I know the gal whose family was responsible for hosting the Hosseini family when they came to the US in 1980 for political asylum. She invited our book club members to attend "A Celebration of Afghan Heritage and Culture" evening filled with music, food, Afghani art, jewelry, rugs and clothing sales and silent auctions. It was emceed by Days of Our Life star Alison Sweeney and Hosseini was guest speaker.

A friend of mine told me she was going to go find out if she could buy one of the kites that adorned the stage. A short while later she came back telling me she met the kite maker and he told her she could have her pick of kites for free. She selected a green one and Khaled was kind enough to sign it.

My friend, the kite maker Abdul and author Khaled Hosseini...

Hosseini signing the kite...

Me, Hosseini and Nazi, the gal whose family hosted the Hosseini family back in 1980.

Jodi-

Hosseini mostly talked about why he got into writing, and why (because he has to, it's not a choice, it's a passion) and how he views his life as a writer vs. his life as a doctor (he practices medicine with Kaiser in Northern California.)

He says writing to him is like two high school lovers marrying and living a long beautiful life together.

Being a doctor is more like an arranged marriage, the love develops slow and steady.

When his family moved to America in 1980, he was just 15 and even then his passion for writing was there. His mother, father and siblings all settled in San Jose, CA and none of them had a job or spoke much English. He felt it was not in his best interest to mention he wanted to be a writer since the family needed to be fed. He thought if lots of different directions he could take in his life, many of which could result in being homeless. He then realized he's never known a homeless doctor and pursued medicine as a career.

Hosseini is a wonderful speaker (much better than I am a writer). He's poised, humble and approachable. I would recommend everyone go see him speak if they have the chance.

Jodi-

Hee, smart boy! Thanks for that. I hope he comes down here to read. His book is certainly popular with the local bookgroups.

No word on a new book?

Jodi-

In it, he mentions how instrumental his wife, Roya, has been in reviewing and editing his work. He also describes his work-in-progress as a book about "...the intertwining lives of two Afghan women, one from the country, the other from the city. `It's set entirely in Afghanistan and starts in the mid-'50s and stops at 9/11,' he says."

Re the movie version of The Kite Runner, the article says:

"As for the ``Kite Runner'' movie, that will be shot by director Marc Forster (``Monster's Ball''), who has scouted locations in Fremont, where some of the book takes place. ``I saw a first draft of the script, which was pretty faithful to the book,'' reports the author."

Finally, a companion piece ran after this article where Hosseini mentions some books that have inspired him. Those books were:

"Not surprisingly, Khaled Hosseini is a voracious reader. It's healthy to be influenced by other writers, he says. ``It helps you evolve.'' Most recently, he has derived inspiration from the following:"

``Life of Pi'' by Yann Martel. ``A wonderful story, full of amazing imagery, about a 16-year-old boy who's adrift in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.''

``Middlesex: A Novel'' by Jeffrey Eugenides. ``The story of three generations of Greeks told by an hermaphrodite. It's an immigrant story very much like my own; that's why it resonated.''

``Atonement'' by Ian McEwan. ``People kept telling me, `You should read this book.' There are strange parallels between it and `The Kite Runner,' especially the idea of the upper class betraying a lower-class member of the household. Like all of McEwan's books, the prose is so precise, and there's an amazing knockout ending.''

``The Dew Breaker'' by Edwidge Danticat. ``A series of interconnected stories that overlap in unexpected ways. Once you step back, the small human dramas and minor epiphanies add up to something bigger. It's like looking through a kaleidoscope.''

``The Tortilla Curtain'' by T.C. Boyle. ``It's about racism in Los Angeles and how people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds come together. I lived in L.A., and this book really rang true to me.''

(I'd try to do the quotes in italics, but my HTML coding abilities are limited.)

Yes, Hosseini did mention how instrumental his wife is in reading, editing and promoting his works. The Kite Runner was originally a short story that Hosseini wrote during his jobless days. His wife found and read it one day and told him it was wonderful. She then gave it to her father to read who also liked the book but claimed that it ended too soon. All of a sudden Hosseini realized that it was meant to be a novel, not a short story and sat down to finish it.

Jodi-

> `It's set entirely in Afghanistan and starts in the mid-'50s and stops at 9/11,'

That sounds like it could be a very interesting book, as well as an important one for understanding the history that lead up t0 9/11

When we moved to California not quite twenty years ago, I imagined running into all sorts of famous writers and artists as I went about my daily life. When I read author bios at the back of a book, half the time they live in either New York or northern California. And indeed it may have happened, over and over, but I never knew.

Jodi-