Catching the tail end of the month here after a whirlwind trip - no, not to Bangladesh - to Legoland, which I must say was amazing. More amazing still, I didn't take my computer and I did barely any work. Guess what - the computer didn't pine without me and the world didn't end. A timely reminder!Back in January, I decided that I had to get back into the writing groove. After all, five years is probably long enough to hide behind a PhD and use it as an excuse for not actually writing anything else... So I set myself the task of entering a few short story competitions and submitting the novel for any relevant awards.Nobody has (yet) fallen on the novel and deemed it the next best whatever, but I'm delighted to say I've had some mentions for the short stories - look away now if you want to avoid...

Just last week, the earthquake centring on the Myanmar region was equally strongly felt (measuring 6.9) in Bhola. Thankfully, there was no lasting damage - except perhaps to the nerves of Bhola's Children accountant, Sandy, who had arrived there from London for a few days!As some kind of affirmation - to myself mostly - that all is well, I've been glancing through the recent photographs and thought, why not share a few more here. It's always a challenge to find 'action' pictures as opposed to group shots - after all, who doesn't want their picture taken - so completely at random (and even more randomly presented, I know - sorry! I do try...) here they are:Getting one of the gardens ready for plantingOnce the gardens are ready, different 'teams' take responsibility for each bed.Lipi, the new school teacherPosing in the physiotherapy areaRihad with his new 'assisted device'Can you see Tahid up the tree??We currently...

It's probably not often that the Scottish flag is flown on the island of Bhola. Actually, it wasn't this time either. When we arrived mid-February, the boys and girls, resplendent in new school uniforms, were waiting to great us waving Swedish flags - but the thought was there!Two years since our last visit, and there have been many changes, but the warmth of the welcome remains, and in minutes, I feel as if I'm settled back into my second-home. We travelled on the overnight launch - a 'new' (aka 'almost sea-worthy') one - just in time for breakfast, and after that the time flew by!Our director, Zakir. has now been in post for a year, and Bhola Garden is settled and peaceful - well, as much as a home and school for fifty one children, a large staff, and frequent visitors ever will be! The younger children head off to the local...

Brook Cottage Books is thrilled to be organising a blog tour for A Blonde Bengali Wife by Anne Hamilton.The tour will run from 1st - 12th February, and will include reviews, guest posts, interviews and promo posts.  Date: 1st February- Devika Fernando - Victoria's Pages of Romance  Date: 2nd February- Ali The Dragon SlayerDate: 3rd February- All Things Bookie - Authors and Readers Book Corner Date: 4th February- Linda's Book Bag Date: 5th February- Around The World in Books - Fiction Dreams  Date: 8th February- Boom Baby Reviews - The Gingerbread CottageDate: 9th February- Celtic Connexions Date: 10th February- Jo Lambert BooksDate: 11th February- Being Anne Date: 12th February- Brook Cottage Books Please do travel along with us by clicking on the links above. Not only will you be supporting Bhola's Children but getting an insight into some great blogs at the same time! I'm delighted that so many people are willing to be part of A Blonde...

Happy New Year! May 2016 bring you happiness, health, a bit of wealth, and many opportunities.  Tis the season to make resolutions, or resolve not to make resolutions, and I'm always on the fence between the two. I like the idea of a fresh start but surely the beginning of a new year, and all the hype and expectations, will just set me up to fail... That said, probably like all would-be writers, I do vow to write more. That is, write stories - not tweets, FB posts, features about writing, editing comments, book reviews, oh and blog-posts - and enjoy writing them. That's the thing, actually. Any resolutions I would make would be boring, safe, obvious. But, one of the many fascinating things about the world of writing is that there are always people out there with the best suggestions and intentions and I wish I'd thought of them first.  So, from a random, stratified,...