On this bonus episode, host Betsy Bird interviews Rajani LaRocca, author of the middle grade fantasy novel MIDSUMMER'S MAYHEM. Go behind the scenes as Rajani recounts what it was like growing Liyana’s story seed into the modern fairytale, "Aina and the Mirror" on Episode 5, "The Hungry Mirror." They also talk about favorite snacks, the weirdest (but effective!) places to write a novel, writing tips, and Rajani’s not just one, but two successful careers: she’s an author and a doctor!
Listen along as The Story Seeds Podcast host Betsy Bird chats with Rajani LaRocca (author of "Midsummer’s Mayhem," a Kirkus Best Book of 2019 and long-listed for the 2020 Massachusetts Book Award as a must-read title in MG/YA Literature.) They go behind the scenes and talk about what it was like meeting Liyana and growing her story seed about a girl trying to fit in with her famous family with the help of a magic mirror on Episode 5 “The Hungry Mirror.”
In this author interview, Rajani also shares tips on writing and talks about how, by working hard, she balanced her love of science and writing to become both a doctor and an award-winning author!
Authors, books, and genres of writing mentioned in this episode: Shakespeare, Madeleine L'Engle, Richard Seltzer, William Carlos Williams
Genres of writing mentioned in this episode: science fiction, fantasy, fairy tale
Books mentioned in this episode: Midsummer’s Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca
Snacks mentioned in this episode: carrot halva, chanachur
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This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here.
Show credits
Matt Boynton and Ania Grzesik of Ultraviolet Audio for the sound mixing, design, and score of our bonus episode. Theme music is composed and performed by Andrew VanWyngarden. And, our host is Betsy Bird.
The Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com
[Intro]
Betsy [00:00]: Hi Story Seeds Podcast listeners. Your host Betsy Bird here. Welcome to our bonus episode. One of my favorite parts of this job is that I get to talk to all the authors we are featuring on the podcast to get the behind the scenes scoop on their experiences and writing life.
Betsy [00:27]: Today, I am chatting with Rajani LaRocca author of her delectable debut novel Midsummer’s Mayhem. It’s a story about food and family and combines Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with competitive baking. Rajani was the perfect match for Liyana Cabrera’s modern fairytale of a story seed and together they dreamed up “Eye Eee Nah’s Mirror”. Here is our conversation.
[Interview]
Betsy: [00:56] Rajani, thank you so much for talking to me.
Rajani: [00:59] Thank you, Betsy, I'm excited to be here.
Betsy: [01:02] Yeah, this is awesome. OK. So let's start with Liyana just right from the start here. Now, what was it about her story seed that worked for you? I know that it had a certain element of a girl who doesn't fit in with her family. Her family is full of celebrities and she gets a magic mirror in some way. So what was it you liked about it?
Rajani: [01:28] I loved that it had to do with a girl and her family and about wondering whether she actually belonged in that. And that is a theme in my book as well. And so I am ... I was just delighted that that was part of what was going on. And then, of course, there is a magical element to it, which is also something that's right up my alley. So I was ... I was .. that was in general the perfect story seed for me.
Betsy: [01:55] Oh, that's so nice. It's nice that we should get it right. That's right. Not that we ever get it wrong. We'd never get it wrong. It's always correct. Now, what was it like actually meeting Liyana?
Rajani: [02:07] Meeting Liyana was just delightful. We met at this lovely, lovely antique store called Pippin Vintage in New York City. And she was really sweet. She was kind of soft spoken, but she had some really great ideas for her story and she'd done some artwork ahead of time. That was really, really wonderful.
Betsy: [02:27] Well, what was Pippin vintage like? We got sort of a sense of it, but it sounded really cool, like what would it actually look like?
Rajani: [02:35] It was super cool. There was a an entrance off the street and then you walked through this corridor that was still kind of outside, but also sheltered and felt kind of inside and that entire corridor was lined with mirrors. And this actually made it into the story that I wrote because I was fascinated by it. And they were all different shapes and sizes. They looked to be different ages. We ... Liyana and I walked through that quarter and looked at all the mirrors and we talked about which ones appealed for the most. And that was really neat and kind of watching the light at our own expressions bounce around. And that corridor was really neat. And then you entered this courtyard that was still outside, but it felt really sheltered from the elements. And it was about as surprising a thing to find the middle of New York City as you can imagine. There was Ivy, there fairy lights. There is this beautiful little cottage with a big oak door with a big glass panel. And you had the feeling that if you entered into the store, that something magical might happen.
Betsy: [03:47] That’s so cool. Where is it located?
Rajani: [03:49] It's on a pretty busy Manhattan street and you would never know once you got back there.
