Here’s the thing about us book lovers: we love stories. And what’s better than a story? The story behind that story. So when Sandhya Menon posted a Twitter thread with 37 fun facts about her new book From Twinkle With Love (out May 22), we were here for it. These are our faves from the bunch, but check out all 37 on Sandhya’s Twitter channel.
11 Things You Didn’t Know About From Twinkle With Love That We Learned from Sandhya Menon’s Twitter
3. TWINKLE was originally named Kiran. But it never felt right to me. When I landed on Twinkle and ran it by my agent and editor, we all loved it and felt it was *her* name.
— Sandhya Menon (@smenonbooks) March 13, 2018
We’re so glad Sandhya changed her mind – we can’t imagine Twinkle by any other name!
8. I read a statistic about how women directors only made up 7% of the top 250 films made in 2016. And when you factor in race, that number goes even lower. Twinkle talks about this quite a bit in the book because that number is appalling.
— Sandhya Menon (@smenonbooks) March 13, 2018
Check out a list of Sandhya’s favorite female filmmakers here!
9. One of my fave characters I’ve ever written is Dadi, Twinkle’s grandma. I want to be her when I turn 65.
— Sandhya Menon (@smenonbooks) March 13, 2018
Same same.
13. Another thing immigrant families struggle with: Losing family members back in the homeland and not being able to go to the funerals. I wrote about this in TWINKLE, too, and it was so hard to go there.
— Sandhya Menon (@smenonbooks) March 13, 2018
The hard emotional work was worth it – there are definitely moments when From Twinkle With Love gets you right in the gut.
16. There’s a lot of casual diversity in TWINKLE. I think it’s important to represent various marginalized identities because that represents reality.
— Sandhya Menon (@smenonbooks) March 13, 2018
Representation. Matters.
18. Twinkle herself goes through a phase where she makes very questionable choices. I knew readers might not like that, but again, she’s 16. When I was 16, I made a LOT of stupid mistakes.
— Sandhya Menon (@smenonbooks) March 13, 2018
Nobody’s perfect, and fictional characters shouldn’t be, either.
23. When I was working on the first draft, the title of this book was THE STORIES WE TOLD.
— Sandhya Menon (@smenonbooks) March 13, 2018
Awesome title, but we <3 From Twinkle With Love even more!
26. Something I wanted to do in Twinkle was address the course of a female friendship (the high and low points) in high school. It’s not always roses and sunshine, and I remember how painful it was for me when I got left behind.
— Sandhya Menon (@smenonbooks) March 13, 2018
Female friendship stories are where it’s at.
30. Twinkle talks a lot about wanting to be a voice for people just like her who don’t see themselves in the media. This came directly from all the emails/messages I’ve gotten from teens who’ve told me the same thing. ???
— Sandhya Menon (@smenonbooks) March 13, 2018
This is our favorite. Thank you, Sandhya Menon, for giving us Twinkle–her voice, her ambition, her heart. We can’t wait for everyone to read From Twinkle With Love in May!