by Judy Faulkner

Harshini Vankineni is a writer and an immigrant from India and lives in Southern California with her husband and children. Her debut picture book, What Color is the Baby?, is set for release on April 1, 2025. Harshini writes picture books, young adult fantasy, and new adult romance. She likes to write complex characters who are often dealing with societal pressures head-on and to tell stories that are a lens to her culture.

Judy Y Faulkner: Welcome to Kite Tales, Harshini! Tell us a bit more about your history. Have you always been a writer?

Harshini Vankineni: Thank you, Judy. I think I’m a specimen of what middle-class Indian kids are brought up to be—despite many dreams and talents, you end up becoming a computer engineer or a doctor because of parental and societal pressures. I’m a graduate of Software Engineering. I came to the USA, or should I say was sent to the USA, to pursue a master’s in Computer Engineering. But I have been writing since the day I read an abridged version of The Tempest (with pictures and everything). My first manuscript was a really messy tale inspired by Johanna Spyri’s Heidi. I was twelve then, and boy, did I plagiarize. I wrote it in an expired, dated journal that an uncle gifted me, and my mother preserved it until I burned it. Because in that, the villain was my mother.

How did things change—or did they change—when you came to America?

First of all, I missed home like hell. No matter how fancy a place you are in, nothing smells, tastes, and even sounds like home. Later, I got used to being homesick. There was also this huge cultural and climatic shift (I couldn’t take the cold). But honestly, America provided me with a certain freedom and distance from my family that was much needed. Not that I didn’t miss them, but when a cuckoo leaves its nest, it gains its own voice. So, I loved the freedom, and my aim since then has always been to carve my own path instead of following what my parents wanted. But it did take several years to become an author.

You persevered, and now you write in three distinctly different genres. Which age group did you begin writing for first? What came next, and was there a direct connection between the two formats?

Did I mention that I’m also dabbling in MG now? That is four genres now. My first serious MS was New Adult, and I love that genre. It is my most comfortable genre so far. YA came after that naturally because it’s closer to New Adult age-wise. PB happened only after my daughter turned four and my son was born. I started reading many books to her, and slowly, I think I learned the craft. Whichever genre I’m writing in, I realized that the plot structure and emotional arch are the same. You shorten and lengthen. For me, PB takes almost as long as YA to polish and get up to the mark.

Your debut is a PB. What Color is the Baby? is written by you and illustrated by Neha Rawat. It’s set to publish next week, on April 1. Will you give us a quick blurb to introduce us to the story (without giving too much away)?

The story is about a young protagonist, Kundana, who experiences colorism firsthand within her family. When her baby sister Kuku is born, Kundana is overjoyed but soon realizes that the adults in the family don’t perceive Kuku’s beauty as she does. Unimpressed by the grown-ups’ worldview, she takes it upon herself to show them what real beauty is. Children come into this world without preconceptions until we adults reshape them with our prejudices. In this story, I tried to portray what it would be like for adults to adopt Kundana’s views instead.

I believe the genesis of this project was especially close to home for you. Tell us about that?

The impetus for this book is directly related to my son’s birth. Back in the day, in India, when multitudes of my baby cousins came pouring into the world, “What color is the baby?” was a ubiquitous question. And soon-to-be-parents just wanted a sufficiently fair baby to dodge scrutiny. As I became a dusky teenager, this question morphed into a statement—“. . . your daughter didn’t take after your fair skin . . .”—addressed to my mother while damning me as a lesser being. 

The question resurfaced when my daughter was born. She was a golden wheat berry; a shallow part of me thanked the gods. Then, my son, the coffee bean, was born, and a shameful dread seized me. He was darker than his sister and would suffer the same fate as me! I realized the question would haunt my kids, too, in some form or the other. Slowly, defensiveness gave way to thought, and the question became a book.

The book’s full title is What Color Is the Baby?: A Celebration of Skin Tones. I love that the word “Celebration” is there. It suggests that you’ve successfully flipped the question for yourself and are proposing an alternative. Do you feel that that’s a necessary element for a children’s story that tackles social issues—to offer optimism and a new vision?

