I have a book deal!

And a few words on how I got there

Last week, I got to announce some news that I am really, really excited about: I have a book deal for my novel! I’ve been struggling for various personal and work reasons for the past few weeks, and I’m very grateful for this project, which has continued to bring me a lot of joy. Although it’ll be a while before the book is available for pre-order, I hope that this story—of love, and food, and adventure—will bring you joy, too.

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You can see the full post on my Instagram! No, I don’t know how they decide the wording for these posts. Also, fun fact, I took this background photo in Amsterdam, where I was visited after conducting research at The Hague on the International Criminal Court––the start of my path into public-interest law!

I began writing this novel in May 2022, but I’d conceived of the book long before: it had come to me, in the depths of the pandemic, when I was living alone in a winter-crusted, 320-square-foot studio in the deserted college town where I attended law school. I was grieving the end of a five-year relationship that had defined my entire early adulthood, separated from my family by an ocean and a continent, and utterly alone. To drown out the news of the endless stream of death, particularly in neighboring New York, I listened to New York classical radio all day long, which brought me a faint and much-needed sense of tenuous community.

I wiped down my groceries and I cooked for myself, solo meal after solo meal. One night, I made Chinese tomato egg, a classic Chinese dish, the ultimate in home-cooked cultural comfort food. I’d made the dish a thousand times before. This time, when I took a bite, I thought, “Well, the world might be ending, but I still get to eat this.” The title popped into my head right there: Tastes like seeing God.

The initial outlines of the story sketched themselves out: a young protagonist trying to understand a family member they lost through the foods that family member loved. And when I sat down in May 2022 to finally, finally write it, the novel’s contours unscrolled before me.

The novel, too, is a love letter to the restaurant and food industry: an industry in which I have many friends and loved ones. The industry that managed, against all odds, to survive that pandemic era of grief and loss, and brought so many together while doing it. (I’m thinking, for example, of Lucas Sin of Junzi and his wonderful efforts to encourage virtual communal dining and innovative take-home.) So it’s a love letter to food, and to the resilience and artistry of the cooks who make it, and to those who feed us, whether they work in the industry or not.

Three years later, thanks to my 300-words-a-day routine (which I’ll write about sometime), the endless support of family and friends, the writing community which has welcomed me with open arms, rigorous revisions, and my wonderful agent: we are here.

There’s more to come. I can’t wait to share it with you.

Sincerely,

Nina

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What I’m Reading

• This breathtaking story on fire burning a ranch in the Panhandle from Texas Monthly (to which I am a proud subscriber).

• The Substack Cult Classic which is doing some delicious breakdowns of the costuming on White Lotus.

• Jaya Saxena meticulously breaking down why Smartfood popcorn tastes different for Eater.

Where I’m Eating

• Milton's, a new-school red-sauce joint in Houston’s Rice Village.