Marissa chats with Roshani Chokshi on her new books THE GILDED WOLVES and ARU SHAH AND THE TREE OF WISHES, as well as the importance of self-care (especially in quarantine) and the infinite potential of retelling fairy tales.
Books discussed in this episode can be purchased from your local independent bookstore or buy them online from the Happy Writer bookshop.org store (that benefits indie bookstores) at https://bookshop.org/shop/marissameyer
Find out more and follow The Happy Writer on social media: https://www.marissameyer.com/podcast/
Marissa chats with Roshani Chokshi on her new books THE GILDED WOLVES and ARU SHAH AND THE TREE OF WISHES, as well as the importance of self-care (especially in quarantine) and the infinite potential of retelling fairy tales.
Books discussed in this episode can be purchased from your local independent bookstore or buy them online from the Happy Writer bookshop.org store (that benefits indie bookstores) at https://bookshop.org/shop/marissameyer
Find out more and follow The Happy Writer on social media: https://www.marissameyer.com/podcast/
Marissa Meyer: 0:07
Hello, friends. And welcome to the happy writer. A podcast. It aims to bring greeters more books to enjoy and to help authors find more joy in their writing. I am your host, Marissa Mayer. Thank you so much for joining me. I hope you guys air staying healthy and safe in this ongoing season of coverted 19. Um, I've decided to try something a little new with some of my episodes. I'm going to start with talking about one small thing that is currently making me happy because I am a believer and appreciating the little things in life. Uh, for me, that one thing this week is the Our Planet Documentary series on Netflix. It has exceptionally beautiful footage of wildlife from all over the world. And if you like me happen to have kids who are stuck at home, um and you maybe want to offer some screen time, That is Ah, both interesting and educational. It is great. It has kept our whole family entertained. Plus bonus. It's pretty much narrated by Professor Dumbledore. Um, not really. It's actually narrated by David Attenborough, but he sounds like dumbbell door. So I encourage you to join me in that fantasy. Um, another thing I am super happy about today is talking to today's guest. She is the author of the highly acclaimed Y A Fantasy novels. The Star Touched Queen, A Crown of Wishes and the Gilded Wolves, as well as the penned of Us, Siri's the third of Which Arusha and the Tree of Wishes comes out on April 7th. Please welcome to the show. Rush Me Choksi Hello Hello, How are you doing?
Roshani Chokshi: 1:56
I am great. I was just marveling at your amazing anchor voice. It's great. I was like How about Marissa to read a phone book to me recipes
Marissa Meyer: 2:05
or something? I will if you would like me to. I could I could make that happen. I love it. Um eso How's your bunker? It's nice. That's all
Roshani Chokshi: 2:17
right. It's a good bunker. We got lots of beans, a lot of a nice natural light, which is strange for a bunker. But you know it's good, and a cat who is very confused with this whole situation is just like my whole schedule is thrown up. So when do we cut? Elicit every minute
Marissa Meyer: 2:34
or every time when we should not be cuddling right now. Beautiful cat. Thank you. Yeah, I've with pretty spin on your instagram recently, and and he is a really, truly gorgeous feline. I think I get the impression that he might know that, too. I think he
Roshani Chokshi: 2:52
knows that. So we got him completely by accident. I went into a shelter in 2017 to donate, and I saw this extremely malnourished adult cat getting beat up by a kitten. And so I took it home. The male nurse, adult cat. And then over the course of a month, he just got fluffy er and fatter and pleasure and all his spur grew back in. And then and then we had Teddy, and he was like, No worlds. I've arrived for,
Marissa Meyer: 3:17
like, four. It's like the ugly duckling story for cats.
Roshani Chokshi: 3:22
I know. Yeah, my husband was like, Are you serious? You Braddock at home? We're supposed to discuss these things enough. But then, like Teddy flopped on a split me was like I
Marissa Meyer: 3:32
said, soft. How can you argue with that? Um, So you and I met fairly recently, um, at the North Texas Teen Book Festival. Uh, which is right? Right before the world started to shut down. I know. We were really Just squeeze it in right there at the last minute. Yes, we will.
