This is an excerpt from my guest blog essay on Fusion View, the result of several questions blog owner Yang -May Ooi put to me about my work--

Desserts are a part of the Diwali celebration. A favorite at our house is halwa. It is all things to all people, this dessert--a pudding or a fudge. In some recipes, it's based on semolina, like the southern version called Kesari, and has a texture like gelatin. Other versions use carrots or mung beans.Tirunelveli halwa is in a class by itself, with its red color and unusual aroma.

Navaratri begins this week, and marks the period of nine nights when female divinity is celebrated all over India. Women decorate their verandas with oil lamps to welcome their friends and show off their displays of dolls, collected for the celebration. A sweet called shundal is made especially for this festival of female friendship. Poet and novelist Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni paints a vivid picture of Navaratri in America-- read the rest here http://www.shivasarms.blogspot.com

The Kimnama by Kim Roberts Vrzhu Press ISBN 978-1-4303-1407-3 Reviewed by Cheryl Snell http://shivasarms.blogspot.com

Today's guest blogger at Shiva's Arms is Kim Roberts, the editor of the on-line journal Beltway Poetry Quarterly. She is the author of two books of poetry, The Wishbone Galaxy and The Kimnama, recently published by Vrzhu Press. Here, she talks about process: