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 Bree Barton for Tears of Frost

Tears of Frost (Heart of Thorns #2)

by Bree Barton
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: November 5th 2019

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis:

The electric second book in the Heart of Thorns trilogy explores the effects of power in a dark magical kingdom—and the fierce courage it takes to claim your body as your own.

Mia Rose is back from the dead. Her memories are hazy, her body numb—but she won’t stop searching. Her only hope to save the boy she loves and the sister who destroyed her is to find the mother she can never forgive. Pilar is on a hunt of her own. Betrayed by her mother, and plagued by a painful secret, she’s determined to seek out the only person who can exact revenge. All goes according to plan… until she collides with Prince Quin, the boy whose sister she killed.

As Mia, Pilar, and Quin forge dangerous new alliances, they are bewitched by the snow kingdom’s promise of freedom and opportunity. But with the winter solstice drawing near, they must confront the truth beneath the glimmering ice, as lines between friend, foe, and lover vanish like snowflakes on a flame.

Can you briefly describe TEARS OF FROST and its characters?

Mia Rose and Pilar d’Aqila—the girl who tried to kill her—are on a collision course in the snow kingdom. Mia is looking for her mother. Pilar is looking for her father. They’re both harboring dark secrets that could destroy them. Meanwhile Quin has also escaped the river kingdom on a mission of his own. 

They only have twenty-eight days before the Illuminations, the Jyöltide festival in which fyre ice flickers in the night sky… and all truths come to light. The question is, will Mia, Quin, and Pilar work together to confront the darkness? Or will their secrets tear them apart?

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

I really fell in love with Pilar as I wrote this book. She’s so different than Mia—she thinks and speaks and acts differently, and the world she knows is not the same world Mia and Quin inhabit. Pilar rough-and-tumbled her way into my heart, jostled Mia out of the way, and claimed my new favourite spot.

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

I clawed and fought and wept my way to this story. It was not easy. When I was writing the first draft, my little sister was raped—a fact she’s given me permission to share, because she’d like our culture to be able to talk more openly about rape. When I was revising, I was sexually assaulted. For more than twenty years, I have struggled with depression, which often feels like being stripped of physical sensation and emotional aliveness. In other words: being trapped in a dark box. All of these things poured out of me and into the book. I did my best to shape them as honestly and sensitively as I could. It also means this book is intensely personal—and will of course hurt more when people tear it apart. 

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

“Fire Drills” by Dessa. This is such a powerful song. It says so much, so perfectly, so painfully. Dessa is a queen.

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

Why not choose actors, right? There are so many good ones!

Mia: Sophie Turner

Quin: Timothée Chalamet 

Pilar: Camila Mendes 

Zai: Manny Jacinto

Angelyne: Dakota Fanning

Ville: Lucas Hedges

Nell: Zendaya

Fall is here, and we love to find a cosy place to read our favourite books. What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

TEARS OF FROST is a great book for the holidays... assuming you like your holidays with a dose of dark and twisty. The mythology of the snow kingdom—the Seven Souls of Jyöl that form the epistolary backbone of the novel—was heavily inspired by my trip to Iceland. I think the absolute best place to read ToF would be by a crackling fire in the coastal town of Vik, hugging a toasty cup of Jyöltide cinnamon cocoa beneath the northern lights. Barring that: in a bookstore nook with mistletoe and some candles that hopefully don’t float. 

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish TEARS OF FROST?

MIRAGE, DAMSEL, THESE REBEL WAVES—so many amazing books today are pushing the boundaries of what fantasy can be. I also just finished (and fell in love with) ONCE UPON A RIVER by Diane Setterfield. Treat yourself to the audiobook narrated by Juliet Stevenson. The variety of British accents is dazzling; she brings all the characters so beautifully to life. 

What’s next for you?

I’m currently hard at work on book 3 of the trilogy (I know the title but can’t reveal it just yet!). There are glass cities, warm sandy beaches with swaying fish trees, an island with mystical allure… and a grave cost on the other side.

Bree Barton is the author of Heart of Thorns (KT/HarperCollins 2018), the first in a series of fierce feminist fantasy novels. Her books have been published in seven countries and four languages. When she’s not crafting a story, Bree teaches dance and writing to teen girls. You can find her on Instagram @SpeakBreely. She lives in Los Angeles but dreams of the northern lights.

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Interview with Brittany Cavallaro + Emily Henry for Hello Girls

Hello Girls

by Brittany Cavallaro & Emily Henry

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: August 6th 2019

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Best friends are forged by fire. For Winona Olsen and Lucille Pryce, that fire happened the night they met outside the police station—both deciding whether to turn their families in.

Winona has been starving for life in the seemingly perfect home that she shares with her seemingly perfect father, celebrity weatherman Stormy Olsen. No one knows that he locks the pantry door to control her eating and leaves bruises where no one can see them.

Lucille has been suffocating beneath the needs of her mother and her drug-dealing brother, wondering if there’s more out there for her than disappearing waitress tips and generations of barely getting by.

One harrowing night, Winona and Lucille realize they can’t wait until graduation to start their new lives. They need out. Now. All they need is three grand, fast. And really, a stolen convertible to take them from Michigan to Las Vegas can’t hurt.

Can you briefly describe HELLO GIRLS and their main characters? 

