Day’s YA: THREE KISSES, ONE MIDNIGHT (Q+A)

For this special edition of Day’s YA, we got to chat with the three authors of THREE KISSES, ONE MIDNIGHT about reading, writing, and all things Halloween!

THREE KISSES, ONE MIDNIGHT
by Roshani Chokshi, Sandhya Menon, and Evelyn Skye
9781250797230
8/30/22
Wednesday Books
Ages 12-18

E-galley available on Edelweiss and NetGalley

1. What’s something that made you smile today?
   • RC: Teddy greeted me with a very dramatic bellyflop. And I smiled. Shortly thereafter, he vomited and my smile vanished. [Editor’s note: Teddy is Roshani’s cat]
   • SM: I’m on vacation right now, so sitting on the deck with a vast and sparkling lake before me has me smiling like a loon day and night!
   • ES: Sometimes my husband randomly sends me pictures to make me smile. Today he sent a photo of a ridiculously adorable quokka. It worked.
2. What are you currently reading?
   • RC: THE DUTCH HOUSE by Ann Patchett
   • SM: DOPESICK by Beth Macy 
   • ES: CREPÚSCULO (TWILIGHT in Spanish) by Stephenie Meyer
3. What’s your go-to writing snack?
   • RC: Swedish fish
   • SM: I drink tea but don’t snack because otherwise I become obsessed with my snack and forget all about the writing, hahaha. #foodmotivated
   • ES: Coke Zero and chocolate chip cookies
4. Where’s your favorite place to write?
   • RC: Despite my perfectly excellent office…I really enjoy writing ensconced in all my duvets.
   • SM: I’m a seasonally dependent writer. In the summer, I like to work outside in my yard, but in the winter, I like to work in my very warm and cozy office.
   • ES: Unlike Roshani, I actually do write at my desk in my home office! I have a standing desk but admittedly, I lower it and sit down most of the time.
5. What’s an upcoming book that you’re excited about?
   • RC: THE ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI by SA Chakraborty
   • SM: THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE by Riley Sager
   • ES: WISHTRESS by Nadine Brandes
6. What’s your favorite city in the world and why?
   • RC: My favorite city is Paris, but my favorite landscape is Killarney in Ireland.
   • SM: This is really hard! I’ll pick one of my favorite cities, which is Dubai in the UAE. It’s absolutely magical.
   • ES: I love getting lost in the alleys and bridges of Venice. You never know when you’re going to stumble onto a traditional Venetian mask shop or a restaurant with that serves fresh pasta in a hollowed out crab shell, or end up in a beautiful old brick courtyard or face to face with a gelato stand. Venice is my favorite place to wander.
7. What was your favorite book as a child? Why did you love it?
   • RC: THE IRON RING by Lloyd Alexander. It was utterly familiar and new all at once.
   • SM: THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL by Baroness Orczy. I had the hugest crush on Sir Percy Blakeney.
   • ES: A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway. I read it when I was 11 and understood less than half of it, but it was the first story I’d ever read about impossible yet unbreakable love. It really made an impact on me, and to this day, my favorite stories are still all-consuming love stories.
8. What’s a fact about you that surprises people?
   • RC: I am a pile of eloquent frogs in an expensive trenchcoat.
   • SM: I aspire to acquire at least fifteen to eighty-five dogs in the next couple of years. Most of them will be golden retrievers. No, I don’t have a problem.
   • ES: I’m an introvert.
9. What was the best part about writing a book with your friends?
   • RC: The insane, maniacal laughter of planning scenes.
   • SM: The way the three of just clicked on ideas and story magic. It was like three heads on one body. Or something less creepy.
   • ES: Our three-way video calls to brainstorm! So much more fun than plotting alone.
10. If you could brew a potion, what would it do?
    • RC: Allow someone to step through any distance. I despise traffic.
    • SM: Let people acquire fifteen to eighty-five dogs at once.
    • ES: Give people a sense of hope and peace. Like putting the Dalai Lama’s calm smile in a bottle.
11. What’s your favorite thing about Halloween?  Did it make it into the novel?
    • RC: The held-breath, hush-hush sense of magic. And yes. Oh yes.
    • SM: That crisp-apple magic that’s always hovering in the air like an enchanted fog. I’d like to say we totally captured it!
    • ES: The delight of seeing friends’ costumes, especially those who throw their whole hearts into the spirit of that night. THREE KISSES, ONE MIDNIGHT features the Halloween masquerade gala of my dreams!