Betsy: [03:54] It’s absolutely fascinating the more and the more I hear about it. I mean, it sounds fictional, quite frankly. I'm sorry. It sounds like you made this up. I'm like, oh, yeah. There was a wall of mirrors. Yeah, there was. With an oad door. Go on with ya...
Rajani: [04:12] And don't forget the Ivy.
Betsy: [04:14] And the ivy.. Of course there was ivy and fairy lights...
Rajani: [04:19] Exactly.
Betsy: [04:20] No, don't believe a word
Rajani: [04:22] It was it was pretty remarkable.
Betsy: [04:25] It sounds rather delightful and magical. It did it so it did it inspire your writing in any way?
Rajani: [04:31] Oh, absolutely. I mean, you will see or hear in the story that basically that little corridor with the mirrors went right into the story, as did the big, big door.
Betsy: [04:45] How could it not? That it is it is too good not to include. Yes. Now you collaborated with Liyana. Have you ever collaborated with anyone before?
Rajani: [04:58] No, not really. Not like this. Not to write a story with them. You know, I have critique partners who are wonderful. So anytime I'm writing anything, I do get their advice. But it was different having kind of the seed of an idea given to me from someone else.
Betsy: [05:25] Now, this story that you two wrote together has a lot of fairy tales, sort of tropes in it. You know, you get your glamour and you have your magic mirrors, but at the same time, it's completely current. You have dog walkers, you have YouTube stars and they really go together really seamlessly. There is ... there is no disconnect, I'd say, between the two. So how did you find this sort of balance between sort of classic old fashioned elements and then sort of in this modern setting?
Rajani: [06:02] That's a great question. So I would just say that all of my life, I would say that my favorite genre of book has been contemporary fantasy, where things are set in the real world or what seems like the real world and then elements of fantasy or sci-fi kind of work their way in. And so I've loved that since I was a kid. And, you know, Madeleine L'Engle was one of my huge inspirations growing up. And she does it so well, weaving in elements of fantasy and sci-fi into a contemporary setting to the point, you know, some in some of her stories. I couldn't tell what she had made up and what seemed to be a real place. So I ... I find myself doing the same thing in a lot of my writing. So one of the things that interested me when I was writing this story was the role of technology, because, quite honestly, the Internet kind of ruins lots of things for writers because part of it did you as a writer is have people suspend disbelief. And if you could just instantly Google something, then. I mean, there's no way to suspend that disbelief, right?
Betsy: [07:09] True.
Rajani: [07:10] One of the ways that I work on kind of weaving magic into contemporary settings is I try and have the main character really not that connected to technology. So one of my protagonists in the story is that Aina basically like her entire family is obsessed with technology and she doesn't like it. She likes old fashioned things. And so that's kind of where there is the opportunity to have a little bit of magic enter her life and not have her be, “wait a minute. Like, what's really going on here? Let me Google it”.
Betsy: [07:46] Oh, that's very smart. If her embracing things that are not technological is sort of a rejection of her family, then that's just natural. That's just a part of the story that just comes naturally to you. You don't have to have the character suddenly abandoned on a rocky outcrop. Oh, I can't get a signal. You know, you don't have to do this because...
Rajani: [08:04] Exactly.
Betsy: [08:05] … she from the start has already said, “yeah, it's not for me.”
Rajani: [08:08] Exactly. Exactly.
Betsy: [08:10] So food was a big part of your novel, Midsummer's Mayhem, and you were able to weave in, was it chanachur? Lianas favorite Bangladeshi snack.
Rajani: [08:22] Yes.
Betsy: [08:23] Yes. You were able to sort of weave that into the story. Do you personally associate memory memories to food?
Rajani: [08:35] Oh, 100 percent. Absolutely. And the interesting thing is that, of course, the taste evokes a lot of memories, but the smells really do. There are certain things that my mom would make growing up that you were. I'm just. It just takes me right back to being that age.
Betsy: [08:53] Yep. Now when in when you were a kid. What was your favorite snack?
Rajani: [08:59] Oh, boy. So I have a sweet tooth. In case you couldn't tell from Midsummer’s Mayhem [laughs] My mom ... my favorite dessert that my mom would make was something called Carrot Halva,, which is it sounds way healthier than it actually is because it is made of. It is made of carrots, lots of grated carrots, but it has a lot of ghee and a lot of sugar and cardamom and raisins and cashews. And it is absolutely delicious. Yeah, that that's my favorite food memory from my childhood.
Betsy: [09:35] Oh, that's nice. And now when you're writing, do you have certain snacks that you'd like to eat or drink when you're doing your writing?
