Interview with Maya Prasad, author of Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things

In Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things, Maya Prasad follows the 4 Singh sisters—large sister Nidhi, twins Avani and Rani, and Sirisha, the youngest—by a life-changing 12 months as they discover love, therapeutic, journey and extra. Their story unfolds in opposition to the idyllic backdrop of the Songbird Inn, their household’s house and enterprise on Orcas Island, nestled on the Pacific Northwest coast in Washington state. 

Can you give us a fast introduction to your debut novel and the 4 Singh sisters?
Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things is the story of the 4 Singh sisters over 4 seasons as they navigate new passions, breathtaking kisses and the bustle of their father’s cozy cliffside inn. 

Fall begins with Nidhi, the eldest sensible sister. She thinks she has her life deliberate out. Winter strikes on to Avani, who can’t sit nonetheless. If she does, her grief for Pop, their dad’s late husband, will overwhelm her. In spring, we come to Sirisha, who has all the time felt extra comfy hiding behind the lens of her digital camera than truly talking to folks—particularly fairly ladies. Summer is when hopeless romantic Rani finds that her Bollywood fantasies may lastly be coming true!

How did you resolve which sister’s story would unfold during which season?
Each sister’s story has a thematic connection to the season: letting go like an autumn leaf, dealing with the bitter chilly of loss, permitting new like to blossom like a springtime bud and celebrating goals lastly coming into fruition.

Like the Singhs, you might be one of 4 siblings. Are any features of the Singh sisters’ relationships with each other drawn from your individual household?
There isn’t a one-to-one correlation between the Singh sisters and my household, however I did draw from acquainted sibling dynamics: Nidhi’s maternal practicality because the eldest; Sirisha’s feeling as if her sisters have all the things found out and questioning how she will be able to converse amongst so many loud voices; the sibling thoughts melds in addition to the clashes; and the chaos and laughter that come with a giant household.

One of the issues I actually love in regards to the novel is how your prose shifts throughout every sister’s part to replicate her perspective. How did you arrive at that method?
It was each a pleasure and a problem to have the ability to create 4 totally different voices. For every sister, I used a unique system associated to their personalities: Nidhi’s lists, Avani’s verse, Sirisha’s contrasts between what she needs to say and what she truly says, and the screenplay bits that symbolize Rani’s forays into Bollywood fantasies.

But creating distinctive voices concerned greater than that; I additionally differentiated every sister’s sentence constructions and tics. Introspective Nidhi’s voice feels probably the most traditional and conventional to me, with some lyrical descriptions to symbolize her dreamy facet. Avani has loads of parenthetical asides to symbolize how she usually will get distracted. Short fragments in Sirisha’s part are just like the snapshots she’s all the time taking; in addition they symbolize how she has bother expressing herself verbally. Finally, Rani’s voice is imbued with loads of humor and has a combination of colloquial language and hyperbolic grandeur.

In the tip, voice is about creating a singular worldview. Since I used to be writing Indian American characters, I hoped to point out that we’re not a monolith, and that every sister is a person with their very own goals and ambitions and relationship to their identification.

Which sister’s part was probably the most difficult to jot down and why? Whose was probably the most enjoyable and why?
Avani’s verse sections had been undoubtedly a problem! I hadn’t experimented with the medium a lot and I used to be a bit of nervous. But it was essential for me to strive, as a result of I feel that poetry can actually deliver out the feelings of grief and loss in a manner that feels visceral and resonant.

Nidhi’s midnight journey was my favourite chapter to jot down. I liked enjoying with the language to evoke the sensation of escape and magnificence within the darkness. I hope readers will discover it swoony and breathtaking!

Each sister’s romance hits such particular person emotional notes. How did you resolve what variety of love story every sister would expertise? 
Just because the seasons are associated thematically, I developed every love story to correspond with the sisters’ character arcs. They every discover somebody who understands and appreciates their distinctive qualities, in addition to somebody who not solely sees previous their flaws however possibly even sees these flaws as strengths. I feel that’s what we’re all actually trying to find: to be celebrated for being ourselves.

The sisters have actually particular pursuits, from baking and mural artwork to pictures to romance novels and Bollywood motion pictures and extra. Researching these totally different matters will need to have been so enjoyable! What did you study that stunned you? Were there any pursuits or hobbies that you simply didn’t should analysis in any respect?
I did a good quantity of analysis for Sirisha’s pictures as a result of I didn’t know any of the lingo or strategies. It truly gave me good insights to enhance my very own Instagram pictures! With the remaining, it was extra simply small issues: wanting up recipes, rewatching Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, that kind of factor. 

I actually wished the setting to be stable although, so as soon as we’d signed the deal, I had an exquisite excuse to go to Orcas Island. The San Juan Islands are a favourite weekend getaway for me, but it surely had been a couple of years since I’d been to Orcas. It was pleasant to drive round and think about the place the Songbird Inn may truly be positioned.

Surprising tidbit: Orcas Island isn’t named after killer whales! The origin comes from the Spanish identify Horcasitas, in honor of the Spanish explorer Juan Vicente de Guemes Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo.

What had been your inspirations for the totally pleasant Songbird Inn, the place a lot of the novel takes place?
The Songbird Inn is unquestionably fictional but it surely was impressed by attractive trip leases I’ve stayed in whereas visiting the San Juans and the Canadian Gulf Islands. I knew I wished the inn to be set on a cliffside with panoramic views, and that it ought to be south dealing with to permit the sisters to get pleasure from each sunsets and sunrises over the water. The particulars had been impressed by Pacific Northwest structure: Craftsman-style class with bay home windows and coffered ceilings and cozy fireplaces, and massive decks the place it feels such as you’re peering off the sting of the world. 

What are some of your favourite fictional sisterhoods and why?
There ought to actually be extra sister tales, interval! As the center sister, I associated loads to Lara Jean in Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, significantly the portrayal of the interval when eldest sis is off to varsity and abruptly you’re speculated to be setting a superb instance on your cheeky youthful sis—who could or could not have a greater social life than you.

There’s additionally Little Women of course, and the nonbiological sisters of Ann Brashares’ The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. We too had a pair of denims that seemed wonderful on all of us—although my youthful sister is far taller than me. Magic!

The fantastic thrum of household hums within the background of your novel, and by the tip of the e book, you’ve widened the lens of what a love story can imply to embody the Singh household’s love for one another. Why was that essential so that you can do right here?
Thank you! I feel it’s important for teenagers to know that whereas romantic love is fantastic, there are such a lot of methods to seek out pleasure on this world. This novel is a celebration of the love the sisters have for one another, for his or her father, for his or her group, for the house they’ve constructed and—most significantly—for themselves.

What’s one thing about this e book that you simply’re wholly, unabashedly proud of?
I’m extremely proud to have created a piece of joyful illustration for Indian American teenagers! I feel we’d like escapism, we’d like these cozy heat hug vibes, and we have to see ourselves as lovely and worthy of love.

Author photograph of Maya Prasad courtesy of Jamilah Newcomer.