Five questions.

Press release about my new gig here.

I am excited to have been selected for Barnes and Noble’s Discover Great New Writers program.

Love Marriage is also the lead review on Kirkus at the moment!

I am the new vice president of SAJA, and also the chair of its annual convention!

UPDATED 1/25: CHICAGO ADDED: With great excitement, I present the first version of my book tour schedule. Thanks to Jynne Martin at Random House! These dates are all confirmed; others will be added. I’ll repost this list with updates.

If you’re interested in having me read in your city, please e-mail me. I’m especially happy to visit schools and universities!

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I thought that I should not let the formal end of the ceasefire agreement in Sri Lanka pass unmentioned. The CFA, which has been only a formality for the past couple of years anyway, concluded about a week ago. Thus, the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government return to open war. Not to mention all the other unnamed factions running around out there.

Every day, I get a Google alert for Sri Lanka, and another for Jaffna. For the past several days, the alerts have contained news of some 30 dead. It’s a low enough number to miss international headlines, but a high enough number that if it continues at this rate… it will add significantly to the thousands already listed as war casualties.

That BBC link also says, “Japan is a major donor to Sri Lanka and has hinted it might reconsider its aid package, warning of the dire humanitarian consequences of an intensified war.” I hope that other countries will follow Japan’s example of reconsidering aid, in light of the situation.