Last year, I had the opportunity to read and review a book called There’s Something About Mira by a namesake author. Since I enjoy reading stories about fierce Indian women, I ended up loving the book. I remember my throat being clogged and my chest bursting with emotion at the end of the story, something that brings a smile to my face even now. Sonali Dev, the author, is a pro at writing stories that do this to you. She’ll write characters that you will relate to and things that happen to them that feel achingly, painfully familiar, and as she does this, she will somehow untie a knot that has been sitting inside you for all your life.
I was fortunate enough to be granted an interview with Sonali Dev and I got to ask her a few questions related to There’s Something About Mira, her writing process, books, and life in general. And suffice to say, Sonali had something eye-opening and lovely to say to each question.
Read on for one of the most exciting interviews I’ve done in a while!
(MB: Melodramatic Bookworm; SD: Sonali Dev)
MB: What was your thought process like while drafting There’s Something About Mira? Do you form your characters before or after the story’s plot points? Or do you think that a story and its characters are inseparable?
SD: In this case, they were totally inseparable. But it’s different for each book.
MB: Are any of the events described in the book based on or inspired from real life events?
SD: Actually, I had Suru and Vasu’s story in my head and I was looking for a story vehicle to deliver it. That’s when my editor sent me a NYT article about a woman who found ring on a New York subway and went looking for the owner.
MB: Indian parents can be overbearing and insistent on the “right” course of life. But we also know they do it out of the love and concern they have for us, which can, sometimes become detrimental. What can they do to get more in tune with the children?
SD: This is such a generational weight we carry as part of the culture. Making sure your children are ‘settled’ and thriving is ingrained in a lot of us as a basic parental duty. On one hand it makes for tight familial bonds, but on the other hand it can cause a stifling power struggle. For me personally, what I’ve tried to do is see my children as individuals with their own paths instead of holding them up against a preset societal standard. Also, once they’re adults, letting their successes and failures be their own and not mine has been important.
MB: And conversely, Indian kids can get a little bluster-y when it comes to listening to their parents. But that’s because they’re fighting for individuality, which can sometimes be isolating. What can kids, once they’re old enough to understand these nuances, do to get more in tune with the parents?
SD: I feel like getting bluster-y when it comes to dealing with parents is a natural part of growing up. It’s also such a gift to have a wide space to disagree with your parents. I have parents I never had to agree with as a proof of anything and I tried to be that kind of parent too. I believe that it results in very healthy parent child relationships. I’m really not in a position to give advice on how to deal with getting in tune with parents, but I’ll say that it lies somewhere between empathy and standing your ground?
MB: Mira is a strong character, especially because she recognizes when she is wrong. She is realistic, always fighting to give everyone space and grace, including herself. When and how did she take birth? Is she or Krish based on anyone you know?
SD: Thank you. They’re based on everyone I know, just like all my characters. They rise from everything I see around me and in myself and then become their own people.
MB: First drafts take a lot of work and transformations to turn into the book we hold after release. But were you happy with your first draft? Did you go, “Oh this is something I know is going to turn into something amazing!” (as it eventually did) or did you say, “Whaaaaat? NO!” and then start over? How many iterations did this book see?
SD: My process involves a really terrible first draft and all the work happens in revisions. But with this one I think I knew after the first draft that even though work needed to be done, there was magic here.
MB: If you could put Mira and Krish into a previously existing fictional book’s universe (like Austen’s – which you already have books based on), which would it be?
SD: I think they’d make a good Mr. Rochester and Jane?
MB: As women, what, in your opinion, can we do to help each other in an increasingly stifling and dangerous political climate?
SD: I think the first thing is to put away the judgement. Unlearn everything we’ve been taught about holding each other up to standards of beauty, fashion, professional success, motherhood, domestic skills. Be supportive and stop any instinct to drag another down based on their ‘performance’ on your scale. And when you see someone being unempathetic stand up, but also know that social media is not real, there’s no nuance to it, and it’s never the full story, so give each other a break.
MB: Who are your favorite authors? And your favorite books? Which book gives you the most hope and inspired you?
SD: This one is impossibly hard. But I do love everything by Alisha Rai, Sara Desai, Kristan Higgins, Kennedy Ryan, Liane Moriarty. Recently, I really loved Trisha Das’s Never Meant To Stay and Bonnie Garmus’s Lessons In Chemistry. As a young person who dreamed of writing, I was greatly inspired by Vikram Seth’s The Suitable Boy, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and the plays of the Marathi playwright PL Deshpande.
MB: There’s Something About Mira released this February. Is there another book brewing from your pen? When can we read it?
SD: Yes! I’m really excited about my next one which is the first time I’m tackling a green card marriage. It should be out in the spring of 2026. Stay tuned…
MB: What is your advice for aspiring authors?
SD: Work on your craft and keep on working on your craft. Do the work of falling in love with your own work. Don’t expect publishing to be easy, if you want to be a multi published author learn tenacity and patience and learn to enjoy the journey.
Sonali Dev is an acclaimed Indian-American author of contemporary romance novels like Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, A Distant Heart, Incense and Sensibility, and her latest, There’s Something About Mira.
Hope you enjoyed reading my interview with Sonali Dev. Stay tuned because I do have a lot more author interviews and bookish content coming your way here on the blog. 🙂
I’ll see you in the next blog post.
Until next time, keep reading, and add melodrama to your life. 🙂
The Melodramatic Bookworm 