Name: Shveta Thakrar

Website: https://www.shvetathakrar.com/

Asian background: Indian

What is it about your experience and upbringing that inspired you the most to write?

I’ve always believed in magic, so that’s part of it, and ties neatly into the other reason, which is that I wanted to see my mythology and heritage and people like me as the focus of a fun, magical story for once. From there, I decided I would write Hindu-inspired fantasy—and did.

Name 3 authors and 3 books

1. Anna-Marie McLemore and When the Moon Was Ours

2. June Hur and The Silence of Bones

3. Ciara Smyth and The Falling in Love Montage

What do you think is the best quality a writer can have?

A deep, compassionate desire to understand the world we live in, so you can then do your best to recreate that truth in your work.

Any last words? (Fun facts, comments, something you’d like to share with the world, etc.)
The background of my website is the absolutely gorgeous illustration Asma Kazi did of the magical Night Market in Star Daughter, and if you look closely, one of the tents says (in Gujarati), “Shveta’s Stories.” So I’m there, too!

Challenge: Write a one-sentence story!

Someone left a pan of freshly baked fudgy brownies on the counter—and then I found it.