Spotlight & Giveaway: Isha, Unscripted by Sajni Patel

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Sajni Patel to HJ!

Hi Sajni and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Isha, Unscripted!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Unwilling to yield to familial expectations, an aspiring screenwriter attempts to pursue her dreams during an unforgettable night of chaos. Isha Patel isn’t quite living the life her parents wanted, but when her cousin convinces her to pitch her script to a local celebrity—who happened to be her former professor—she finds herself caught in an unexpected adventure across Austin. Full of hijinks and heart.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

I jumped, and then immediately felt a hundred times worse realizing that I’d backhanded/knuckle-​slapped a guy’s crotch. Eh. Wasn’t the first time that had happened, to be honest, and by far the fastest way I’d ever handled a guy’s package.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

Isha, Unscripted takes place in my hometown of Austin, TX! It features 6th Street, famously known for its bar scene, my beloved UT campus, and a local celebrity/UT professor of practice: Matthew McConaughey. Isha’s best friend/cousin/bro, Rohan, is inspired by own cousin Rohan. And all the drinking…okay, the movie Bad Moms might’ve had something to do with that. This is my first comedic women’s fiction but, of course, with romantic elements.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Thirst-Trap…ahem, I mean Tarik…catches Isha’s eye from across the bar. She later, naturally, backhands him in the crotch as she’s wildly gesticulating a conversation with Rohan. Tarik takes everything in stride, including seeing Isha at her worst before he gets to know her. The attraction, the conversations, and the mutual feelings of failing their parents while striving for their dreams are definite connections.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

I was definitely cry-laughing over my clown. So much of this book was inspired by real events, and this clown was no exception. The entire scene is so ludicrous and blown up because Isha is tipsy, and the real experience this moment stemmed from was pretty funny.

I screamed, “Pennywise!” and swung. Hard. Like he was about to drag me into a gutter. Oh hell no. Not today!
All those years of repressed fears of clowns came shooting out of me like fireworks setting this darkness on fire. My mom had said I was being childish and clowns were fun. Naw, man. Clowns spawned from the bloodiest parts of hell and here was proof. Why else was he trying to snatch me?

Readers should read this book….

If they want a fun, silly read full of drunken shenanigans, over-the-top adventures, sexy thirst-trap bartenders, heart-warming cousin-bros, and tiny ferocious Yorkies.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I’m currently working on these upcoming releases:

My next YA contemporary romcom, Sleepless in Dubai, releases in late 2023. It’s about two former best friends who reconnect during the vibrant Diwali festivities on a family trip to Dubai. Followed by my debut YA dark-fantasy, A Drop of Venom, a feminist Medusa reimagining steeped in Indian lore. An untitled romcom is set to release in 2024.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway:  A print copy of Isha, Unscripted by Sajni Patel

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Excerpt from Isha, Unscripted:

Were any of these people drinking away, partying off their issues, too? Ya betcha. I couldn’t be the only one drowning in my head. Or . . . I guess technically no one else was in my head, either. Or were they?
Thirst-​­Trap slid into the chair across from me, clasping his fingers together on the table and leaning forward. Did he just freeze?
I poked his knuckle. “Keeping his spot warm? He hates sitting in warm chairs knowing someone else’s butt was just in it.”
He cracked a smile, the light gleaming on those sharp teeth that were suddenly a lot sharper and longer than I’d remembered, which now had me putting two and two together. He
worked nights and had sharp teeth and was deadly attractive. Ah! It was so obvious! Thirst-​­Trap was a vampire. Hmm . . . I wondered what it would be like to get bit.
He cleared his throat. “Do you want anything else to drink? By drink, I mean soda, water, coffee. I make a mean raspberry Italian soda.”
My lips slowly curled into a smile. “You’re too good at your job. No wonder this place is packed and everyone has a drink in their hand,” I said, my tongue turning heavy and on the verge of slurring, my eyesight getting a wee bit drowsy.
“Guess people love drinking my deliciousness,” he teased.
I cringed, but then smiled and muttered, “Yeah, they do.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, you’ve definitely had enough.”
“Better call it a night.”
“Okay,” he said softly. “What are you doing after this?”
I squinted at him to get a better look at the shadows falling over him, the cut of his jaw, and the, uh, double heads? I blinked a few times. “Crash, probably.”
“Good. You’ll be going straight home. I hope things get resolved and you feel better.”
“Thanks. Me, too.”
I was a minute away from undoing my bun and running my fingers through my hair. Might as well not care if my hair looked frowzy and my shirt had droplets of dressing splattered
across it like a two-​­year-​­old’s painting. My gaze faltered to my hands in my lap. Why the heck was I groping a tampon? I shoved it into my purse beside me.
“I came here to do something tonight and it’s not working,” I confessed, the disappointment unsubtly huge in my voice.
“Like what?” he asked.
“Never mind how wild this sounds, but there was supposed to be a celebrity here tonight,” I loud-​­whispered.
His brows furrowed.
“The pub’s owner’s brother’s . . . grandpa’s wifey or something . . . said he was coming,” I explained, my words starting to tumble on my tongue.
He nodded like, yeah, okay, sure. “What were you going to do with this celebrity?”
“Show him something,” I whispered even louder.
His right eyebrow shot up. “Ya don’t say?”
I grunted out a breath. “Not like that, you perv. It’s business.”
“Isn’t it always?” He smirked.
“Doesn’t matter. He never came.”
He watched me for a while before I asked, “What?”
He leaned over and tucked some loose hair behind my ear, letting his thumb linger for a second on my jaw. “Things will always get better.”
“You don’t even know what’s wrong.”
“Maybe one day you’ll tell me.”
“Pfft. Like on a date? I don’t even know your name.”
“It’s Tarik,” he said, or so I thought he said. His response sort of trailed off when Rohan approached and Thirst-​­Trap (let’s be real, it was just better to call him that and not get attached) slid the chair back, scraping the legs against the floor, and relinquished the seat.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Unwilling to yield to familial expectations, an aspiring screenwriter attempts to pursue her dreams during an unforgettable night of chaos in this hilarious and heartfelt novel by Sajni Patel.

Isha Patel is the black sheep of the family. She doesn’t have a “prestigious” degree or a “real” career, and her parents never fail to remind her. But that’s okay because she commiserates with her cousin, best friend, and fellow outcast, Rohan.

When Isha has a breakthrough getting her script in front of producers, it doesn’t go according to plan. Instead of letting her dreams fall through the cracks, Rohan convinces her to snag a pitch session with an Austinite high-profile celeb: the one and only Matthew McConaughey, who also happened to be her professor at the University of Texas years ago—he has to remember her, right?

Chasing Matthew McConaughey isn’t easy. Isha needs a drink or two to muster up courage, and she gets a little help from the cutest bartender she’s ever encountered. But when the search for the esteemed actor turns into a night of hijinks and unexpected—albeit fun—chaos, everything falls apart. Isha’s dreams seem farther than ever, but she soon realizes who she really needs to face and that her future may just be alright, alright, alright.
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Meet the Author:

Sajni Patel is an award-winning author of women’s fiction and young adult books, drawing on her experiences growing up in Texas, an inexplicable knack for romance and comedy, and the recently resurfaced dark side of fantastical things. Her works have appeared on numerous Best of the Year and Must Read lists from Cosmo, Oprah Magazine, Teen Vogue, Apple Books, Audiofile, Tribeza, Austin Woman’s Magazine, NBC, The Insider, PopSugar, Buzzfeed, and many others.
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