Book Signing at Chapters Spectrum by Sundridge Mall, Calgary, NE

Location: Chapters Spectrum, Calgary, Alberta
Time: 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Date: 27 February, 2010

Come meet the author!

My very first official book review!!

"To Khelawan’s credit, she imbues these characters with refreshing honesty. They’re colourful, multifaceted, and at times outrageously funny. Mrs. Anand may be a racist, controlling mother, but when she gets her hands on Mr. Anand (fed Viagra in the guise of a diabetes cure), the earthy sex scene reveals her as an emotionally complex woman with much more depth than simply a stock character."
The Voice Magazine To read full review, click on the header of this blog.

A Note About Inspiration.

Mohit Rajhan of Bollywood Blvd Show posed the question that most interviewers ask me often: "What inspired you to write this novel?" I seldom know how to accurately answer this particular question: What inspired me to write this novel the way I did? Did Garcia influence me in any way as I was in the midst of reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude" while working on completing this novel? Or was it just that one of my friend's challenged me to never start a novel by the phrase "it was a dark and stormy night..." as no one would then take me seriously as a writer -- which of course I decided to challenge in that very instant -- and began my novel with exactly that phrase. This question has always stumped me! Then I was reading "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga and it included the topics for discussion and interview with the author himself at the end of the book. He also discussed this question -- where did the inspiration for the main character come from? After reading his answer, I finally had mine. What inspired me to write this novel, among other reasons...Well, I see "blindness" all around me. Everyone of us live in some form of denial or assert our right to be "right." This blindness is a part of all of us. This is a character flaw yet also an essential survival tool for many of us. It's good and bad at the same time. Perhaps, this is what has mostly inspired me to write "The End of the Dark and Stormy Night" the way that I did.

Interview with Bollywood Blvd.

I recently travelled to Toronto to promote my novel "The End of the Dark and Stormy Night." I was interviewed by Mohit Rajhan on Bollywood Blvd Show. This was my first live interview -- a bit terrifying. However, it turned out well in the end. I guess it helps being in the hands of a very good interviewer!

The interview aired on Channel 4 (OMNI) nationally at 3 pm and 9 pm on January 31, 2010.

An Interesting Birthday Tale -- Strangely True.

Here's a birthday tale that is strangely true.

I recently celebrated my 36th birthday on January 24. I have always treasured this day as this is also the day my father was born. Years later, my daughter was born on January 23. I always told her that she missed her grandfather's and my birthday by a day -- if only she was born a day later!

A few years back, my daughter and I went to visit Fiji Islands, my birthplace. On the way back to Canada, while on the plane, my daughter says, "Mom, I do share yours and Nana's (grandpa's) birth date. Nana (Grandpa) and you were born on January 24, in Fiji Islands, whereas I was born on January 23rd, in Canada. For me to share your birth day, I had to be born on January 23rd."

Of course, she was right. The beauty of timezones. January 23rd in Canada is in actuality January 24th in Fiji. Moral of the story -- I suppose the universe knows what it is doing every step of the way. It is just us who fail to see the several connections. Ha!