Lilly Singh + A GOOD INDIAN GIRL = Dream Launch Day
And why I wrote this book + giveaways
Author Goal Achieved
I’ve been sitting on this news for months and am so thrilled to finally be able to share it with you all that A Good Indian Girl is the September pick for Lilly’s Library. I’m still trying to believe that is my book in the hands of the incomparable Lilly Singh! Representation has been a key mission of mine as a writer, and I was overjoyed when Lilly Singh started the first book club in North America that promotes South Asian authors. I have read so many of the books she has picked over the years, and I love that for the first time in my life, there is a celebrity bookclub that highlights South Asian stories. I knew I wanted to be a part of the illustrious list of authors she and her team have selected over the years, and I’m so proud to have achieved that goal. Be sure to follow Lilly’s Library for fun content about A Good Indian Girl for the whole month of September.
This is the perfect time to order your copy if you haven’t already, because you can still take advantage of the promos that I have on offer like the Asha Patel Designs necklace that is featured in the book and the Magic Masalas for the world’s easiest and tastiest samosas if you follow the links below. Also, first week sales matter immensely to the overall success of the book, so I’d be incredibly appreciative if you are able to order a copy. And if it’s difficult to purchase a copy, a wonderful free way to help support me is to request the book from your local library. Libraries do so much to support authors, and I am immensely grateful for them. My younger self was a library junkie because buying books was a luxury that my family couldn’t afford, so seeing my books on library shelves for other kids like me makes me really happy.
In the darkest of times, we can still find the light
Publication dates are always a time for reflection for me. The reality is that the books are completed a year or more before they are published and the author has typically moved on and is immersed in the next project they are working on, and, upon publication, are jolted back into that person from the past who wrote the novel. So, despite the fact that my creative space is now occupied by my next book, I am returning to A Good Indian Girl with a new perspective as I see the story through the eyes of my readers rather than my own. I always write stories that feel important and authentic to me because that is the only way I can write well, but once it is published, it stops being mine and now belongs to all of you.
If you read the Acknowledgements of the book, you’ll see that I reference a lot of people who helped me during the most medically difficult time in my life, including an amazing nurse, doctors, my parents, and friends who really showed up for me. I was bedridden and in severe pain for several months due to injuries that I suffered while abroad in 2022. The vast majority of this book was written while I was supine and balancing my laptop on my stomach (nothing ergonomic about any of that!), but it was the only choice I had. I wasn’t on a deadline (we hadn’t sold the book yet), and I was writing it simply for the joy it brought me to escape from my daily life of treatments, doctors, and healing.
Now, two years later, when I hold this book in my hands, it is hard for me to separate what I was going through in my life from this story. And it seems miraculous that during a year filled with so much pain and uncertainty, something good came out of it as well. And A Good Indian Girl is unquestioningly the something good from that year. With the benefit of hindsight and being in a much healthier place, it astounds me that my body was capable of having any creative productivity under those conditions. But I’m also convinced that writing this book helped me heal. It gave me purpose and something to look forward to during a year that was otherwise mundane and emotionally trying. It was a reminder that even in the darkest of times, there is always some light. For anyone that has gone through difficult medical or physical journeys, I think we’d all agree that hope and mindset are equally important to recovery. Writing and working toward the life I wanted to have helped anchor me when I was otherwise feeling adrift.
And now, I’m starting to hear from early readers who have seen parts of themselves in Jyoti and her story. My goal is always to write relatable characters, but the way people are showing up for this book is absolutely humbling. I am not married and am happily childfree, but I realized that nearly all the novels I’ve read over my lifetime have an explicit or implicit message that a woman’s path to fulfillment is through marriage and having children, and without those things, she cannot fully appreciate all that life has to offer.
While that may be the right path for some people, it wasn’t the right path for me, and I began to think about how content I felt with where I was, but then there was a lingering feeling that if society didn’t accept my chosen path in life, then maybe there was something wrong with my choices…or with me.
