Interview with Swati Teerdhala for The Archer at Dawn

The Archer at Dawn (The Tiger at Midnight Trilogy #2)

by Swati Teerdhala

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Release Date: May 26th 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, India, Cultural, Mythology

Synopsis:

The Sun Mela is many things: a call for peace, a cause for celebration, and, above all, a deadly competition. For Kunal and Esha, finally working together as rebel spies, it provides the perfect guise to infiltrate King Vardaan’s vicious court.

Kunal will return to his role as dedicated Senap soldier, at the Sun Mela to provide extra security for the palace during the peace summit for the divided nations of Jansa and Dharka. Meanwhile, Esha will use her new role as adviser to Prince Harun to keep a pulse on shifting political parties and seek out allies for their rebel cause. A radical plan is underfoot to rescue Jansa’s long-lost Princess Reha—the key to the stolen throne.

But amid the Mela games and glittering festivities, much more dangerous forces lie in wait. With the rebel Blades’ entry into Vardaan’s court, a match has been lit, and long-held secrets will force Kunal and Esha to reconsider their loyalties—to their country and to each other. Getting into the palace was the easy task; coming out together will be a battle for their lives.

Can you briefly describe THE TIGER AT MIDNIGHT TRILOGY, its characters and what’s happening in THE ARCHER AT DAWN?

Sure! THE TIGER AT MIDNIGHT is the first in a YA fantasy trilogy that follows the story of Kunal, a dutiful soldier, and Esha, a legendary rebel spy named the Viper. When their paths cross one night and Esha is accused of the murder of Kunal’s General, a dangerous cat and mouse game starts between them, one which throws everything they’ve known into question. In THE ARCHER AT DAWN, without giving away any spoilers, things have come to a head. Kunal and Esha go to Jansa with the mission of rescuing the Lost Princess just as the Sun Mela, an ancient celebratory tournament, begins. Problems ensue! 

Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?

This is a tough one! I love both of my main characters, Kunal and Esha, equally. They’re two halves of a whole. But I have to say in THE ARCHER AT DAWN, my favorite character is Alok, who you get to meet early on in THE TIGER AT MIDNIGHT. He has a bigger, more fun role in this book.

How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?

I first got the idea for The Tiger at Midnight when I was traveling and visiting an old Fort. It was the first spark of an idea of what would become The Tiger at Midnight and the first time I heard the voice of Kunal, one of the two main characters. I looked out from one of the old window openings and wondered what would be the most odd or startling thing a soldier of old might have seen. A girl. And that’s the opening page of THE TIGER AT MIDNIGHT. 

If you could choose one song to describe each book in THE TIGER AT MIDNIGHT TRILOGY, which one would it be?

Great question!

THE TIGER AT MIDNIGHT: Cosmic Love by Florence + The Machine

THE ARCHER AT DAWN: Don’t Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers

Book 3…you’ll have to wait for that. :)

If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?

This one’s hard because I’ve never had a 100% fancast of my characters! I recently fell in love with the idea of Geraldine Vishwanathan as Esha and Avan Jogia as Harun. Kunal is a hard one to cast though! I don’t have the perfect fancast for him. But in a dream world I’d love to see a young Hritik Roshan.

What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

A hot cup of masala chai in a sunroom or out on the porch.

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish THE ARCHER AT DAWN?

Absolutely. I had the pleasure of reading A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN by Roseanne A. Brown early and it’s the perfect blend of conflicted romance and thrilling fantasy that I think fans of THE TIGER AT MIDNIGHT series would love. Additionally, THE WINNER'S CURSE is a classic YA fantasy trilogy that also blends romance and fantasy together perfectly.

What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a book?

I’d say more often than not the hardest part is keeping up your motivation and momentum. The way I do that is by making sure I have a really firm grasp on the story I want to tell and why it’s important for me to tell. That can keep me going even when it feels like nothing else is working. 

What’s next for you? 

I’m currently finishing up edits on Book 3 of THE TIGER AT MIDNIGHT TRILOGY and working on something new!

Swati Teerdhala is the author of The Tiger at Midnight series, which has appeared on both Barnes and Noble and Book Riot’s Most Anticipated Novels lists. 

After graduating from the University of Virginia with a BS in finance and BA in history, she tumbled into the marketing side of the technology industry. She’s passionate about many things, including how the right ratio of curd-to-crust in a lemon tart. She currently lives in New York City.

Swati is represented by Kristin Nelson of Nelson Literary Agency.

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Interview with Adiba Jaigirdar for The Henna Wars

The Henna Wars

by Adiba Jaigirdar
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Release Date: May 12th 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, LGBT, Contemporary, Queer

Synopsis:

When Dimple Met Rishi meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this rom com about two teen girls with rival henna businesses.

When Nishat comes out to her parents, they say she can be anyone she wants—as long as she isn’t herself. Because Muslim girls aren’t lesbians. Nishat doesn’t want to hide who she is, but she also doesn’t want to lose her relationship with her family. And her life only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life.