Rajani: [09:44] So I. I try to just stick to beverages while I'm actually doing my writing. But then come tea time, I will have a snack or two. And so I-- I really do love baking. And so if I have made some cookies or something like that on nibble on them from time to time. Every once in a while, I need a more spicy snack. And so similar to channachur, where there's this kind of thing called mixture, which is like basically chickpea noodles, and peanuts and spices and that kind of stuff. And sometimes I'll munch on that when I'm drinking tea in the afternoon.
Betsy: [10:24] Ahh. I admire that. I have an inability to taste anything spicy without my head exploding.
Rajani: [10:31] Well, if we ever meet, we'll just share sweet things together we can.
Betsy: [10:34] There you go.You don't mind a little flavor and something sweet. That makes perfect sense to me. Yes.
Rajani: [10:35] Yes.
Betsy: [10:42] So what made you want to be a part of story seeds? Why be on the show?
Rajani: [10:49] I think I have to say that one of the most wonderful things about being an author is something that I never anticipated when I was actually writing the book, because when you're writing a book, all you can think of is, you know, and this is my first book. All you can think of is I hope this is a book some day and is on the shelves and you can't see past that. And one of the most wonderful things about this year has been meeting all these kids who have read my book.
Betsy: [11:17] Yeah.
Rajani: [11:18] And I mean, I don't know why I didn't think that far. But once you meet them and you realize these are actual children and they have such vibrant inner lives and the opportunity to collaborate on something with an actual child who had an idea and to help that idea kind of come true to fruition is so wonderful and so exciting to me. So that's why I want to be a part of it.
Betsy: [11:44] Oh, that's so nice. Now. Correct me if I'm wrong. You are a fully practicing doctor, are you not?
Rajani: [11:51] I am, I am, I practice internal medicine, I'm a primary care doctor for adults,
Betsy: [11:56] Ok.Well, that takes a lot of time. How do you find time to write and be a doctor at the same time?
Rajani: [12:04] So first of all, I will say that I work I work three days a week as a doctor in the office and the other two days a week, I still have to work. But it's just different. And I've been doing that for years because when my children were young, I wanted to be able to, you know, help take care of them. So that's been something that's been part of my life for a while. I will say that when you're obsessed with something, you find time for it. And I’ve become obsessed with writing. So, you know,and my children are older now. They don't need me know as many hours per day as they used to. So I have more time and ... Yeah, and whatever time I thought I had to do other stuff. Now it just goes into writing.
Betsy: [12:55] Have you ever written for adults before?
Rajani: [12:58] I have not. I mean, I've written I have written like poetry for adults, like one of which was published online. But, you know, for the most part, all my writings for kids.
Betsy: [13:08] Oh, that's great. Yo, why did you want to write a novel for kids anyway?
Rajani: [13:13] When I first started writing a few years ago, I wasn't sure who I wanted to write for. But then I took some classes and it became quickly apparent that I love writing for kids because those are the books that I care the most about in my life. I mean, I still read books for adults and I love them. But the books that are literally lodged in my heart are the ones that I read when I was a kid. And I also think that maybe I'm stuck at the mental age of twelve.
Betsy: [13:44] Excellent. That does help. I have found. Yes. Yes, that's not a prerequisite. But it helps.
Rajani: [13:53] It definitely does.
Betsy: [13:56] So what is your origin story? Like. How did you become a published author?
Rajani: [14:02] So I will say that I've always been obsessed with books, with reading books. So when I was a little kid and up through all the way through the end of high school, I was I read everything. I read novels and I read non-fiction and I read cereal boxes and receipts and, you know, like whatever I could get my hands on. And I did a decent amount of creative writing when I was in school. But I knew pretty early on in my life that I wanted to go into medicine. And one of the most important moments that I can remember is I was in high school taking a creative writing class. And I told my teacher, I said, you know, I really love this, but this is not going to be my career because I know I want to go into medicine. And he said to me, who says you have to choose? And he showed me all these books that were written by doctors who practice medicine and wrote books. Like Richard Seltzer and William Carlos Williams. It was pretty amazing. So I held on to that and that was like planting a seed in my brain. So then I went to college and I did some more writing and then I went to medical school residency and I had no time for anything else. I just had to learn the stuff that I needed to learn. And then I had little kids. I had two kids. And, you know, that takes up a lot of energy, time and a lot of your heart, which was wonderful. And then in about 2011, I decided that I wanted to get back to doing something creative. And so I started taking some online classes and then in-person classes. And then I met some wonderful fellow writers who became my critique partners. And that was the thing that kept me writing. Because once you have somebody who reads what you wrote and says, oh, my goodness, I need to know what happens next. I mean, you write the next chapter and figure out what to do. And so because of these classes and because of my critique partners, I ended up writing both novels and picture books and yeah. And then after like kind of lots of years of trying to figure out how to tell the story right. I felt like I got it right. Ended up, you know, getting an agent and being able to sell it. So it was really a dream come true. And it's been fun to see this go from something that felt like a hobby to something that really feels like a second career.