Roshani Chokshi: 3:56
Just snatched joy. And then on the little of the world folded up around us. Yeah,
Marissa Meyer: 4:01
exactly. That's very much how it felt. Um, So it was so fun to meet you and to get to meet you for the first time. And you're is delightful in person, as you are in the Internet. That's how I feel about you too. So that's great. Why, thank you. Um however, I will say that meeting you in person was not actually the catalyst for me, uh, wanting to invite you at first under this podcast. What did It was here a week or two ago. You posted a picture on instagram, uh, made me literally laugh out loud when I saw it in this picture. It's of you wearing this just ultra glamorous lake Audrey Hepburn esque dressing gown, pajama ensemble. And like, you're holding this fancy cup of coffee and look at this beautiful cat at your angles on. But I saw it and I thought, No, there is an author who was living her best life. Uh, have you been in quarantine. You clearly have wisdom to impart. And I thought you're doing it better than I am. So I'd better have her on so I can talk to her about, Uh, yeah. So are you always so glamorous? Is that just like your daily life? Do you actually just like Swan around your
Roshani Chokshi: 5:25
Hi? Well, so it's funny. I had to, like, move away from my husband cause I feel like he would jump in and be like,
Marissa Meyer: 5:30
No, Most of the time, it is a goblin contentious creditor
Roshani Chokshi: 5:33
out. So I tried to alternate between being a goblin and then being a glamorous goblin. Um, there's something about the act and the ritual of dressing up and putting on your face and and, you know, just something like that that feels a lot like self care, you know, it is self care is way of, I don't know, demarcating points of the day like, Oh, I'm getting up. I'm gonna put away my phone. I'm goingto do my ridiculous skin care of fang and put on some red lipstick. And even if nobody sees me but the cat, um, I'll feel good.
Marissa Meyer: 6:09
No, I think that's that's important thing to remember, um, when her daily life is so often spent in, you know, like yoga pants with holes. And I don't know about you, but I have, like, these nanowrimo t shirts that I've had for like, 10 years that have stains and like, our krypton horrible. But I can't not wear them. They're my favorites.
Roshani Chokshi: 6:30
But that's your armor. That it is part of your armor. You're like a Viking. You know, this is my blood stained like it's got gouges from various questing beasts on it. That's how I look a T shirt like that.
Marissa Meyer: 6:43
That's you, right? We've been through stuff together. This T shirt, your post. It did inspiring me to take a bubble bath. Actually, that
Roshani Chokshi: 6:53
night, who I call the bats are so luxurious
Marissa Meyer: 6:57
they are in a great kind of space to get away from your your phone and your computer. And, um, you know, think about something else for a little while. Absolutely nice. Um, okay, So you have a couple of books coming out this year? Um, why don't we start by talking about the Gilded Wolves? You're y a historical fantasy and it's sequel that's coming out the silvered serpents. What can you tell us about it?
Roshani Chokshi: 7:28
Oh, boy, Um well, I truly stand by my pitch, which is that it's like national treasure, but without Nicolas Cage. So if that appeals to anybody out there, this is the Siris for you. There's treasure hunts. Ah, really fun loving ensemble cast. Well, they started off unloving. There's still fun loving, but of course there's angst and secrets and all these things that happen in a found family, which was really, really satisfying to write about even as it broke my heart on. And there's I'm such a publican. My husband. I love traveling, and it's so sad right now to talk about traveling in a time where we were all just so confined to certain spaces. But that's also what makes books so magical that you could make a movie somewhere else and never have to leave your couch. But, uh, the gilded wolves and silvered serpents a lot of it was inspired by the places that we visited and thinking about what those cities looked like in the 19th century, and also what someone like myself, who's mixed race would be doing in those societies like when we think about 19th century Bella pock Paris. All these things it seems like a place of extraordinary glamour, and it is. But it also has, like, this seething underbelly of colonialism and age of imperialism. It's the moment where museums started filling up with essentially stolen goods, and those things have remained in those museums. You know, questions about that. A lot of questions tackled.
Marissa Meyer: 9:02
So what was when you first were conceptualizing this Siri's like, Were you coming at it? More from, um, is a historical angle more from a fantasy angle. Was it all kind of generating in your mind at the same time?