Flávia is beautiful and charismatic and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flávia and Nishat choose to do henna, even though Flávia is appropriating Nishat’s culture. Amidst sabotage and school stress, their lives get more tangled—but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush on Flávia, and realizes there might be more to her than she realized.

Can you briefly describe THE HENNA WARS and its characters?

Sure! The Henna Wars is about Nishat, who is Bangladeshi, Irish, Muslim, and a lesbian. She decides to come out to her parents, but their reaction is not quite what she hoped for. They deal with it with silence, which leads to Nishat feeling pretty awful. On top of that, Nishat’s childhood friend Flávia joins at her school. When their business teacher announces a business competition, both Nishat and Flávia decide to do henna. While henna is a big part of Nishat’s culture, it’s not part of Flávia’s—who only really learned about it from a Bangladeshi wedding she attended. The problem is that Nishat can’t help her growing crush on Flávia, even though she’s angry at her for culturally appropriating. So, Nishat is left to navigate her growing feelings, Flávia’s cultural appropriation, along with her parents’ disapproval of her sexuality. 

Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?

The main character, Nishat! I’ve obviously spent the most amount of time with her since she’s the protagonist, and I had a really fun time writing her. What I love about Nishat is that she both reminds me of who I was as a teen, and also doesn’t at the same time. In a lot of ways, Nishat is the opposite of who I was as a teen. She is very confident in who she is: she has this wonderful, unrelenting love for her culture, even when people are very disrespectful of her culture. She is also very confident in her sexuality, despite her parents’ disapproval. Nishat knows who she is, and that’s certainly nothing like I was when I was younger!

On the other hand though, Nishat is very much guided by her emotions. Her parents’ disapproval of her sexuality really affects her, so she lashes out with anger. Without necessarily thinking through her decisions. So she makes some bad choices, and does some things that are a little thoughtless. That is definitely reminiscent of me when I was Nishat’s age—someone who was led by emotions and didn’t always make the best choices. This combination of things in Nishat as a character made her really fun to write, and I hope it made for an interesting character to read as well. 

How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?

I was originally inspired to write this book because of henna! I was on a summer holiday in Bangladesh where I was visiting my grandmother. I had all of these tubes of henna and I decided that I wanted to teach myself how to do henna. Unfortunately, I’m not a very good visual artist so I wasn’t particularly successful, but it gave me the idea of two teen girls with rivalling henna businesses. Then, I thought, wouldn’t it be even more interesting if they were also romantically interested in each other? 

If you could choose one song to describe your book, which one would it be?

Feelings by Hayley Kiyoko! The reason for it probably goes without saying but…Nishat is definitely very driven by her feelings in the book!

If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?

This is a difficult question to answer! There aren’t really a lot of Bangladeshi, or Afro-Brazilian actors (and I don’t think I know any). If there was a movie, I hope we’ll be able to find some! 

What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

Somewhere really cozy, like cuddled up in bed or in front of a fireplace. For a drink, definitely some really strong chai. 

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish THE HENNA WARS?

For more books with South Asian representation, you can’t go wrong with a novel by Sandhya Menon. When Dimple Met Rishi or her upcoming 10 Things I Hate About Pinky. For more books featuring queer POC romances, you should definitely pick up Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender, You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson, or Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett. For books with a Muslim romance, I absolutely love Love From A To Z by S.K. Ali and More Than Just A Pretty Face by Syed M. Masood. 

What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a book?

Seeing it through! I think it’s easy to come up with an idea, even to start a book. But the difficult part is coming back to it day after day, writing draft after draft, revising, rewriting. These are the hard parts, after much of the shine of a brand-new idea has been lost. You need to be pretty dedicated to see a book through all the way from beginning to end. 

What’s next for you?

I have another sapphic romcom coming from Page Street in 2021!

Adiba Jaigirdar is a Bangladeshi/Irish writer and teacher. She lives in Dublin, Ireland. She has an MA in Postcolonial Studies from the University of Kent, England and a BA in English and History from UCD, Ireland.

She is a contributor for Bookriot. Previously, she has published short fiction and poetry in various journals and anthologies.

All her work is aided by copious amounts of (kettle-made) tea and a whole lot of Hayley Kiyoko and Janelle Monáe.

She is represented by Uwe Stender at TriadaUS.

