“A major voice on the YA scene.” –Entertainment Weekly
“The queen of YA contemporary romance.” –Tor.com
“One of the best writers of YA rom-coms.” – Paste Magazine
Official Bio:
Sandhya Menon is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels with lots of kissing, girl power, and swoony boys. Her books have been featured in many cool places, including on The Today Show, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, NPR, Seventeen, Entertainment Weekly, and Buzzfeed. Three of her books have won the Colorado Book Award, and her Dimpleverse series was turned into a hit TV show with Netflix India. A full-time dog servant, Sandhya makes her home in the foggy mountains of Colorado. With a glass of wine at her elbow, she also pens adult romances under the name Lily Menon.
Want to know more about me? Here are some fun questions from my Twitter peeps!
Who is your OTP? Isla and Josh, Bella and Jacob (that’s right, I’m team Jacob forever!), Dean and Castiel!
Food you can’t live without: I make a lentil soup that I loooove so much, so I’m going to go with that, although it was super hard to pick!
Favorite books you read as a child/teen: I loved Enid Blyton’s Mallory Towers series! I also devoured Fear Street books, Archie comics, and Tin Tin comics. Also, I was very age-inappropriate in my reading, so I was an early fan of Stephen King.
Fave dessert: I can’t digest refined sugar anymore, so I now have a healthy vegan Nutella recipe that I love!
What is your weird superpower? I see words in my head when I talk. That’s why I’ve always been good at spelling!
What do you snack on while writing? I try to avoid snacking while I write, but I drink a lot of water and tea. My favorite teas are: vanilla caramel black tea, honey chamomile herbal tea, white pear tea, apple cinnamon herbal tea, and peppermint herbal tea!
First crush: Johnny Depp from 21 Jump Street. I was 10, and I fell hard. (Shah Rukh Khan was next, though, and that crush has lasted YEARS. Did I say “has lasted”? Oops. (Call me, SRK.))
Favorite guilty pleasure: Rom-com movies from the 90s, especially with Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts! I don’t feel guilty about these, though. Read and watch what you want, I always say!
How do you want your writing to evolve throughout your career? Do you always want to write YA? I have an adult rom-com (Make Up Break Up) coming out in 2021, and I’m so very excited about that! I have a lot more ideas for non-YA books, so we’ll see what comes of those!
What’s your Hogwarts house? Hufflepuff!
Your go-to writing music: I can’t listen to music while I write; I need total silence. (I’ve been known to take ear plugs to the library…). BUT I love thinking of playlists. Here are some of the musicians on my Pandora playlist: Transviolet, Lenka, Florence + The Machine, Iron & Wine, Kate Nash, Feist, Birdy, Regina Spektor, and A.R. Rahman.
What are your favorite ice cream flavors? I can’t do dairy anymore, but I love “nice cream,” which is made without dairy and refined sugar! My favorite flavor is probably chocolate and peanut butter.
Where’s your dream home? As in, city or country. I think I’m pretty lucky because I’ve wanted to live in Colorado for years now, and I finally moved here in 2016. I love living in the mountains!