William Dalrymple is the author of several prize-winning travel books and histories. He wrote the highly acclaimed bestseller In Xanadu when he was 22. Dalrymple is also author of The Age of Kali, White Mughals, and City of Djinns. He lives on a farm outside Delhi with his wife and three children. Before he delivered a talk on his latest book, Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India, he sat down for our Green Room Q&A.

Q. What is the last habit you tried to kick?

A. I’m really bad at kicking habits….

Q. Who was your childhood hero?

A. This is a nerdy answer, but I used to be a passionate childhood archaeologist, so someone like Howard Carter or [Austen Henry] Layard of Nineveh, digging up the Assyrian bulls.

Q. What do you consider to be the greatest simple pleasure?

A. A glass of champagne does quite a lot.

Q. Where would we find you at 10 a.m. on a typical Saturday?

A. In bed.

Q. What do you wish you had the nerve to do?

A. Most of the things I want to do I can do. I don’t have any great urge to take my clothes off and run across the street naked or anything.

Q. What is your favorite word?

A. Serendipity.

Q. What is your favorite cocktail?

A. A firecracker mojito that I had an hour ago. It’s got some sort of Tabasco in it.

Q. Who is your favorite fictional character?

A. Anna Karenina.

Q. Whose talent would you like to have?

A. I’m very envious. I could give you a long series of answers. I get out of bed in the morning because of envy. I’m envious particularly of contemporaries and friends, whoever is doing better than I, at the moment.

Q. If you could take only one more journey, where would you go?

A. Easter Island.

To read about Dalrymple’s talk, click here.

*Photo by Aaron Salcido.