Roshani Chokshi: 9:17
Yeah, I mean, to be honest, it really started off from an aesthetic point of view. I just was obsessed with the idea of of Paris in the 19th century, the idea of the court, Azzam's wearing strings of pearls and the Moulin Rouge just opening and all that art and culture and everything. And then the more that I dug into historically what that era really felt like for a lot of people, Um, that's kind of where the soul of the book made sense to me. I was curious about how a magic system could be built around stealing essentially another country's cultural artifacts and the power that's within them. Something like that, you know, And then the question of who gets to who gets to make these decisions about power in the first place. And then there was, um, you know, life, things happen at the time. We've gotten some sad news about a family member who was sick and so, like at the back of my head as I'm trying to write this world, I'm also thinking about spiritual things like, Why do bad things happen to good people? Um, when a character's killed off in a book and stuff, we we agreed them, and we truly mourn them. And we wonder, like, Why did this happen? And how do how do we deal with it, how two characters deal with it, And how did they just make sense of their world? Do you? I'm That's a rambling answer, but it's strange. It starts with an image, and then it just takes on a life of its own. And that ended up informing so many things about those characters in the world that they inherited essentially and how they try toe to carve out a place for themselves. I
Marissa Meyer: 11:00
feel like when a book starts to take on a life of its own To me, that's the indication that I'm doing something right. Um so So I like that you bring that up, that there are times in which, like, you know, you might have an idea for what this story is going to be or where it's going to go, but it doesn't always turn out that way. Yeah, whether a lot of surprises like when you were researching this, that kind of took the story in a totally different direction.
Roshani Chokshi: 11:28
Oh, gosh. Well, get well. One of the surprises was, Well, there were some fun surprises. So, for example, I lost an entire day of my existence researching the history of ice manufacturing, which is bizarrely fascinating. I was just a throw away sentence. Severin put the champagne bottle in a bucket of ice on. I was like, Wait a minute. They have ice in 18 89. I'm
Marissa Meyer: 11:55
like, What did you dio? This wasn't a
Roshani Chokshi: 11:58
situation where some Roman emperor could just be like I desire a snow globe or something before they can fetch me some snow over my mountain. Um and so it was actually really interesting story about the how dangerous it was to harvest ice and how a lot of people in different countries were like, What kind of weird cold witchcraft is was No, I will not use it. Um, I think I ended up having, like, take out the paragraph about it. But I did keep the sentence. And so at least in my head, I know that it was possible for them to have fights.
Marissa Meyer: 12:29
Your evidence, you can guess, argue that
Roshani Chokshi: 12:32
it has evidence that some things are anachronistic, like the girls have zippers on their dresses. And I don't think zippers were an invention until much later on me. 1/20 century invention, But yeah, So surprises like that were fun, less fun. Surprises were that when I think about Paris and iconic landmarks there, one of the first thing that comes to mind is, of course, the Eiffel Tower. And I had never known that the Eiffel Tower was built to serve as the entrance to the 18 89 world's Fair. And that that world fair wasn't just about cool. New inventions and Thomas Edison like coming down and putting light bulbs across Eiffel Tower, but that the number one attraction was something called a Negro village. And it was a human zoo that they had literally taken indigenous people from Africa and brought them in so that it served as a human zero and that people could witness how uncivilized these people were yet congratulate themselves under bringing civilization to the dark continent. Stuff like that. That was the language that they would use. And it was something that I thought, Oh, my gosh, this has to be a one off. But it wasn't, of course, in the 1900 ST Louis World's Fair, they used indigenous Filipinos and they had those people they had. I guess that was a tradition. The Egorov tribe tradition was that they would sometimes ceremonially sacrificed dogs and show at the World Fair in ST Louis. They would have those tribes do the same thing essentially for as a spectacle for the pump. Uh, and that's why that part of ST Louis got the nickname of Dog Town. Wow. Yeah, things like that. You're just like I wonder where this word came about isn't someone's nickname like? Nope. It's much Tucker,
Marissa Meyer: 14:26
huh? No, I know my husband and I just recently listened to the audiobook The devil in the White City, Um, the Chicago World's fair and same sort of thing happening then, um, as well, where they would have exhibits bringing people, indigenous people from all around the world, like, you say, to essentially just make a spectacle of them and kind of prove this point of Look how advanced we are, which is, you know, ah, course a part of human history that that is one can't be proud of, but it does make for fascinating research. Yeah, I'm sorry.
