After 150 rejections, Delaware author publishes debut novel by winning national contest

Chital Mehta, the Middletown author of the recently published novel “Have You Seen Romit?”, came across the news article in 2018: an IT worker and bachelor in Bengaluru, the most populous city in South India, had been reported missing.

Mehta didn’t know the man, and there was nothing particularly striking about the case. It was, from a certain point of view, relatively pedestrian. After all, more than half a million people went missing in the country of 1.4 billion in 2024 alone, according to India’s National Crime Records Bureau. 

Still, the man haunted Mehta, keeping her awake as she wondered what had happened to him and how his family was grappling with his disappearance. 

So, she began writing about a fictional family whose 25-year-old adopted son, Romit, suddenly vanishes. The family first responds by talking to those who last saw Romit, reporting him missing and posting on social media. But as time passes by, they begin to move on. 

Well, everyone except for his mother, Usha, who runs away on her daughter’s wedding night to search for Romit in the treacherous forests of southern India where he went missing. 

“I wrote a couple of drafts with the father who went to look for Romit, because I grew up seeing men making the decisions in my household, or in society in general,” Mehta said. 

But Usha took up residence in Mehta’s mind and refused to be ignored.

The character — a woman who has followed the lead of her controlling husband her entire marriage — was inspired by many women Mehta has met. Mehta was intrigued by the familial friction that might emerge from such a woman stepping out of the roles she’s played her entire life.

Letters to Usha

Mehta grew up in Tiruppur in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. She read so voraciously that her parents begged her to slow down. There were only so many books they could offer her, since they didn’t live close to a library.

Mehta realized she wanted to be an author in her 20s and began writing drafts of young adult novels and short stories. She set her eyes on higher education as soon as she immigrated to the United States. 

Mehta wrote her first draft of “Have You Met Romit?” in 2018 as the thesis for her MFA in Creative Writing from Lindenwood University in Missouri.

“I was kind of steering away from cultural points because I kept telling myself that I want to write for the white audience, for an American audience. I wanted to make it easy for them,” said Mehta. “(My MFA professor) said, ‘You have to stop doing that. Just focus on telling a good story.’”

After her thesis, Mehta kept tinkering with the novel’s point of view and ending, repeatedly starting from scratch, scrapping characters and reworking the climax. 

What kept Mehta going through her six-year writing process and countless revisions was her fixation on understanding Usha.

“I started writing three pages every day to Usha, just to strike conversations with her. … ‘What is it that you want me to do? Why are you telling me your story? Could you tell me more about your settings? What is it that you like to eat for breakfast? What makes you angry? What kind of clothes are you wearing?’” Mehta said. “All of these details don’t make it into the book … but it gave me an inside view of her life.”

As Mehta raised her own two children, Usha was always in the back of her mind, and the author found herself learning valuable lessons about parenting from her character.

“Now, I have a middle schooler.. … He’s being independent, and he wants to start keeping secrets,” Mehta said. “One of the things that I’ve learned as a parent is, no matter how much you try to know everything about your children, there are going to be parts that you may not have access to.”

‘Storm inside my head‘

Mehta’s fixation on her novel did not always manifest itself in positive ways. 

“I felt like I was carrying a storm inside my head all the time. I kind of struggled socializing with people because this story was very urgent,” she said.

When Mehta began submitting “Have You Seen Romit?” to literary agents in 2024, she was hit by rejection after rejection — about 150 in less than one year. 

“I considered meeting a therapist. And I kept wondering, ‘What would I talk (about) with the therapist? I have a book, and I don’t know what to do with the book.’ It felt very silly at that point, but it was real,” she said. “I was glad I was able to connect with my writer friends.”

Some of the agents offered feedback in their rejections, so Mehta took their advice and revised the novel three times in just one year. 

Mehta’s work finally paid off when “Have You Seen Romit?” was named the 2025 winner of the James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel. Mehta’s award included $5,500 and publication by The University of Nebraska Press.

The contest was judged by R.O. Kwon, author of national bestsellers “The Incendiaries” and “Exhibit.” 

Even when she was named a finalist, Mehta never expected to win the award, telling herself she was content with the idea of Kwon having read her novel. 

Mehta was eating with her family at Honest Indian Restaurant in Wilmington when she got a phone call with the news. She immediately burst into tears.

“I remember I was not able to talk much to the editor, and he understood,” Mehta said. “I could not eat the rest of the meal. … My kids were terrified. (When I told them about the award,) my son immediately said, ‘So, now can I get a PS5?’ And I said, ‘No, that’s not happening.’”

Mehta has been busy with her book tour for the past month, but she’s itching to return to writing. Already, a new protagonist has taken up residence in Mehta’s mind — a mother who becomes disabled after the birth of her child.

“I feel like I’m cheating on her by not paying attention to her,” Mehta said with a laugh. “I’ll probably do 20 minutes a day, 30 minutes a day. That’s all I can do. But I’m going to go back to her soon. This time, hopefully, it doesn’t take six years.”