Natasha asked Madhuri Pavamani:

What inspires you to write your novels?

Madhuri Pavamani Hi Natasha,

Thanks so much for the question about my writing inspiration.

When I first started writing in earnest, like really putting together novels and series and the like, my inspiration was a void I saw in the bookshelves for young adults of color. I wasn't trying to make some grand stand about race and culture, I just wanted to create some fun books for them to read.

That was over ten years ago, but even today, that inspiration remains. There is a new awareness of the dearth of multicultural and diverse characters and books, hence the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign, which I love because it expands even beyond race and culture to include sexual identity, physical disabilities, and the like, but I still feel we have much work to do. And as a woman of color, I think it's important to portray characters of color in meaningful and prominent positions and show that my stories are no less interesting because of the skin color of the characters.

Currently, I'm working on my paranormal trilogy The Sanctum, and alongside my desire to create diverse books is an inspiration fueled by Laini Taylor.

I had the ideas for my trilogy banging around in my head, and then I read her books and was just so moved by the beauty of her words. I wanted to see if I could do something similar - it's quite amazing to write something so beautiful in the midst of all of this violence and death. So I tried to do something similar with The Sanctum.

I think I did a decent job - If Ms. Taylor ever reads my books, I can only hope she would agree.

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