Sayantani DasGupta and I discuss her series, KIRANMALA AND THE KINGDOM BEYOND, celebrating the release of its third installment, THE CHAOS CURSE. She shares information about being involved with WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS. We discuss the importance of representation and how a lack of mirrors can give the misguided impression of a monster, not unlike a vampire. We chat about narrating her own audiobooks, using humor and absurdity to make observations about the world in middle grade fiction, plotting vs pantsing, writing while cooking, in-depth editing, the qualities of a great writers critique group, the glory of knowledge, and so much more.

Sayantani DasGupta is the New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed, Bengali folktale and string theory-inspired KIRANMALA AND THE KINGDOM BEYOND books, the first of which—THE SERPENT'S SECRET—was a Bank Street Best Book of the Year, a Booklist Best Middle Grade Novel of the 21st Century, and an EB White Read Aloud Honor Book. Sayantani is a pediatrician by training, but now teaches at Columbia University. When she’s not writing or reading, Sayantani spends time watching cooking shows with her trilingual children and protecting her black Labrador retriever Khushi from the many things that scare him, including plastic bags. She is a team member of WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS, and can be found online at sayantanidasgupta.com and on Twitter at @sayantani16.