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Another milestone, and a Giveaway!

What I was thinking over 7 years ago when I logged into Blogspot, created an online space for myself, and hit publish on my first post - I honestly have no idea! I had acted on a whim and it seemed like a good idea at the time. I had always, ALWAYS, wanted to be a writer, and having a blog made me feel like I had finally arrived. I day dreamed of mornings when I would just hop into the car, laptop in tow and drive to my favourite coffee shop. Once there, I would settle in with a deliciously frothy cappuccino, a warmed up chocolate croissant by its side, and type my day away. Today, I am here, doing exactly that and I can’t help but feel a tingle on deja vu coming on.

If you would’ve asked me 20 years earlier what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would’ve said - writer. What I would write about never really mattered; all I knew was that I just wanted to make a career out of it. And I knew in my heart that someday I would. When I received the offer to write Knack Indian Cooking, I was beside myself. My dream finally saw reality and I thought I got a lucky break. But the truth is this - yes, luck did play its part. But there’s more to it than just that. The publishers wouldn’t have come knocking on my door had I not had this blog. They wouldn’t have noticed this blog had I not put in all the hard work that I did. And most importantly, I wouldn’t have put in even half as much effort as I did, if it hadn’t been for all the love and support I received from you - my lovely readers.

I know this place has been neglected the past few years. I know I’ve randomly popped in and promised to come back - only to have disappeared again. I’m not writing today to offer you another apology. I’m not saying I’m back with a bang and promise to update daily. What I am saying however, is thank you. Thank you for bearing with me. Thank you for your countless emails asking me how I’m doing and requesting new recipes. Thank you, for everything.

As I sit here today, in my favourite coffee shop, I can’t help but smile as i read through the contract. It’s been signed, sealed and delivered - my new book, 500 Indian Dishes will be published by Quintet, and expected to hit stores by the end of the year. This can only mean ONE thing - the kitchen is going to be working over time! So, as I blend spices and chop ingredients to create new recipes, I’ll also be working on tweaking some of my trusty old favourites to blog about. But somehow it just doesn’t feel right to me to have so much cooking to do and only share a handful of them with you. Which is why I’m giving away 3 copies of my previous cookbook to get you busy too! Just leave me a comment and tell me what you like, don’t like, or even what kind of features/posts/changes you’d like me to add to the blog. I want your honest feedback, and I’m all ears! I’ll pick 3 random winners and send you each a copy of my book. Contest ends March 15, 2012 -so hurry!!!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 29th, 2012 at 9:54 am and is filed under Blog Notes, Contests & Giveaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.


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