Roshani Chokshi: 15:07
No, no, I was just a great since his as in it.
Marissa Meyer: 15:09
Yes. Um, so one thing and this kind of place that to a sod and interview that you did. You talked about the gilded wolves and how One of the overarching themes. And I'm gonna be paraphrasing here. Um, one of the overarching themes of this book and this Siri's eyes that, you know, things might look shiny on the surface, but if you were to peel back that that shiny exterior, you might find something very different underneath. Um And that if there is something that readers might take away from it, it would be that when you're faced with something that seems too beautiful and too perfect, uh, maybe question that don't don't take everything at face value. And when I was reading that, that answer which I think is so true, um and and worth looking at and thinking about it kind of made me start thinking about social media and how so many people and I certainly am guilty of this. But we put our best face forward on social media. Um, like, for me like as far as anyone knows, my Children are like the most perfect, well behaved Children in the universe because that's what I show the world. They don't need to know about the tantrums. So what are some things that you think readers or aspiring authors might find interesting if they were to kind of look behind these, these shiny exteriors that we put out there?
Roshani Chokshi: 16:43
Oh, gosh, Well, I think especially now I think they would be surprised at how lonely are our vocation is like there's a lot of isolation in it that comes that that we sort of have to engage with just a Zaha, just a za result of writing stories. The the fact that many of us need to be alone for a better part of the day. And I feel like that's always seems like a shock to people, because when they look at our social media, they see us on our trips or when we get to go on tour or do festivals and hang out with other author friends and those air such a treat. But the day to day of it is it's quite quiet, and it's mostly just yourself, at least for me.
Marissa Meyer: 17:30
Yeah, no, it is definitely a solitary occupation. Um, even quarantine aside, like just even in normal life there. There is a lot of isolation. What do you do to kind of combat badly? Do you have moments where you I feel like you've been shut off from the world and you need to socialize? And if so, like, what's your your answer to
Roshani Chokshi: 17:51
that? I for me, the thing that helps the most is having a really strict schedule, you know? I mean, I'm unfortunate enough to be able to work with a personal trainer who lives close by So there's 2 to 3 meetings like that. My sister is close buys that I make time to go see her. And, um, look at the end of the day, like I pretty much have a hard stop around five PM or so and then it's hopefully hang out my husband. If he's done early from hospital, it's making cocktails that's making dinner, painting, reading that sort of thing. But making sure that there's always like something to look forward to in my week, whether it's a date night or it's dinner with friends for something else really helps break up the sort of Butte State. But I feel that I enter when I'm when I'm on a deadline.
Marissa Meyer: 18:47
I think that's great advice to have something that you're always kind of looking forward to you, especially during deadline, because I know deadlines can make the writing just all consuming
Roshani Chokshi: 18:57
from a shame, Yeah, especially mean. I don't know how you balance that. Your you're also handling multiple contracts a year on top of tour and all this stuff and family, too. It's there's not enough hours in a day, but sometimes I think that that's for the best, because when you're so busy you can You can ignore other things that are the less savory parts about being a public figure and an author like people that tag you in one star review it just like I can't. I don't have time for this. I'm I must
Marissa Meyer: 19:29
make pasta. Goodbye. Uh uh, um, it can be difficult to balance for sure, but but yeah, having things outside of the writing that you enjoy, um or like you talked about having a schedule, like keeping yourself accountable to where you're you're not just writing 100% of your time. Um, I think you know, it can really help us. Maintained some of that, that mental emotional distance after away from the And it's been so strange
Roshani Chokshi: 20:06
there during this time, quarantine were we're really fortunate, you know, it's it's brought into light, like how grateful I really am for so many things. And I'm thankful for that reminder. But part of me felt so much pressure to be even more productive because I didn't have a tour anymore. I didn't have to go x y z, and I think for those who feel that now that they have this abundance of time that they should be doing something. I would just caution you to be kinder to yourself. You know, like in a way, we're we're all adjusting and we're surviving and even carving out a break when it seems like you're taking a break from doing absolutely nothing can can still recharge you.
