Sonya Singh Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

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Sonya Singh
Sonya Singh has ventured into the world of TV and film writing after her debut novel’s success. She is a former entertainment reporter turned public relations expert.

Sonya’s favorite shows include “Robyn Hood”, “Shelved”, “Children Ruin Everything”, “Sisters”, “Bria Mack Gets a Life”, “Sullivan’s Crossing”, and “Run the Burbs”.

She can be found in her spare time either sipping a matcha latte, hanging out with Moses Alexander (her adorable dog), or enjoying a homemade pizza.

Sonya realized that writing was her calling when she was younger. She loved telling stories and enjoyed ‘acting’ out scenes with her sister. It was tough, however, since she’s a South Asian woman she didn’t know if she even felt comfortable even pursuing a writing career because of the lack of push in the arts in her own family, so it felt unsafe.

It was never an author that made her fall in love with the romance genre, however writers that showcased their talents in film. She enjoyed movies like “Bridget Jones Diary” and thought: why can’t she write a rom-com just like that some day.

She’s also always been a romantic at heart, and thinks as a true Aries, she can be spicy at certain times with her emotions, yet loves wins, over everything.

The title “Sari, Not Sari” came from the fact that Sonya’s the oldest of three sisters, and often had her clothes vanish and suddenly reappear on her sisters. She recalls getting ready to attend this Indian wedding one day and having spent a week searching for one of her favorite Saris when out walks her sister with it on. “Sari, Not Sari”, her sister said.

The novel is an ode to her own personal dating experiences, during which she honed the craft of writing the perfect break up text/email.

Sonya spent a few days at her cottage where she’d write non stop and walked away with more than 30,000 words. She knew that she had a story to tell and knew she needed to tell it immediately. She worked with her editors at Simon & Schuster in order to flesh the story out, and found a time when she could. She runs a PR agency full time. She is a sister, friend, and partner, however it was time she prioritized being a writer. So, many people did not see Sonya for quite a while, and that is because any and all free time was put into writing this novel.

She imagined the process to be exactly like this. She is fortunate as she had some kind helping hands guiding her along. Women that championed her from her editor to agent, which is what you need as a debut novelist and a creative. She is one of those artists able to question her worth, and needs people surrounding her that remind her it’s great work.

If she had it to do over, she would have begun writing back during her 20s. She was intimidated to write as a South Asian woman, especially to pursue writing as a career. If she could go back, it is the one thing that she’d change. However then again, she possibly needed some more life experiences so that she could actually write this novel.

Sonya was in a bit of a funk with one of her past relationships and wasted words with a man that was no longer interested in pursuing a relationship with her, however she didn’t want to just let him or the relationship go. She woke up one day and realized she needed to get out of the funk that she was in. So she binged movies and shows, however there never seemed to be a leading lady that was South Asian talking about her breakups or relationships. So Sonya created her.

Sonya writes her debut from experiences and places that she had dreamt about one day being or seeing. She don’t know her characters in the real world, even if some of them are based on some of her exes, however she’d love to have them as friends in real life.

She also wanted the book that had moments of reflection and humor, and that was just as fast paced as one of her favorite Bollywood films. The sort where you see somebody across the room and one week later you are already married to them. That’s love.

She wanted to write a novel where the reader could say these Indian experiences are authentic, which was not what she was reading or seeing too much of.

Sonya wishes that she had writer’s block, yet finds that she just cannot quit writing.

“Sari, Not Sari” is the first stand alone novel and was released in 2022. Manny Dogra is a beautiful young CEO at Breakup, which is a highly successful company which helps people manage their relationship breakups. As preoccupied as she might be with her business, she is also planning a wedding to Adam Jamieson (a handsome architect) as she deals with the loss of her beloved parents.

For reasons she’s never understood, her parents (each born in India) always wanted her to become an “All-American” girl. So that is what she did. She knows nearly nothing about her South Asian heritage, and that has never been a problem. Up until her parents are no longer around, and this image of her that has been Photoshopped to make her skin look that much more white shows up on a magazine cover. All of a sudden, the woman that built her empire encouraging people to stay true to themselves is having an identity crisis.

However when this irritating client named Sammy Patel approaches her with this odd breakup request, the perfect solution presents itself to her: If they each agree to certain terms, he will give her a crash course in being “Indian” at his brother’s wedding.

What follows is days of dancing and dal, mehndi and masala while she meets the lovable, if endlessly interfering, uncles and aunties of the Patel family, and, along the way, learns far more than she ever could have anticipated.