The Mughal women I read about were a huge influence on Mehr’s character. I actually named her after one of the most powerful women in the Mughal Empire, Nur Jahan, whose birth name was Mehr-un-Nisa. Women at the highest echelons of Mughal society often held huge political and economic power, but as you’d expect in a patriarchal system, they needed to utilize the strength and standing of the men around them to achieve that power. I wanted to look at the kind of strength a woman raised in that world would have—and what kind of weapons she’d have in her arsenal.

Mehr is marginalized in lots of ways, but she’s also a noblewoman and the daughter of a very powerful man, and because of that she has a strength honed to suit the environment she’s been raised in. Women have historically fought in wars and led armies, and I love reading about women who do kick ass and take names, but it’s been a joy to explore a different kind of strength that’s been no less present—and no less admirable—in history.

Do you have a favorite scene in this book? Which part was the most difficult to write?

I love the scene when Mehr meets Elder in the desert, after the Maha’s death. I feel like it captures the awe and magic and otherworldly power of the daiva better than anything else in the book, and it’s a moment of powerful agency for Mehr. I also just really enjoyed writing it!

The most difficult scene to write was the one right after Hema’s death, when Mehr and Amun consummate the marriage. I really, really, really struggled to write it. I tried to do anything but write it. In the end I had to eat some chocolate biscuits and cry and get it done. As a general writing tip: chocolate biscuits make everything easier.

What’s one thing about either the world or the characters of Empire of Sand that you loved but couldn’t fit into the story?

Oh, there was so much about the world I couldn’t fit into the story, because Empire of Sand was tightly focused on Irinah. I would have loved to show more of the wider Empire, but I’ll get to explore some of the other provinces in the next book, which I’m really excited about.

The one thing I would have loved to explore further in Empire of Sand is Suren and Ruhi’s past relationship. Their idealism, their meeting of cultures, their doomed romance … it’s all writer catnip. But it wouldn’t have served the story to give their relationship any more attention than it had, sadly.

Empire of Sand is the first book in the series. What’s in store for us in future books?