Marissa Meyer: 20:53
No, I think that is such such a good, wonderful point. Um, I know I I struggle with that. If I have any moment vital nous in my life, I'm immediately like, you know, let's start a podcast. Um, but I think that it's good to you to take, you know, this thing that's happening this cove in 19. And there's a lot of obvious negatives associated with what it's doing to the world health in our economy. But there are also still rely innings. Andi, I think that it can be a good reminder to, you know, step back and take a look at your life and decide what to the things that are important to me. And how can I be taking care of myself right now? And what do I need to be doing? Um, to make sure that I'm you know, enjoying life as much as possible. Whether that's reading more, taking on a new hobby. Um, you know, there is. There's a myriad ways that we can be enjoying this time rather than just, you know. Well, how can I be more productive? What else can I get done right
Roshani Chokshi: 22:04
now? Absolutely. Yeah. I feel like one of the fun things that my husband and I have been doing is just trying to practise different cooking skills. I think we're going to try to make gnocchi tonight from scratch, and I really fun. Uh um, he built a bar that's absolutely beautiful. Like it, like in a space of a day. You know,
Marissa Meyer: 22:23
it feels a
Roshani Chokshi: 22:24
little ways that you can try to transform your space, whether or nuts something as heavy as that, or or just like the most excellent pillow and blanket for that, the world
Marissa Meyer: 22:33
will be Oh, okay. So one thing that is clearly not gilded in any way is how incredibly cute you and your grandmother are who? Maybe don't follow you. You had just this so sweet video posted recently. This is conversation between you and your grandmother. Um, and how her story is that she used to tell you influenced, um, your middle grade Siri's, the Arusha Siri's. How did that come about doing this video with her?
Roshani Chokshi: 23:13
Oh, gosh, it was It was really fun. So basically, I just been talking to the amazing marketing people over it read riot. And I didn't I'd said over and over again, like how amazing my grandmother is and how how much she'd inspired me. And so we had sort of just talked about doing an interview with her on camera, and it came about just in the most natural way. I there was this weekend I was free, and I got to meet up with her, um, and really just celebrate the fact that she's been such a major story teller to me my whole life. Um, and she just killed it. She's just a natural star. She was so good and like so just comfortable in front of the camera, had no problem making fun of me at any point in time, you know, Um, so it was just It was just really perfect. I'm really glad that people are seeing it.
Marissa Meyer: 24:09
Yeah. No, she She was great. Uh, she I felt like I knew I felt like I was there in the room with you guys just watching you watching. You have just a, like, totally laid back conversation with each other. It was really, really well done.
Roshani Chokshi: 24:23
I'm glad. Yeah, she You can't help but be like everybody's grandmother when she goes somewhere there. Poor crew just got fed so many snacks and she didn't see for, like, 10 people. And
Marissa Meyer: 24:34
it's just was holding. That's awesome. With grandmother the best they are. Really? Um, So tell me about Russia in this series.
Roshani Chokshi: 24:46
Oh, gosh. Well, I feel like sometimes when I'm working on the Irish ass Siri's I'm almost exercising the person that I was like my middle school demons and such. I mean, are you and I have a lot in common. I unfortunately, also have the reputation for being a major liar when I was a kid. Um, and both of us have just distracted and leave large imaginations are always running with a 1,000,000,000 miles an hour, Um, and for our, you know, she's the kid who who wants to be exceptional, you know, like you're fed these stories of being exceptional your whole life or blah blah blah with orders. Knowing that there's that there may be is the destiny of something special about you. Um, and for her, it does come about, but not in the way that she expects. Ah, lie gets her into trouble. She ends up unleashing a demon. She finds out that she is actually a Demi God, and yet she's not thrilled with that. So she's like, Does anybody give me a special sword? Do I get a sidekick of this whole thing work on? Instead, she is unleashed into the other world with the assistance of a furious pigeon who was always suffering an existential crisis. Another Demi god sister who's a major germophobe. And she's got absolutely zero armor and Onley her Spiderman pajamas. And and now she must go for,
Marissa Meyer: 26:16
um, that sounds that sounds really fun.