HELLO GIRLS is the story of Winona and Lucille, two girls who have been put in impossible situations by the men in their families. It’s about their unlikely best friendship and the lengths that the two of them will go to get free—some hilarious, some dark, and all, hopefully, thrilling. 

Winona is a rich girl who’s been kept in a glass case by her controlling father; Lucille’s grown up with an absent dad, a drug-dealing brother, and a mother who works long hours to put food on the table. At first glance, Winona is Tory Burch dresses and perfect manners to Lucille’s drugstore glitter lip gloss, but the two of them together find new depths when they hit the road. 

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

Brittany: My favorite character has to be the Sicilian mechanic Armie Quinhole. I’m of Italian descent, and I’m from a big family—getting to write characters like Lucille (who is at pains to remind you she’s both a Folgarelli and a Pryce) and Armie lets me pay tribute to, and send up, my own upbringing. 

Emily: Armie is definitely pretty high on my list too, and I also have the softest of soft spots for Chaxton. I can’t even think his name without giggling. But honestly, I think it has to be Lucille. I love her so much. She has a backbone made of steel but her innards are just soft and gooey and good. She is the friend we all deserve. 

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

We came up with the idea for HELLO GIRLS on our own road trip, driving through the Midwest in search of inspiration for a project for the two of us to write together. Over and over, as we stopped at gas stations and got food at restaurants, we were cheerily condescended to by men, who looked at two grown women and only saw ‘girls’ they could hit on or demean. We wanted to write a book that talked back to the kind of toxic masculinity. 

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

Probably some kind of unholy mashup of songs by Mariah Carey and Bleachers, played on top volume through blown-out car speakers. 

What would you say it is the best thing about writing a book with someone else? 

Brittany: Every sentence I write needs to be as good as one of Emily’s, and that makes my own writing better. I love seeing her process. She’s so talented! 

Emily: I have to agree with this (only… you know, reversed). I think one reason this book poured out of us was that whenever one of us sent the other a chapter, it felt like this adrenaline-inducing challenge. I have never read a book by Brittany Cavallaro without learning something about writing in the process, and this was no different. It was just inspiring to watch her work, and in a way, writing this book together strangely paralleled the book itself: the way Lucille and Winona egg each other on, how they keep trying to top one another. 

Brittany, can you tell us something we don’t know about Emily? 

You might know this from Insta, but Emily dresses like an actual Farrah Fawcett angel from the 70s. She might have the coolest personal style of anyone I know. She’s also the queen of the quick comeback—hanging out with her is a master class in banter. 

Emily, can you tell us something we don’t know about Brittany? 

Brittany is freakishly good at video games and strategy games. Whenever we’re together, she tries to teach me something about one of these (and does so with the patience of a saint), and I nod and pledge to practice when I go home, and then the song on the radio changes, and we start singing, and I forget to ever think about strategy games again. Also she taught me everything I know about skincare (a lot). 

To which character do you identify the most in HELLO GIRLS and why? 

Brittany: Oh, I am thoroughly a Lucille, good qualities and bad—the loyalty, the impulsiveness. She’s much better at math than me, and has slightly worse taste in boys than I did at 16 (…slightly), but we’re cut from the same cloth. 

Emily: Hm, maybe a Winona dressed as a Lucille? Which I guess is just a Winona. I don’t know, I think one reason I loved writing Winona so much was that she’s so different from me. Writing her allowed me to tap into parts of myself that I rarely think about. In real life, I would be terrified of Winona and would follow Lucille around like an adoring puppy. So maybe that makes me… Chaxton! JK! 

Summer is here and we love to go out and enjoy the sun. What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date? 

A strawberry milkshake with extra whipped cream on it by a paddle pool in your backyard. 

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish HELLO GIRLS? 

For more girl friendship, Elizabeth Wein’s CODE NAME VERITY is a must. Katie Cotugno’s 99 DAYS is my favorite summer read—complex relationships, gorgeous writing. And speaking of summer books, anything by Sandhya Menon (like WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI) is perfect. For something with grit that engages with the darker themes, almost anything by Mindy McGinnis is a safe bet. 

Finally, not a book—but if you haven’t seen Thelma and Louise yet, you should! 

What’s next for you? 

Brittany: I have an 1893 World’s Fair historical fantasy coming out in early 2021 called MUSE. Stay tuned! 

Emily: My next book comes out next June, and is a rom-com (for adults!) called BEACH READ! I also wouldn’t sneeze at a chance to write another book with my bestie. (Is that even the saying? Sneeze at? You get the idea: I’d love to do it.)

Brittany Cavallaro

Brittany Cavallaro is a poet, fiction writer, and old school Sherlockian. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the Charlotte Holmes novels from HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books, including A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE, THE LAST OF AUGUST, and THE CASE FOR JAMIE (forthcoming in March 2018). She's also the author of the poetry collection GIRL-KING (University of Akron) and is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. She earned her BA in literature from Middlebury College and her MFA in poetry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in Michigan with her husband, cat, dog, and collection of deerstalker caps.

Emily Henry

Emily Henry is the author of The Love That Split the World and A Million Junes. She is a full-time writer, proofreader, and donut connoisseur. She studied creative writing at Hope College and the New York Center for Art & Media Studies, and now spends most of her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the part of Kentucky just beneath it. She tweets @EmilyHenryWrite.

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