"Ideas are Cheap, Words are Not."- Author Interview from the Daily News, November 14th, 2025

While I was doing my first book signing late last year at the Colombo International Book Fair, I had a conversation with a charming and articulate man, who I later learned was the Daily News Reporter Channa Wijekoon. He most graciously offered me a chance for an interview, and honestly? I had a lot of fun answering his questions, and they made me think about topics in ways I hadn’t considered before.

Here’s a link to his news article below:

https://dailynews.lk/2025/11/14/features/894486/ideas-are-cheap-words-are-not/

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Writers or authors, to be precise all over the world take readers on mind-boggling voyages with their intriguing stories. Being a writer with the capacity to cater to the international markets truly is a gift. We do have our Sri Lankan authors who are occasionally noticed and recognised in the global arena.

Young Sri Lankan author Cheka Mendis who is still a schoolboy is on a quest to conquer the international stage. Cheka is a student of Ananda College, whose earliest formative years however were spent in Boston, USA.

He has already proven his mettle by gaining recognition from a prestigious entity in the country for his first two novels.

In an interview with the Daily News, Cheka apart from discussing what inspired him to embark on writing which he describes as ‘the ultimate form of escapism’ touched upon important aspects that would urge budding authors to give their thoughts on.

Q: Tell us about your literary work and recognitions that were bestowed on you

Smoke and
Mirrors that brought
Cheka the 2020 State
Literary Award

A: Well, all the way back in 2015, my parents came across a ratty exercise book full of poems I was writing in my free time. They encouraged me to write more and more, culminating in the self-publishing of the collection “Glorious Morning” in the same year. That was a huge turning point for me.

Soon afterwards, I started working on my first novel, and first installment in the Ryan Neville series, “Smoke and Mirrors”. This was the first book I published with Sarasavi Publishers, finally released in 2020, just before the onset of Covid 19. Smoke and Mirrors was awarded as the 2020 State Literary Award Winner for Youth Literature in the open category by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and National Arts Council of Sri Lanka.

I published my second novel in the Ryan Neville series “Fire through Glass” in 2024, and was honoured with another State Literary Award at the prize-giving ceremony held earlier this year.

I am Currently writing the third novel in the Ryan Neville Series under working title “Clear the Ashes”.

I also have quite a few other story projects in mind, we writers guard our early drafts with viciousness.

Q: Who is Ryan Neville. What’s in store for him for the future?

A: Ryan Neville is a mesh between Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes: a teenage detective who has to uncover mysteries and fight for justice across the world. Smoke and Mirrors went down in the United States. But for Fire through Glass, I moved the location to here in Sri Lanka. It was a fascinating experience to write thrilling action scenes in my home country, especially because Sri Lanka is often under-represented in global culture.

Cheka Mendis with his first novel Smoke and Mirrors.

I wanted to give young kids and teenagers the chance to see one of their teenage literary heroes fight villains in Galle Face Green, or investigate crimes high up on Sigiriya. There’s no greater gift you can give people than make them feel represented in the world. That’s something I’m trying to keep in mind as I write the third book and nail-biting finale of the trilogy.

Q: How did you get the inspiration to indulge in creative writing?

A: I always say writing is the ultimate form of escapism: get yourself something, anything, to write on and write with and you can create and doom entire worlds and characters. That level of accessibility and freedom is incredibly rare in creative works and is what first drew me to it, at which point it grew monstrous tendrils and would not let me go.

We do have classics like Madol Doova, yes. However, many kids want to read something more modern and catered to their interests and must resort to Harry Potter or Sherlock Holmes translations.

What if there was a character who had strong ties to Sri Lanka, but also had the heart and excitement that can be capture the minds of young readers? From that idea, Ryan Neville was born.

Q: Do you think a writer can be groomed or is it purely an inborn talent?

A: Interesting question! However, most writers would probably offer the same answer: anyone who thinks writing is inborn is likely to be a terrible writer. We met them all the time: people who say “I’ve got an amazing idea, want to hear it?” I had one classmate tell me I could write the book for his idea and we could split the profits.

Ideas are cheap! I have a whole notebook filled with them and most will never see daylight. Writing is all about the execution of a concept, and execution is all about practice. People who think they can be a born writer hasn’t done much writing at all.

Q: Is there a particular genre of novels or plots that you are interested in writing or reading?

A: I write detective novels. Of course I like reading them. But I always recommend new writers to cast a wide net in their reading choices: if you pick up too many things from the same genre, then the book itself will sound trite and boring. Being “original” means stealing from so many different places that your final result in something entirely new.

I do walk my talk, by the way. For instance: I’m currently halfway through A Confederacy of Dunces by John Toole, a hilarious dark comedy set in the United States. Not my usual thing at all, but its social commentary is fascinating.

Q: You have international exposure as a young writer. How should young Sri Lankan writers aim at conquering global arena. What are the finer points a writer should know, when writing for the international market?

A: Two things: number one, the Internet has valuable resources. Use them! There are international writing groups you can join on social media, online writing prompts and those can give you a pretty decent overview of what the market is like.

Again, be careful to cast a wide net. It’s far too easy to get stuck in a dark, cobwebbed corner of the Net and have your viewpoint on the market skewed by that.

Number two: writing for an international market should not mean writing generic material. Not everyone knows the taste of a kavum, but everyone on the planet has stuffed themselves with sweetmeats at a local festival. It’s far more important to provide a unique perspective than a universal one – if anything, people find more to relate to if you’re sincere.