Texoma teen publishes book

Van Alstyne, Texas (KXII) - Falling asleep in class is not something necessarily encouraged in school.

But for 13-year-old Nirmani Walpola, taking a nap during yoga class two years ago ended up sparking the idea that would inspire her to put pen to paper and write a book.

“All of a sudden, it’s just like some lightbulb turned on, and then I told my friends about the book, and they were like you should write it,” said author Nirmani Walpola.

That’s exactly what she did.

She wrote a young adult novel about two middle school friends who kept the same secret from each other.

They’re assassins, and little do they know, they work for the same organization.

While Nirmani wrote, she had a secret of her own.

Nobody knew she was actually writing a book until she finished it.

“I don’t know why to this day, I kept it a secret, but I’m glad now that I did so that I could just focus on the book more,” said Walpola.

Writing the book was half the battle.

She said she got rejection after rejection from publishers.

When she wanted to give up, she said her family rallied beside her.

“I wanted to give her a sense of how real life works,” said Supun Walpola, Nirmani’s dad. “If you have a goal in mind, you have to persevere, and I think taking her though that process as a life lesson was part of it.”

She finally reached out to the right editor and connected with a global publishing organization called Emerald Books.

“I was very lucky enough for them to say, ‘we want to publish your book,’ and I said yes,” said Walpola.

This accomplishment isn’t the end of her story.

She said she has a sequel up her sleeves, and this time, it’s not a secret.

Her book is available on Amazon, and she posts updates about her writing on Instagram.

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