all of 45,000 words, when she was 11, I went from publisher to publisher and finally got it published when she was 12. I was more proud of that book than my own," said the doting father.

Finding a publisher wasn't all that easy. It was Kapish Mehra of Rupa who took up Anusha and her Heirs of Catriona. Onto her second book, In the Name of God, Anusha pretty much dealt with the publisher on her own. "She didn't even let me see her drafts. The publisher called me and asked me to stay away. 'You write for adults and she is writing for kids, let her write in the language they speak' I was told. Besides, it isn't wise to advise a 15-year-old, she is pretty sorted," said Ravi, who has started writing for children.

That Anusha is sorted was evident when she said, "writing will not be a full-time job, because I am academic and interested in bio-technology and genetics". She is also keen on conducting parenting sessions. Sample this: "If we (children) are passionate about something, it should be carried on parallelly with studies. You cannot stop creative pursuits for board exams, then you are cutting it completely out of our lives."