Fortunately for me, the subtitle “A Celebration of Skin Tones” was suggested by my editor, Carter Hasegawa, at Candlewick. I wanted to arrive at a positive message, but without realizing it, I made it a “celebration.” I guess that’s how I feel about the varied skin tones of the people I grew up with. And yes, I have successfully flipped the question for me, my family, and hopefully for many others. What this story has done is more than propose an alternative—it has allowed me to show the truth through a child’s perspective. The reality is that there are varied skin tones, body types, and physicalities in the world, and that is a cause for celebration. Otherwise, I feel we would be stuck in a monochromatic world. 

As a kidlit author, I will always strive to address sensitive topics and bring awareness, but I hope to do so without disrupting a child’s temperament or causing unnecessary anguish and doubt. So yes, optimism is key, and all I’m doing is reinforcing the innate optimism of a child.

To get any creative vision out into the world requires doing business, of course. One of your business partners is your agent, Dara Hyde at Hill Nadell, and I believe you met through SCBWI. Is that correct?

Yes. I met Dara at the Writer’s Day event organized by SCWBI in 2021. I pitched What Color Is the Baby? and an ongoing YA novel, and soon after, I heard from her. It was the highlight of that year because I found someone who was just as thrilled about my book as I was. She wanted to know what else I was writing, so I sent her excerpts from my work in progress, but everything was so unrefined that I felt incredibly nervous. However, she was gracious enough to see through the mess and recognize the potential. Throughout the publishing process, I was fortunate to have her in my corner as she guided me through the re-edits of What Color is the Baby? even after we sold it. In this industry, having a business partner is not enough; you also need a friend and a cheerleader, and Dara is just that!

It sounds like the SCBWI has played an important role in your writer’s journey. Does it continue to do so?

Absolutely. I don’t know where I would have started without SCBWI. Despite living here for a while, I’m in a different country, with little family and few friends. SCBWI provided me with both—a writing family and friends. I had zero connections in the book industry or the creative arts field. Even though I wrote for several years, finding anyone remotely close to a writer or even a reader was tough. It got awfully lonely, and I did not have the wherewithal to hone my craft or become an author. SCBWI, with its annual and regional conferences, has provided me with the necessary material and morale since 2020.

What’s the most useful or unexpected piece of advice or information you learned from your SCBWI involvement?

This was from an in-person Writer’s Day event held by SCBWI CenCal, where Lin Oliver was speaking, and I’m paraphrasing her—“As you grow as a writer, you should take your fellow writers along . . . pick up the next person in the elevator . . . build a community.” And this stayed with me. Also, Judy Blume was on a panel at my first Summer Conference, and her advice was (paraphrasing), “Write, submit, and don’t wait . . . just go ahead and keep writing . . . create a body of work . . .” These words kept me going. Although they sound like simple advice, I needed to hear them from someone who spoke from experience.

For our readers who are beginning to grow their kidlit community, what do you feel is the best way to get plugged in? Is there one overlooked resource you’d like to highlight?

Honestly, I’m struggling there. Social media is a huge resource that could help grow a community, but I’m not good at it—at least, not for now. Other than social media, look at your own community and neighborhood. I have kids the right age, and all the school moms are always cheering for me. So that’s a good place to start—your friends, family, and community. Often, we ignore them for a more erudite writing-artist-class community.

One final question—because I’m curious. Although the genre nominally addresses an audience older than the traditional kidlit core, how does writing New Adult fit into the total creative puzzle for you?

New Adult is somewhere on the cusp of childhood and adulthood, and my mentality and emotions, too, have frozen there. At that age, you are either in college or venturing into the world for your first job. The world is full of wonder and immense possibilities until real life catches up to you. This is the age where you make most mistakes out of your immaturity, both in love and life (my perception). And that gives me great scope for internal conflict in characters and space for character growth—transitioning into adulthood.

Oops, actually, one more question: What’s next?

I’m working on a couple of New Adult, YA, and one MG manuscript. They are all in messy draft status. There is a PB manuscript that is doing rounds among my writer-critiquers from SCBWI, and I’m very excited about it. 

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Harshini Vankineni is a writer and an immigrant from India and lives in Southern California with her husband and children. Harshini writes picture books, young adult fantasy, and new adult romance. Connect with her on Instagram, X/Twitter, and BlueSky, and learn more about her work at her website.

Photos and images provided by Harshini Vankineni and Candlewick Press