1--What is the title of your latest release?
PAYAL MEHTA’S ROMANCE REVENGE PLOT
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Payal Mehta’s Romance Revenge Plot is an enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy, but also a story about learning that you’re enough as you are, you don’t need to cut yourself up into pieces to be palatable.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I had to write what I know, and so looking to my own teen age years in South Florida seemed like an obvious choice.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Probably, though I’d want to knock some sense into her.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Funny, awkward, endearing
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
That writing your own vulnerabilities into a character can be painful, it makes for a cathartic experience when you hit the end.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I wish I could say that I wait until I’m finished, but I will find myself going back and editing as I’m writing.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Oh no, I – there are so many answers. Food is so good. I guess right now my favorite food indulgence is mozzarella sticks. Or maybe tater tots?? No, wait, it’s chole bhature. This is an immensely difficult question.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I live in an apartment, and my writing set up is an L-Shaped desk in the corner of my room, ha! It has my ergonomic tools set up and faces a window so I can still get some sunshine on long writing days. (Though I often like to get outdoors on nice days and write at a table near some nature if I can.)
10--Who is an author you admire?
There are so many, but I’ll say some of my fellow South Asian authors who really showed me how possible it is to tell our stories and get published – Sona Charaipotra, Nisha Sharma, Nidi Chainani, Sandhya Menon to name a few. And then in terms of telling stories that use humor to examine difficult topics – Libba Bray is a master (Beauty Queens alone!!)
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
I think there are a lot of books that changed my life, but I’ll pick one that changed my approach to writing. Back in 2010, I attended the 7x20x21 panel at Book Expo America where there were a variety of people doing presentations. The idea was that each presenter had 7 minutes to present 20 slides, with 21 seconds allotted per slide. That’s where I got to see Jennifer Egan present her Powerpoint chapter of the (at the time) yet to be published (but eventual) Pulitzer Prize winning book, A Visit From the Goon Squad. That was mind-blowing to me, showing how we can use an unexpected piece of technology as a device to shape a full story.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I honestly am not even sure – it happened during the height of the pandemic, and I think so many of us had brain mush around the time. The thing I remember most is excitement and the relief of having something to hold onto when the rest of the world was falling apart, ha!
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I read pretty widely across genres, but right now I am all in on romance and… surprisingly, sports-oriented manga.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
The iconic William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet
15--What is your favorite season?
Oh man, oh man. How do I even begin to answer this question. Let me set the stage of my love for this movie – the summer I was 14, I watched it every day for a month. I can still quote it from memory from beginning to end. But if I had to choose – truly, had to – right now I am leaning towards Harold Perrineau’s rendition of the Queen Mab speech into the Young Hearts Young Free party sequence.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I just had my best birthday with a long-planned trip to Japan with one of my best friends. I’m not sure how I’ll top that next year!
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I have recommended Heather Fawcett’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries like ten times this month, so I think I’ll pivot to a TV show since it’s on my mind. I started Netflix’s KAOS recently, and it’s a take on Greek Gods (sort of), but as if they stayed an active religion into a more modern era. You have Jeff Goldblum as Zeus or Suzy Izzard as one of the three Fates. It’s so interesting so far.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Probably a toss-up between several, but right now I am leaning heavily towards Indian and Korean.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
This is usually dictated by whatever my current hyper fixation is, so right now it is re-playing Witcher 3 as much as I can.
This laugh-out-loud debut romance introduces perfectly imperfect Payal Mehta, whose plan to get her longtime crush to finally notice her is destined for success, but only if she ignores her budding feelings for her archnemesis...
Payal Mehta has had a crush on popular, athletic, all-around perfect Jonathan Slate ever since he smiled at her in freshman–year Spanish class. At a party during spring break of her junior year, Payal finally works up the courage to ask Jon to hang out. However, her romantic plans are derailed when he vomits on her Keds. Twice. But when Jon offers to take her out to lunch as an apology, Payal is convinced this is the start of their love story.
Over chalupas and burritos at Taco Bell, Payal's best jokes are landing as planned. Jon is basically choking on his Coke—and then it happens. "Do you have a boyfriend?" Payal is (finally) about to get the guy. And then he tries to set her up with his Indian friend. Payal's best friends, Neil Patel and Divya Bhatt, are just as mad about the microagression as Payal is, but they think she’s a little too hung up on him.
Determined to teach Jon a lesson by making him fall for her, Payal ropes in her archnemesis, Philip Kim, to help. It’s the perfect plan. Minus Philip’s snarky, annoying quips and lack of faith in its success. But as Payal lies to the people she loves, hides the too-Indian parts of herself in front of her crush, and learns that maybe Philip isn't the worst, she starts to wonder if what she's been looking for has been scowling at her all along...
Romance Comedy | Young Adult [Kokila, On Sale: September 24, 2024, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593461884 / eISBN: 9780593461907]
Preeti Chhibber is an author, speaker, and freelancer living in Georgia. Dubbed a “Spider-Man superfan and author” by Publishers Weekly, she can usually be found writing your favorite characters or binge-reading her way through several series at once. She also cohosts the podcasts Desi Geek Girls and Tar Valon or Bust. She’s appeared on several panels at New York Comic Con, San Diego Comic Con, and onscreen on Syfy. Honestly, you probably recognize her from one of several BuzzFeed “look at these tweets” lists.
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