ARTWALLAH, North America’s renowned festival of dynamic South Asian art is this weekend, June 18-20th in Santa Monica, CA.  This year ArtWallah partners with the venerable Highways Performance Space in presenting the freshest in Cultural-Art-Collision, food and family fun. Classically grass-roots in nature but modern in form and context, ArtWallah’s fringing of music, dance, solo performance/stand-up, literature, poetry, film and visual art, digs deeply into its ethnic roots: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to find its fusion in a uniquely American expressionism.  For more on ArtWallah, and to buy tickets, click here.

Haunting Bombay was just released this month in paperback with a discussion guide tucked in the back for book clubs.  It’s been an amazing year since the publication of my hardback last April.  I’ve travel the country, met wonderful authors, signed books, and discovered fans.  I am thankful to all the bookstores who have invited me, the many book clubs who have hosted me (whether in person or on the phone), and the family and friends who have supported me.   (more…)

I drove into sun-drenched Tucson this weekend for the annual Tucson Book Festival held at the University of Arizona.  The weekend was kicked off by an Author’s Table cocktail and dinner to raise money for local literacy programs.  ”Untold stories are like stones on the heart,” quoted the Festival Chair.  Saturday morning, I spoke on a panel titled, “Other Countries, Other Crimes” with fellow Soho Press author Cara Black.  I caught the tail-end of a circus (no animals) in the children’s section of the Festival with acrobats and a contortionist.  Saturday evening concluded with a fete at Glen’s Brewery and, across the street, a free screening of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Click here for more on Saturday’s Mystery Panel. (more…)