*By Samantha Errico*
Fashion designer Rachel Roy and daughter Ava Dash noticed that very few young adult novels featured Indian narratives. So they decided to write one themselves.
"We realized there have been so many retellings of Greek myths, so we decided that we wanted to be the first," Dash told Cheddar. "So we went through and found a story that really spoke to us."
"I asked her if she knew any Indian myths," Roy said of a telling interaction she had with her daughter, "and she said 'no, you haven't taught me any.'"
According to Roy, who is half-Indian, the book was also inspired by her father, who was born in Bangalore, India.
Eventually, the mother-daughter pair settled on "96 Words for Love," a story about young love and self-discovery. The coming-of-age myth follows a 17-year-old girl who "falls in love and forgets who she is," Dash said. The title, she added, refers to all 96 ways one can say the word "love" in Sanskrit.
Roy said that while she was developing the story, her then-teenage daughter was facing some of the same challenges as her fictional protagonist.
"What do I do next? Is it what my parents want me to do? Is it social media and what I see reflected in entertainment wants me to do?"
Above all, Roy said, she wants to empower her daughter to celebrate "what makes us beautiful both on the inside and on the outside."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/fashion-designer-rachel-roy-writes-young-adult-novel-with-daughter).
Jill and Carlo have the latest on the timeline for vaccine approval for kids, Biden heads to the UN after finally lifting the travel ban, the latest developments in the Gabby Petito case and more.
The FDA set to make a final decision on booster shots, a body found in the search for Gabby Petito, Dems face a legislative marathon, and the streaming platforms dominate the Emmys.
With vaccination levels increasing but threats of another shutdown looming, singles are fitting in all the intimacy they safely can in order to form bonds. Cheddar's Michelle Castillo reports.
The city of Paris is unveiling a monumental artwork built around an actual monument: the Arc de Triomphe completely wrapped in silver and blue fabric.
All the news you Need2Know for Friday, September 17, 2021.
Cheddar's Chloe Aiello reports from the US Open in New York City as the tournament returns to a very different landscape for players and fans.
Here comes the weekend again, so it's time to relax and peruse our what-to-watch list. From Y the last man-child to horrors both supernatural and digital and Tim Burton's overlooked animated classic, Cheddar's digital team might have a few suggestions.
The slaughter of 1,428 white-sided dolphins as part of a four-century-old traditional drive of sea mammals into shallow water in the Faeroe Islands where they are killed has reignited a debate in the small North Atlantic islands.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits moved up last week to 332,000 from a pandemic low, a sign that worsening COVID-19 infections may have slightly increased layoffs.
Space Milestone, Booster Debate & Greatest Songs Ever
