I know it's been a long time since I've written a blog post. The reason for that is secrecy. I've been working feverishly on a new novel, one I'm very proud of, something totally different from my other novels. A project that's close to my heart, new, contemporary, funny, and highly original.
For that reason, I haven't shared much about the characters and the premise of BROOKLYN MASALA, which is about a Brooklyn housewife who goes to see an Indian guru to fix her marriage problems and ends up an unwitting diamond smuggler and murder suspect.
Many parts will have you laughing out loud. And if you're wondering how this new novel came about, grab yourself a cup of coffee and sit back because it's a fascinating tale.
Back in 2021 when I was holed up in a motel working on a writing project, I had a sudden epiphany. I had noticed a local Trader Joe's and wanted to learn more. Curious, I went inside and was intrigued to see so many boxes of frozen Indian food in the freezer section. Food that seemed to draw quite a bit of attention. Everything from Chicken Tikka Masala to Palak Paneer to Vegetable Biryani. There were even frozen parathas! It seemed that people couldn’t get enough of this exotic, tasty food and they were constantly selling out.
I was sure there was a novel in there somewhere, so I decided that when I got back to Brooklyn, I would research everything I could about Indian food and create a novel around it. With time, a character began to form on the page, that of a harried Brooklyn housewife named Bella Bloom whose lack of cooking skills is driving away her husband. She seeks out a Guru to try and save her marriage. One thing leads to another and suddenly she’s cooking Indian food and making Indian spices to keep her marriage and family intact. In addition to Bella, I introduce the characters of Maharishi Krishna Ram, otherwise known as the Garden State Guru, and Dolly Parton Patel, an ex-Bollywood star turned cooking goddess inspired by Aishwarya Rai. Together with a colorful cast of characters, these main characters operate in a world where Indian food and culture play a major role, and in some ways, Indian food is even a supporting character in the story.
In time, the plot developed that I was able to weave together from stories I culled from the headlines surrounding diamond smuggling inside chocolate bars, diamond switching on 47th Street, and Indian Gurus who may or may not be on the up and up. That's the beauty of fiction: you can take stories from the headlines and weave them into a story to delight and entrance your audience almost like a snake charmer minus the snake.
Yes, I love being a writer!
During my extensive research, another interesting aspect began to develop on the page, and that concerned chocolate.
I suppose I had always known about the importance of Cadbury chocolates in Indian culture, but when I began working on the manuscript of Brooklyn Masala, I visited several Indian grocery stores in Brooklyn and Jersey City and noticed one ubiquitous product that always appeared near the cash register: Cadbury Chocolates.
For Indians, few products have captured their heart like chocolate, and their brand of choice is Cadbury. First imported to India by the British during the colonial era, chocolate soon became a daily habit for some twenty percent of Indians. And of that twenty-percent, Cadbury accounts for two-thirds of all sales. In fact, the chocolates are so beloved in India, that Indians view them as a distinctly Indian product.
Even today, brand loyalty surrounding Cadbury endures, even among members of the Indian diaspora. The brand evokes an almost permanent nostalgia and an undying love for the treat that is unmatched by any other candy product. And no trip to an Indian grocery store is complete without that purple foil-wrapped chocolate bars that stole the heart of India. And that is why I made Cadbury an important element of the story-line.
While the story is at heart a thriller, it's also an amateur sleuth novel, a comic satire, a mystery, and a great girl buddy novel. It's about second chances in life. It's also about starting over. It's about getting out of one's comfort zone to find hidden strengths and new talents. It's about remaking your life when you've hit rock bottom. I hope you will enjoy reading Brooklyn Masala as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Stay tuned for more news!
