“The Tiger at Midnight did not shy away from cultural identity. Diverse storytellers sometimes feel the need to make their story more palatable for a general audience. ” – Swati Teerdhala.  Swati Teerdhala is the author of the brand new book The Tiger at Midnight published  by Harper Collins. This is the first book in an epic heart-pounding fantasy trilogy inspired by ancient Indian history and Hindu mythology. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Finance and History, Swati stumbled into the marketing side of the technology industry but always wanted to explore her writing side. Swati currently lives in New York City, and she’s passionate about many things, including how to make a proper cup of chai, the right ratio of curd-to-crust in a lemon tart, and diverse representation in the stories we tell. In this conversation, we discuss: Swati’s favorite books growing up and how her love of storytelling was shaped early on Swati’s journey to find strong mentors and community that helped her develop as a writer The exact moment when she found out “The Tiger at Midnight” was going to be published! Much, much more… Swati goes deep into what it took to publish her first book – a combination of years of hard work and a little luck. Please enjoy my conversation with Swati Teerdhala. Connect with Swati * Instagram * Twitter * Website Listen to the podcast! (And please leave a review if you enjoyed it!)