Sandhya Menon is the New York Times bestselling author who is popular for her teenage romantic comedy books, like When Dimple Met Rishi (2017), There’s Something about Sweetie (2019), Of Curses and Kisses (2020), etc.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Sandhya Menon hails from Mumbai, India. At the age of fifteen, while she was in tenth grade, she moved to The United States of America along with her family. Since childhood, Sandhya was a passionate writer; however, in her late twenties, she determined to pursue writing professionally. In an interview, she said,
Since I was very little, yes! I used to write on my clothes and the furniture in my house. Then my parents wised up and bought me a set of notebooks, and the rest is history! I didn’t really consider being a professionalwriter until I was in my late twenties…”
She had a tough time while growing up in two different cultures; Indian and American as she had to deal with cultural conflicts with her family. During an interview, she shared an experience of how her mother wore sindoor, a red powder worn by married Indian women along the parting in their hair. Americans frequently stopped them in a mild panic to inform her mother that she was bleeding. As a teenager, Sandhya felt embarrassed and just wanted to fit in and not to draw any attention to herself. Later, her family persuaded her to study medicine because they were of the opinion that writing is not a respectable career choice for Indian girls. In an interview, she said,
I had showed no aptitude whatsoever for biology and had even ran out of the room bawling when my teacher insisted I dissect a fetal pig. She took pity on me and let me write a paper about genetics instead.”
Sandhya Menon’s chilhood picture
Physical Appearance
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family & Caste
Parents & Siblings
Not much is known about her family.
Relationships, Husband & Children
Around 2003, after dating for about three years, she got married to her high-school boyfriend. She lives with her husband and children; a son and a daughter, in Colorado, a western U.S. state with a mesmerizing scenic view of mountains covered in fog or snow clouds.
Signature/Autograph
Career
On 30 May 2017, her debut book, When Dimple Met Rishi, was published by Hachette. The storyline of the book revolves around two Indian-American teenagers, Dimple and Rishi, whose parents are trying to arrange their marriage.
When Dimple Met Rishi (2017)
‘When Dimple Met Rishi’ was immensely appreciated by the readers, and it also earned Sandhya a Colorado Book Award (2018) in the category of Young Adult Fiction. Later, in 2020, the book was adapted into the Netflix series, Mismatched (2020).
Thereafter, on 22 May 2018, her second book ‘From Twinkle, with Love’ was published by Simon Pulse. Later, she scribbled various other books like There’s Something About Sweetie (2019), As Kismet Would Have It (2019), 10 Things I Hate About Pinky (2020), etc.
There’s Something About Sweetie (2019)
Apart from her teenage romantic comedies, she has also written an adult book, Make Up Break Up (2021), under the pen name Lily Menon. She has chosen a pseudonym for adult fiction novels because of her widespread audience, which could be as young as just eleven years old. In an interview, she said,
The reason I’m making sure to differentiate between my sexy rom-coms and my generally chaste YA romances is because I’ve had readers as young as 11 in my signing lines. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for parents, booksellers, and librarians to be able to tell which one of my books was adult and which was suitable for a YA audience.”
Awards/Honours
- Colorado Book Award (2018) in the category of Young Adult Fiction for the novel ‘When Dimple Met Rishi’
- Colorado Book Award (2020) in the category of Young Adult Literature for the book ‘There’s Something About Sweetie’
Favourite Things
- Food: Lentil Soup
- Actor(s): Shah Rukh Khan, Johnny Depp
- Author: Sophie Kinsella
- Actress: Meg Ryan
- Bollywood Movies: Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), Chalte Chalte (2003), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995)
- Hollywood Movies: When Harry Met Sally (1989), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), You’ve Got Mail (1998), and My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)
- Singer: A.R. Rahman
Facts/Trivia
- Although she is a die-hard fan of Bollywood films, and most of her stories feature lots of kissing, girl power, romance, and charming boys, Sandhya Menon denies being a romantic. In an interview, she said,
I love to write [romance] and read it and watch it in Bollywood movies, but in my personal life I’m much more practical.”
