Of Princes and Promises: Sandhya Menon shares secrets of the YA romance retelling

Fairy tales never go out of style, but have seen a particular resurgence within young adult books within the last few years with novels like Cinderella is Dead and Red Hood. However, Sandhya Menon may be the master with her Rosetta Academy series with her latest, Of Princes and Promises.

Menon’s latest in the series, Of Princes and Promises is a smart retelling of The Frog Prince fairy tale, following Rahul, a socially awkward but sweet geek, and Caterina, the school’s ice queen with a hidden heart of gold.

When Caterina and Rahul pair up to make her ex-boyfriend jealous, the two discover that there’s more to the other than they ever suspected, leading them on a heartfelt and romantic journey as they navigate Caterina’s elite and fabulous socialite world together.

As they grow closer, Rahul must decide whether to step aside from what he thinks he wants, or go after Caterina in order to truly find himself. Of Princes and Promises is a deftly written, charming, and romantic adventure about finding yourself that will keep you reading until the last word.

Culturess sat down with Menon to discuss the line between fantasy and reality, the Rosetta Academy series, and the art of a great YA retelling. You can get your copy of Of Princes and Promises now wherever books are sold.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Culturess:  Of Princes and Promises picks up immediately after the events of Of Curses and Kisses. What do readers who are either brand new to the series or who read the first book need to know before diving in?

Sandhya Menon:  The Rosetta Academy series is set at an elite boarding school in the mountains, a school cloaked in fog and steeped in secrets. Nothing is really as it seems at the Academy which means our characters have to be prepared for sprinklings of magic to show up at any time!

In both books, I tried to layer in a mystery of some kind so the twists kept things interesting and added another dimension to the fairy tale retelling!

Culturess:  What led you to choose The Frog Prince as a retelling for Rahul and Caterina? Why do you think that story works for these characters in particular?

Menon:  With the Rosetta Academy series, I thought about the characters first and then wondered if there were fairy tales that would be particularly suited to their internal motivations and external goals.

In the case of Caterina, she’s very intent on showing Alaric, her ex-boyfriend, that she’s totally over him and doing very well, thank you very much. And in Rahul’s case, he’s been in love with Caterina forever and wishes more than anything that he could be part of her world.

That just screamed gender-bent makeover to me…and then I realized, of course, Rahul is the Frog Prince! In essence, it’s a story about transformation and wanting to be someone different than who you are and whether that’s always a good—or bad—thing.

Culturess:  Rahul and Caterina have very specific emotional arcs both as individuals and on their romantic journey. What was the hardest and most satisfying part of crafting their stories?

Menon:  I always start with a character sketch for all my characters. I have to know their deepest secrets, what they’re embarrassed for people to know, childhood memories that shaped them, etc.

I thought I was pretty well set with Caterina—until she showed up on the page and took me on this deep, emotional journey that I was definitely not expecting! It was a total surprise for me that she turned out to be one of my favorite heroines I’ve written so far, and it was deeply satisfying to see her emerge as this multifaceted, strong, and yet vulnerable person.

As for Rahul, I went into it thinking I knew exactly what journey he was going to go on, too. And then, once he underwent his transformation with help from a (maybe?) magic pot of hair gel, he became this other character—RC—I had never even imagined.

RC was a commanding, enigmatic, confident presence and it was so fun to write Rahul, a sweet, geeky chess nerd with social anxiety, that way.

Culturess:  As a master of the YA retelling, what do you think is so appealing to young readers about retellings? What is the most challenging and fun part about writing them?

Menon:  It is so kind of you to call me a master of the YA retelling because I definitely don’t feel like it! I’m learning all the time, and the way I learn best is by making huge mistakes during the drafting process.

To answer your question, I think young readers really love to see old stories told in fresh, new ways. Whether that’s by letting marginalized characters be heroes and heroines in tales they’ve never gotten to be a part of before or just a completely new and creatively liberal take on well-loved fairy tales (both of which I tried to do!), young readers latch onto new ideas because they’re very open to varied points of view. It’s one of my favorite things about writing for this age group.

The most challenging part of retelling fairy tales is also the fun part—you have to redo a story that’s been told thousands of times, often already in very creative ways! I love that, though, because it keeps my writer wheels turning and keeps me from getting lazy with my craft. I have to layer and polish until the story shines like a crown jewel and can stand on its own.

Culturess:  The Rosetta Academy novels play with magic in a way that walks a very fine line between reality and fantasy. How do you determine the balance you want to strike with the fantasy elements in the novels?

Menon:  That line is something I tried to be very careful with because I wanted readers who just wanted a contemporary romance to be able to explain away the magic, and I wanted readers who wanted a fantasy to be able to believe in it.

There’s really no formula to figuring out the balance; it’s just something I’ve tried to feel out intuitively and with help from my early readers and editor.

Culturess:  What can you tell us about the next Rosetta Academy novel?

Menon:  The next Rosetta Academy novel will be the third in the series, and is tentatively titled Of Dreams and Destiny. It’ll follow Daphne Elizabeth (aka DE), who we met in both Of Curses and Kisses and Of Princes and Promises.

Of Dreams and Destiny is a Sleeping Beauty retelling—but don’t worry, DE is awake the entire time! I played around with the definition of “sleep” in this one…and also, of course, layered in a lot of mystery, intrigue, and twists and turns!

Culturess:  Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Menon:  I’m so excited for readers to be able to read Of Princes and Promises and tell me what they think of my Frog Prince interpretation! Thanks for having me, Culturess!

Of Princes and Promises is available now wherever books are sold. Let us know if you add it to your TBR pile.