India, June 7 -- After your first book of personal essays [One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter (2017)] was published, you married your long-term boyfriend, moved to New York, became aware of your husband's affair, spent the early pandemic months anxious as your parents were stuck in Jammu during India's lockdown, got divorced, lost your job at Buzzfeed, and your mom was diagnosed with cancer. You signed the book deal seven years ago, before the two major events it's about - your divorce and mom's cancer - unfolded. What was the book you were intending to write originally? When did you finally start working on the first draft of Sucker Punch?

It was supposed to be an essay collection about the utility and futility of co...