As I settled into my seat on my plane at Oakland International, bound for Cleveland, this past Tuesday, I checked my email before putting my mobile phone on airplane mode. I opened up the September 8th edition of Kirkus Reviews’ weekly e-newsletter and I was happily surprised to find that my novel, A VILLAGE IN THE FIELDS, had been chosen as one of the five “Best Books Out This Week.” I can technically and humbly say that I was in the same company as Salman Rushdie.