Once Upon a Twilight!: Blog Tour: The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi | Interview

Welcome to our stop on The Star-Touched Queen tour for Roshani Chokshi. This tour is hosted by Rockstar Book Tour.

The Star-Touched Queen

Author: Roshani Chokshi
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genres: Fantasy
Release Date: April 26th 2016
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you're only seventeen?

Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father's kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran's queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar's wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire...

But Akaran has its own secrets -- thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most. . .including herself.

A lush and vivid story that is steeped in Indian folklore and mythology. The Star-Touched Queen is a novel that no reader will soon forget.

INTERVIEW

The world building in The Star Touched Queen is incredible. Can you tell me a little bit about how the idea behind it came about?
I’ve always been fascinated with magical worlds, in particular how we accessed these lands. When I was little, I loved the CHRONICLES OF NARNIA for the simplicity of its portal magic. Open a wardrobe: whole new country. Bam! In some folklore, fairyland is a place that’s just outside the realm of sleep. Sometimes the Otherworld lies atop the mortal plane, touching us but impossible to enter. When it came time to developing Maya and Amar’s world, I wanted to draw on all of those concepts of other lands. Hence, there’s mirrors that lead to different kingdoms in the palace of Akaran. The Night Bazaar is “on the other side of a moonbeam.” The numerous magical cities are stacked one upon the other. Like cake. Cake is, probably, my biggest motivation in writing. And life in general.

Was there a scene that didn't make it into the book that you wish had?
Yes…there was one scene I really loved writing. But I realize why we couldn’t use it. Nothing *happened* with it, it was just me having way too much fun describing a ship in the sky. Alas!

What’s the most interesting/exciting thing you’ve done in the name of research?
Maybe this is a super corny answer, but it’s the honest one, so I hope I don’t make anyone roll their eyes so aggressively they end up in a coma…BUT…the most interesting and exciting thing that helped my research was just living. I try to travel when I can. I try not to say no to new things (provided they don’t put me at risk for bodily harm, e.g. cage wrestling tigers would be a NOPE). I *love* talking to people wherever I am and I love hearing their stories. It’s inspiring! Living was my best research (WOW THAT IS CORNY, I AM SO SORRY).

What's your ideal environment for writing?
One of two things: either a room flooded with sunshine and utterly silent, or a room dimly lit and thrumming with noise.

Name a song that describes your book?
My brilliant editor, Eileen Rothschild, was the one who introduced me to this song. She said she played it a lot while editing, and I think it fits perfectly: “Which Witch” by Florence and The Machine.

Read Leydy's 5 trees review!

Roshani Chokshi comes from a small town in Georgia where she collected a Southern accent, but does not use it unless under duress. She grew up in a blue house with a perpetually napping bear-dog. At Emory University, she dabbled with journalism, attended some classes in pajamas, forgot to buy winter boots and majored in 14th century British literature. She spent a year after graduation working and traveling and writing. After that, she started law school at the University of Georgia where she’s learning a new kind of storytelling.