Betsy: [16:21] Oh, it's great. All right. So there is you know, trying to write, you obviously need your imagination in some way, suggest in any way a imagination, muscle building exercise for the kids who might be listening. Like, how do you make your imagination stronger?
Rajani: [16:49] You so I really think that part of strength, strengthening that imagination muscle has to do with not judging your own ideas. So any time I'm at a part of a story where I'm not sure what should happen next, I allow myself to brainstorm and I make my myself brainstorm at least 30 things that could happen.
Betsy: [17:15] Ooh.
Rajani: [17:17] And yeah, because and I. And the rules of brainstorming are that you keep going until you either, you know, use up the time that you have allotted or gotten the number of things that you want to get. And that there is no judgment that you're not allowed to edit or say something is dumb because we do that a lot to ourselves and we really stifle ourselves. And I will tell you that the first 10 things are things that, you know, it's not that surprising. And by the time you get to number like 17, you're like, wait a minute, oh, maybe that could happen. That would be surprising and cool. And then by the time you get to number 30, you might have five or six things that would be really neat to to write more about.
Betsy: [17:59] That's a great idea. Do you ever find that your imagination gets stuck?
Rajani: [18:04] Oh, yeah. Sometimes it just does. And what I do is I take a break from what that is, and if … if I have other projects that I'm working on at the same time, I'll go work on that or I'll just take a break for a little while and go walk the dog or, you know, exercise or take a shower. And things usually become unstuck. And of course, the other thing is, if it is late enough, I'll just go to sleep. And sometimes then I wake up at 5:00 in the morning and I'm like, that's it. That's the answer. That's what I've been looking for.
Betsy: [18:38] Well, it beats the shower, at least you can get to a dry piece of paper there. So the worsening, not the worse. So final question is very, very important question. What is the weirdest place you've ever worked on a book?
Rajani: [18:56] Oh, the weirdest place. I gotta to think about this? It's uh ... I would say the Battery Tunnel.
Betsy: [19:07] What! Wait a minute. Beep, beep, beep. Back it up a little bit. How is that even possible?
Rajani: [19:15] Ok. I was not driving.
Betsy: [19:17] Oh, good
Rajani: [19:18] I'll just tell you that part.
Betsy: [19:19] Because I would not recommend that kids. If you're driving in the Battery Tunnel and you're in the driver's seat. Do not write a book.
Rajani: [19:26] Do not work on your book then.
Rajani: [19:30] We were driving to or from New York. I couldn't remember. And I had to work on. I'd work on something. And I was in the back seat and one of my children was in the front seat with my husband. And so I was just sitting there. And, you know, there's a little bit of traffic as there sometimes is. And so I was just sitting there in the tunnel looking around saying, "Oh, I'm working on this book in the middle of the Battery Tunnel. It’s fine.
Betsy: [19:54] You know, I don't think you're the only one. I once read a collection of, oh, gosh, it was a bunch of different fairy stories set in New York. And one of the stories was about the trolls that live in the Battery Tunnel. So there you go. I think I think you have not been the only person ever inspired by the least inspiring place on earth, otherwise known as the Battery Tunnel.
Rajani: [20:16] Excellent. I didn't see the trolls, but they were probably hiding.
Betsy: [20:20] Well, thank you so much for talking with me. This has been a delight. And I really appreciated.
Rajani: [20:27] I had so much fun. Betsy a thank you.
[Closing]
Betsy [20:32]: Well, folks that’s all for today. Subscribe to our show on your favorite podcast streaming platform so you can tune in as soon as our newest episodes drop.
If you have a stellar story seed and wanna be on the show, email us at storyseeds@literarysafari.com. You can also call our hotline at (646) 389-5153 and leave a voicemail telling me all about it.
Find us on Instagram at storyseedspod and visit our website www.storyseedspodcast.com for behind the scenes pictures, to join the Story Seeds Society, and so much more.
[Credits]
Betsy [21:11]: Credit to Matt Boynton and Ania Grzesik of Ultraviolet Audio for the sound mixing, design, and score of our bonus episode. Our theme music is composed and performed by Andrew VanWyngarden. And I am your host Betsy Bird. Story Seeds is a Literary Safari Media production.