I recently heard about another Sri Lankan restaurant: Bownie, a Jaffna joint in Flushing. Definitely next on the culinary adventure list. I can’t believe I haven’t heard of it before!

I did visit Nirvana recently—twice, actually. The first time, I met a friend there for lunch. He and I had previously been to Sigiri for lunch. They don’t have a buffet—you have to order off the menu, which both he and I like anyway. Nirvana, on the other hand, had a buffet. Always game for a bargain, we both tried it. They had mackerel curry, which I avoided and he tried (and didn’t like); the Sri Lankan favorite, mutton curry (okay, but not really spicy enough); a saffron-tinged rice (nice, but a bit oily); and assorted vegetables. It was passable, but not really good. I find that buffets cater to the lowest common denominator, spice-wise. We left somewhat disappointed, but I resolved to give them another chance for dinner.

I made the trek down for dinner a few weeks later, to meet up with a group of young Sri Lankan-American professionals I’ve gotten to know. We try to get together every couple of months for dinner, and Sigiri is our usual haunt. Read the rest of this entry »

My former professor, the most excellent Jim Hynes, has just launched his eponymous site. Definitely go check it out—my personal favorite among his books is The Wild Colonial Boy.

Jim is a great writer—and also a great teacher. I took his novel-writing class when he was a visiting professor at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop a couple of years ago.

Here I am back again after a long hiatus, with some good news: My book has sold in Romania! Rao is going to publish it. I’m really excited about this.

I’m fortunate to have an amazing agent in my corner. (Not to mention a slew of fantastic editors in several countries.)