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☪️ G I V E A W A Y ☪️ . . Happy Tuesday, beautiful bookish people! How's your week going so far? I have quite a famous and controversial question for you today, what do you consider cultural appropriation? If it is a taboo question for you, what culture do you like/would you like to learn more about? . . I am asking this because today is THE HENNA WARS by @dibs_j book birthday 🎉🎊🥂 (congrats!) and can I tell you this book is EVERYTHING? It shows how difficult it is to be homosexual in a Muslim family, the hurt of how your family react, but also the love some members can show you, love regardless of sex and race and most important the meaning of cultural appropriation. Very well written piece of work with powerful messages. . . Are you excited? Well, today's your lucky day! Turns out we have partnered with @pagestreetya 📚 to give you the chance to win 1 copy of THE HENNA WARS. . . Entries for the giveaway: ▪︎Follow @theffbc & @whatmakespatri ▪︎Follow @dibs_j ▪︎Follow @pagestreetya ▪︎Answer below my question above ⬆️ . . Extra entries: ▪︎Tag a friend (each friend will be an extra entry). ▪︎Share on your stories about the giveaway (tag @whatmakespatri & @theffbc) ▪︎Follow @michellesulk ▪︎Follow any other FFBC team member participating in the tour (Comment section who did you follow): @dawnelize @laurensboookshelf @TheReadingCornerforAll @mousethatreads @emeliesbooks . . . These 5 bloggers will be posting their HENNA WARS photos tomorrow (Wednesday). Go check their accounts tomorrow to gain more giveaway points! Let's celebrate #TheHennaWars all together! 🎊 . . . Also, check my interview with Adiba later today on my site and enter our rafflecopter giveaway to win another copy! . . . #adibajairgirdar #pagestreetya #pagestreetkids #yalgbtbooks #lgbtq🌈 #FFBCTours #roaring20sdebut #yaromance #ireadya #bookshimmy #gimmeallthebooks #bookporn #igreads #lgbtqreads #bookstagram #teenfiction #yabookstagram #bookgiveaway #booknerd #bibliophile #bookphotography #booksbooksbooks #bookrec #avidreader #bookfriends #cutereads

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Interview with Amanda Sellet for By The Book

By the Book

by Amanda Sellet
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 12th 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

Mary Porter-Malcolm has prepared for high school in the one way she knows how: an extensive review of classic literature to help navigate the friendships, romantic liaisons, and overall drama she has come to expect from such an “esteemed” institution. Her love of literature even inspires her to imagine herself the heroine of a nineteenth-century novel. Not the sort who makes poor life choices and ends up dying of consumption while still in her teens, but the noble, virtuous, quick-witted type.

When some new friends seem in danger of falling for the same tricks employed since the days of Austen and Tolstoy, Mary swoops in to create the Scoundrel Survival Guide, using archetypes of literature’s debonair bad boys to signal red flags. But despite her best efforts, she soon finds herself unable to listen to her own good advice and falling for a supposed cad—the same one she warned her friends away from. Without a convenient rain-swept moor to flee to, Mary is forced to admit that real life doesn’t follow the same rules as fiction and that if she wants a happy ending, she’s going to have to write it herself.

Can you briefly describe BY THE BOOK and its characters?

When bookish Mary Porter-Malcolm transfers to a crowded public high school her sophomore year, she stumbles into a new group of friends who rely on her extensive knowledge of classic literature to help them sidestep scoundrels and other social catastrophes – including the dangerously debonair Alex Ritter. 

Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?

If I could get away with claiming “Mary’s family” as a single character, that would be my answer, because I love sibling (and parent) banter. Otherwise I’ll confess to a sneaking fondness for Lydia, the boldest and most outspoken of Mary’s new friends. She’s a lot like my high school BFF, who is still my best friend (mumble-mumble) years later. 

How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?

I had been working on a dark, sad, speculative story for several years when I finally accepted that I wasn’t ready to write that particular book. To console myself, I decided my next project would be something fun and funny and light, and rather than dealing with complex magic and twisted backstories, it would fall squarely into my wheelhouse: book-loving nerds. From there I just kept adding more of my favorite things, like a big, quirky family; a small town full of eccentric secondary characters; lots of food descriptions; and silly puns. 

What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

I vote tea and scones on a nice squishy sofa, since Mary (like so many lovers of Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters) is a bit of an Anglophile, and this is a very cozy book. 

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish BY THE BOOK?

ORDINARY GIRLS by Blair Thornburgh; WE ARE THE PERFECT GIRL by Ariel Kaplan; FIRST & THEN by Emma Mills; and TECHNICALLY, YOU STARTED IT by Lana Wood Johnson. All four of those are funny, romantic YA contemporaries that riff on classic lit. 

What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a book?

While contemplating this answer I checked Instagram, popped over to Goodreads, had a cup of jasmine tea, caught up with my Slack conversations, replied to a text, skimmed my Twitter notifications and dealt with an attention-starved cat. So I’m going to have to go with PROCRASTINATION! 

What’s next for you?

I’m working on another funny and romantic YA contemporary with literary underpinnings, loosely tied to BY THE BOOK. Unlike Mary, the heroine of this one has no problem speaking her mind, so the tone is more salty than sweet.

Debut author Amanda Sellet had a previous career in journalism, during which she wrote book reviews for The Washington Post, personal essays for NPR, and music and movie coverage for VH1. These days she lives in Kansas with her archaeologist husband and their daughter.

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