As I started to look at the people around me, I realized that most of my social circle was comprised of other women like me: career-driven and either single or primary breadwinners relative to their partners, the majority of whom were childfree by choice, people who loved to travel and explore the world, and I realized that I hadn’t read a story about people like that. I hadn’t read stories that focus mainly on the other important relationships in our lives: friends, parents, siblings, professional. I wanted to write something that would celebrate those other aspects of life without feeling like anything was missing, and A Good Indian Girl does that. I’m overjoyed by the response I’ve received from readers who have chosen paths similar to mine, and are comfortable in their own skin without having a romantic partner or children, and feel like they have been seen as they read Jyoti’s story. Because at the end of the day, isn’t that what we all want? To feel like people see who we truly are and accept us without conditions? There is no singular path to fulfillment, and I hope A Good Indian Girl can help anyone who is on the road less traveled to feel a little more seen.
A GOOD INDIAN GIRL Giveaways are still going strong
A stunning Asha Patel Designs necklace
For starters, featured in the book and on the US cover is my absolute favorite necklace from Asha Patel Designs. Her jewelry is absolutely captivating and her East-West prism necklace is near and dear to my heart because it helps bridge the gap between the Eastern and Western cultures in which I was raised, and that I often write about. It is one of my personal favorite pieces of jewelry. When you read the book, you’ll see why this necklace is so special, and for anyone who purchases a copy of the book before September 30, 2024 and sends me the proof of purchase by that date, you’ll be entered to win this gorgeous necklace. (This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents.)
This includes those of you who have already pre-ordered (thank you for doing that!), and for anyone who hasn’t, there is still time to take advantage of this pre-order double entry offer. Please fill out this form for your chance to win. For proof of purchase of the book, an email or screenshot is fine.
Hand-Crafted Spice Blends to help you cook from the book
In addition to this stunning necklace, I’m expanding my Magic Masala giveaway to anyone who has purchased the book (and not just indie bookstore preorders). These preblended spices will allow you to make the tastiest and easiest samosas you’ve ever had when following the recipe in the back of the book. I personally made these in order to share the flavors I love with my readers. And they are the perfect snack when reading A Good Indian Girl, because this story will make you hungry. Be sure to submit your receipts quickly because these will only be on offer while supplies last!
There is a recipe in the back of the book for samosas, and these blends take all of the guesswork out of these delicious savory pastries. These are only available while supplies last (and US only), and you can enter your info here.
Join me for my launch event on September 8
Come meet me in person! I published my first two books during the pandemic so my launch events were virtual, so I’m thrilled to be able to celebrate with all of you on Sunday, September 8 at 3 pm at Diesel Bookstore in Brentwood.
I’ll be chatting with Jamie Varon about all things A Good Indian Girl, writing, publishing, and any other burning questions you may have for either of us. Jamie is the author of Main Character Energy, and you’ll find many similarities between her novel and mine, and I know if you like my work, you’ll like hers too. She is also a force on social media championing body positivity and people being their authentic selves. There is so much we can all learn from Jamie.
The event is at a lovely outdoor venue, and I hope you’ll join me. My parents will be there, along with friends, and treasured readers. And yes, there will be samosas (of course!) and maybe some other Indian snacks. I hope to see as many of you there as possible. Please do let me know if you’re coming so I can look out for you.
Diesel is also the place to get signed copies of the book, so if you’d like yours signed, please order from Diesel.
Recent Read
Enough about me…I love to be immersed in a good book, and wanted to share one of my recent reads with you.
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
Marjan Kamali is an Iranian-American writer whose voice and prose are absolutely captivating. This was one of my most anticipated summer reads and it did not disappoint. Marjan’s novels open my eyes to a culture and part of the world that I have not yet had the chance to experience in person, and that is the magic of powerful storytelling. And in continuing from my theme above, this latest novel from Marjan places the primary focus on a beautiful and complicated friendship between two women.
About the book
From the nationally bestselling author of the “powerful, heartbreaking” (Shelf Awareness) The Stationery Shop, a heartfelt, epic new novel of friendship, betrayal, and redemption set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran.
In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams of a friend to alleviate her isolation.
Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind, passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions for becoming “lion women.”
But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.
Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.
Written with Marjan Kamali’s signature “evocative, devastating, and hauntingly beautiful” (Whitney Scharer, author of The Age of Light) prose, The Lion Women of Tehran is a sweeping exploration of how profoundly we are shaped by those we meet when we are young, and the way love and courage transforms our lives.
Thank you all for joining me on this magical pub day…I still can’t believe that I get to do this work and it wouldn’t be possible without your support.
xo,
mansi
Congratulations on your book launch and being the September pick for Lilly's book club! This is such incredible news! I absolutely love the connection Lilly made on the book and Eat, Pray, Love! 💕💕