it's been a week of firsts:

my yet-to-be released novel has gotten its first review.
a fashion magazine that i had no idea existed has published a short review of 'the bollywood beauty'. have a sneaking suspicion i will have to come to terms quite quickly with repeated references to bend it like beckham and repeated usage of the term 'cup of chai'. not that i'm complaining, mind - i love the movie, and am also a fan of chai, especially the punjabi tea blend that ay tea do. it has rose petals and orange rind in it. yum. anyhoo, back to the review - read it here.

i had my first interview.
last friday afternoon, i got interviewed for a piece in the melbourne weekly. i was quite nervous, though that could have been the after-effects of the espresso in the affogato that i had just before the interview. the interviewer was very nice, and i had aimee (my publicist, who also happens to be a genius, and an excellent individual - we found out that we both wanted to marry santo in the late show years) sitting across from me the whole time. then a photographer came and take some shots. he asked me what the book was about and then went to look around the venue to see if he could find a suitable background. he found a large vinatge black-and-white poster of a bearded man holding a pot of beer, which he thought was perfect. i still don't see why we didn't use the 'beer and curry night' posters as a background instead - that's merging cultures for you, right there.

i saw my name in the melbourne writers festival program.
i now realise that it hadn't really sunk in until i saw the papers this (ahem) afternoon. i am doing three sessions, and also a reading at an umbrella event. it is very surreal and bizarre to see myself included in that whole sphere, even though they've used the words 'stand up comedian' in my bio. if any of you find yourself at the festival, do come up and say hi (i'll be the uncomfortable looking one, gawkily staring in awe at the real writers).