We chat with author Preeti Chhibber about Payal Mehta’s Romance Revenge Plot, which is a laugh-out-loud debut romance and introduces perfectly imperfect Payal Mehta, whose plan to get her long-time crush to finally notice her is destined for success, but only if she ignores her budding feelings for her archnemesis…
Hi, Preeti! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi! I’m Preeti Chhibber – I’m an author, freelance writer, and podcaster. I’m, conveniently enough, a huge nerd for basically anything – anime, YA, soccer, comics, the list goes on – people have called me ‘a walking exclamation point’ (affectionate) because I just like liking things. That means being in a variety of fandoms and participating in fan culture, which in turn inspired a lot of creativity.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
When I was a kid, my mom had a requirement of reading at least one book a week… and then I found that I didn’t want to stop. I was that person who asked for a book for holidays and birthdays. And then as I got older, I realized I could actually participate in creating story. It started with a lot of fanfiction in high school, and then original shorts.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: There are two that come to mind. The first is A Monster At the End of This Book, which I maintain is a perfect story and a lesson in building tension. The second was a picture book about a group of mice that grew a giant pumpkin and it was my favorite (The Biggest Pumpin Ever by Steve Kroll)
- The one that made you want to become an author: This is a weird answer, and a deeply problematic book, but The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone because to me it was about following your passion. (AKA it was okay to stop being pre-med and become an English major.)
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: How many can I put here? Just kidding, but seriously there are so, so many books that I can’t stop thinking about, so I’ll go with my most recent: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
Your debut novel, Payal Mehta’s Romance Revenge Plot, is out September 24th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Awkward, hate-mance, banter, self-discovery, joy
What can readers expect?
A very funny story with an extremely imperfect—but hopefully relatable—character learning that she doesn’t have to edit herself to be loved. And a very compelling romantic lead (your new book boyfriend!)
Where did the inspiration for Payal Mehta’s Romance Revenge Plot come from?
I’ve told this story before, but when I was in college I had a similar experience to the inciting incident in Payal. I was at a party, talking to this boy — like two hours, we were hitting it off. And at the end of the night, he said he needed to introduce me to his Indian roommate… who wasn’t at the party and who I hadn’t just spent two hours speaking to. It was his assumption about who I was allowed to speak to or be with that really needled me. And so I wrote a whole book inspired by it out of spite. Have I mentioned that I’m an aries?
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I really loved writing Payal and Philip’s banter. If I could do a book that was just banter, I would. I was also surprised by how cathartic it felt writing through Payal’s unnecessary self-editing. Having her convince herself it was okay to limit her identity to pieces here and there, and then having to confront that it was harmful was difficult, but ultimately so fulfilling.
Whilst being a cute romance, Payal Mehta explores a range of topics. What do you hope readers take away from reading your book?
I sort of answer above, but really I hope it speaks to readers who feel like they don’t get to be who they are because society is saying they’re too much of one thing or not enough of the other. That it tells them they get to be exactly who they want to be.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on more YA that I can’t talk about, but I do have a bunch of Marvel comics coming out, including a current Scarlet Witch AU run on Marvel Unlimited called “House of Harkness”.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
I am dying to get my hands on the third Emily Wilde book from Heather Fawcett. Then there’s book out in translation in October called Run With the Wind (By Shion Miura, translated by Yui Kajita) that has been on my list for ages. Nisha Sharma’s Illusions of Fire is a fantasy that’s out in February and I highly, highly recommend. In terms of this year – a book that is still sitting with me is Menewood by Nicola Griffith, the highly anticipated sequel to her novel Hilde. It was so, so gorgeous. Witch King by Martha Wells was just fascinating. And I can’t move on without mentioning some comics – so both Alex Segura and Stephanie Williams are publishing amazing work, Spider Society is an on-going mini, and Stephanie’s ABSOLUTE POWER: Task Force VII 6 just came out.