Roshani Chokshi: 26:21
Fun? It was fun to write someone who who takes up the mantle of heroism with extraordinary reluctance. You know, just, you know, we really wanted to be special in the sense of I just wanted to be, like, hot in eighth grade. Like I
Marissa Meyer: 26:35
don't need this smart apps. Look, a little would have been fine. So thing is not what I asked for. Yes, eso fairy tales are folktales. Play a big role. It does.
Roshani Chokshi: 26:51
Oh, yeah, it's drawn a lot from There's this ancient Sanskrit epic called the Mob. Out of That. And that's where it has, like stories within stories, nested tales and fables about the gods and a center of the Ma Barker. It's essentially a story about a family's internal fighting. And so there's five Demi God brothers called the Bond of the Brothers. And, um, you know, they're going through their adventures to sort of win back their throne and all these other aspects. They have many encounters with the gods and goddesses the Hindu can be on. And so, for me, what I wanted to do was take that and flip it. You know, we're so used Teoh, particularly in a lot of Hindu Mets. It's always the boy running off into action and having to save the world and do all these things. And so I turned the bond of her brothers and two sisters and turns them from like late twenties to 12 year olds, decided to see what would happen next.
Marissa Meyer: 27:57
That's that's exactly what retellings air therefore, yeah, there's there's something about this story that isn't quite working for me. No, I mean, you've done
Roshani Chokshi: 28:09
that so masterfully, you know, like just picking, picking out the things that interest us, you know? And then and then cobbling a whole new tail around it.
Marissa Meyer: 28:19
Yeah, that's why I love fairytale retellings a za reader and a writer because, you know there is. There's so much wonderful familiarity with the stories on and a lot of them. Of course, a lot of us grew up with them and, you know, have really a deep love for the stories. And yet you talk to people and there will be like, Oh, yeah, you know, I love the story of Cinderella except X Y Z always bothered me, you know, whatever it waas all right. And so, as a writer, I think it's That's one of the most fun things that we have this power toe. Take that and do it our way. Are there any fairy tales that you haven't explored yet? You're hoping to
Roshani Chokshi: 29:01
boy, I'm actually, it's I feel I don't know. I'm toying around with the idea of a thriller recently I've never do Yeah, I truly had no clue what I'm doing, just like that's creepy. That's 100 guys. I just throw it all together a whole sort of thing. But I've been I've been thinking a lot about, uh, it's my first story That's not a fantasy. And yet it's informed by so many fairy tale elements that I've been thinking a lot about what we get out of fairy tales, how they're both escape and also instruction and the really, really dark ones, one that I never seem to get tired up is that
Marissa Meyer: 29:44
blue beard I e. Love Blue Beard. I love money and any Brits. Yeah, it's bloody mean iss Yahoo listeners who
Roshani Chokshi: 29:54
are not familiar with this guy named Blueberry and nobody knows it's really were died. We don't know. And it's not like this whole string of wives need gives them the reminder. Like, don't go to the back of the house And don't open up that door. Ella. Well, here's the key to open it, and and then when they open that, they find all the bodies, their predecessors. Uh, but what's so weird about that story we is? We never really find out why he kills them. We're just like we just mad. Did they make fun of your beard? Like what happened
Marissa Meyer: 30:26
with dirt and
Roshani Chokshi: 30:27
all this? You couldn't have just been curiosity because the 1st 1 would have just opened up an empty door, like so. No, no. Um And so I just find myself, Really, I guess drawn to the fairy tales were there's there's a necessity to keep a secret. Were to follow a directive, You know, something like that, You know? What about you? Do you have favorite that? You
Marissa Meyer: 30:48
know, funny enough. Blue Beard is actually one that I have have an idea for. I don't know. I don't like contract. Um, I haven't started writing it, but it's one been one that's been in my head for a number of years. Oh, my God. I cannot wait to go Decided. Maybe someday there's no shortage of ideas, but I do. You love Blue Beard, and I think it's an underappreciated fairytale. So I'm so glad that you brought it up. Yeah. And you know what's amazing
Roshani Chokshi: 31:15
about these fairy tales that we we all take sometimes with the same like, you know, like dipping our hands in the same pot, But It always becomes something totally different with every retelling where everything that you choose to focus on. So that's I'm excited. E really? For us.
