CenLamar

1. Daniel T. Smith, frequent contributor to CenLamar and the owner and proprietor of Kham Abiding, a website chronicling his travels and travails in the People’s Republic of China, is back in Louisiana, after a year-long sojourn. Welcome back to America, Daniel. Hopefully, after he has recovered from his jet lag and caught up with his friends and family, Daniel will rejoin us here at CenLamar with the same brand of probing and insightful work for which he is known.

2. Drew Ward, the creator of Cenla Current, has relaunched his site. Mr. Ward has created a  dynamic website, featuring an interactive forum in which readers can comment on the latest news, post restaurant and nightlife reviews, and opine on whatever topic they choose. Kudos.

3. And though this may only be of interest to a handful of my personal friends and acquaintances, it’s definitely worth sharing regardless. Justin Cronin, the author or Mary and O’Neil and The Summer Guest and professor of English at Rice University, recently signed a $3.75 million deal with Random House for the film rights to a trilogy of speculative fiction novels, the first of which will be named The Passage. Congratulations to Justin and his family.