Last night, Mahmud took me out for a delectable dinner (green mango salad, yum) at a Burmese place in Rockridge, followed by some time at a tea shop. Much fun talking writing and South Asia and politics and the like. Particularly interesting was an extended discussion of violence -- our experience (or lack) thereof, and our representations of it in fiction. Good stuff.
Today, I'm supposed to meet up with Kevin, who's flying in at 3. Yay! In the intervening six hours, I ought to get some work done, but I'm finding myself very reluctant. I'm going to take a little time to read and drink tea and see how the day is feeling. Starting a new book, Amitav Ghosh's In An Antique Land, a blend of history and memoir and traveller's tale. Mahmud recommended it and loaned it to me -- I'm expecting it to be very good, based on how much I loved Ghosh's The Glass Palace.
There is one bit of exciting news -- I finally got the finalized contracts for my books! I've been going along without contracts since WisCon, which I have to tell you, has made me feel more than a little nervous despite Bob's reassurances. But now they're here, and it all looks good, and I'm going to sign them and put them in the mail today. Yay, books!