Marissa Meyer: 31:33
Yes, I know. And that is one of the great things. I mean, everyone, you know, we can all decide that we're gonna re tell, you know, the little Mermaid on dure gonna get 1000 different little mermaid stories. You know, there's there's this endless the potential for taking these stories and making them into something new, which is really exciting. It's good to be a writer. Hum. All right, so we're gonna wrap up with a quick, happy writer. Lightning Round Lovett kit number one. What book makes you
Roshani Chokshi: 32:09
happy? Oh, my gosh. The book that makes me happy, um are so I'm actually the middle of re reading Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier. So that's a retelling. Internal dancing princesses, Yes. Oh, I haven't read that in ages. That's a beautiful book. It's beautiful. It's so like I'm like creating gentle stories with quiet stakes is like what
Marissa Meyer: 32:33
I feel. Do you feel this way that whatever I'm working on a to any given point, I want to be reading the exact
Roshani Chokshi: 32:40
opposite. Yes. Yeah, way I like blood. Got score Non stop adventure. And I'm just, like, tiny tiny. Just want to be until about a tea party.
Marissa Meyer: 32:53
Um, let's see, what do you do to celebrate an accomplishment?
Roshani Chokshi: 32:58
Oh, gosh. Um, normally, what I do is my husband and I have loved just going to fund new restaurants so well, either celebrate with something like that or will plan a trip together. And hopefully, if our schedules lineup, we get to go. So we were very fortunate. Um, this past year we went Teoh Ireland and Japan, and it was just such a treat. And those both of those trips were timed Actor. Horrific deadlines fight to get through.
Marissa Meyer: 33:26
It's a good carrot at the end of the stick. Like, Okay, just this book. The next week, you'll be on a plane to Japan. Um, how do you fill the creative Well
Roshani Chokshi: 33:39
Oh, gosh. I mean, really reading, honestly is something reading something new or reading something old that made me want to start telling stories in the first place is always one of the quickest ways for me to find inspiration again and having mandatory periods where I don't write, you know, like where it becomes forbidden fruit all over again is really satisfying. So that's that's what helps the travel reading, not writing, trying to perfect something else like a strange cooking dish or whatever else. Um, that always feels like a necessary rest.
Marissa Meyer: 34:21
No, I think it's It's a really important reminder that sometimes the best thing you can do is to take to take a few steps back from the rating. Yeah, um, which we can forget sometimes. And lastly, where can people find you?
Roshani Chokshi: 34:38
Well, you can find me on Instagram. It's just my first and last name Russian each actually. And I'm also kind of not really on Twitter. I, like go in, I flee again. But on Mr Graham, you'll most likely find me sharing stuff will out something that I'm cooking. Something that I'm wearing. Something that, of course, the cats.
Marissa Meyer: 34:59
So much cat. Um, excellent. Thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you. This is so fun. Wasn't such
Roshani Chokshi: 35:07
a great I don't know, just just perfect something in the day. I'm trying to find the right word. Yeah, I liked highlight of my day. It's quarantine robbing me a language.
Marissa Meyer: 35:17
Sliding Know the feeling, Oliver Brains air exploding? Um, no, it was really fun. I'm still glad that we got to do it. Um, really good to touch bases. And I am so excited to read your next books. Oh, very
Roshani Chokshi: 35:32
good things. You have coming out, Max.
Marissa Meyer: 35:34
Well, shucks. Thank you, Readers definitely check out our Ruscha and the Tree of Wishes. A swell as the gilded wolves and its sequel, the silvered serpents coming out later this year. Ah, and of course, if you can, we always recommend supporting your local indie bookstore. Please make sure to subscribe to this podcast. You can also follow me on Instagram at Marisa Meyer author or email me at my website, marissa Mayer dot com and let me know what author you would like me to invite on a future episode until next time. I hope you're staying healthy. Stay cozy in your bunkers. And please try your best to make someone else's day a little bit