A Blonde Bengali Wife, the book and the blog, are now five years old (the story, of course, goes way back to 2002). This means that my initial contract with the publishers, LL-Publications is up, which coincides with their relocation to the USA, and my literary agent, Dinah Wiener, is now semi-retired (though remains as active as ever with Bhola's Children).  The book has, therefore, been out of print since June, but I've finished my PhD - yes, passed the viva and still haven't tired of the joke 'there's a doctor in the house' - so theoretically I have some free time.Could there ever be a better time to step back, take stock, and decide the future of it all?  Does A Blonde Bengali Wife fade gracefully away, her job done? Or does she get a second lease of life? As the author, I don't want to see her go; I love her, warts (aka typos, unnecessary adverbs and...

The end of the Edinburgh Festival, the search for new school wellies, and the constant nagging feeling that I really must get the boiler fixed...clockwork symptoms that the end of summer ('summer' if you've spent a lot of it in Scotland or Ireland) is nigh.It's been the first summer in five years that I haven't been working on my PhD and (poor title to this post notwithstanding; at the very least it should read 'the-lower-but-hopefully-adequate-end-of-highbrow)** it has gone by in something of a daze. I am delighted that it's given me time to read some gems of non-PhD related fiction, the absolute best being 'The Days the Crayons Quit' and its sequel 'The Day the Crayons Came Home', both written by Drew Daywelt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffries.  Seriously - look out for them; I promise equal appeal for 5 and 45 year-olds.And, even better, it has given me time to spend on...

Since this is the first summer in five years that I've not had a PhD to write, I've taken to reading on the various planes, trains and automobiles across America - and the Kindle has finally come into its own.  I've been editing and proof-reading some more very good novels-in-progress (watch this space) and one that's out and about right now is Victoria Murray's debut 'Live Hate Die'.  Vicky has chosen to go the self-published e-book route in order to get the finished novel out there as soon as possible.  Take a look at the link:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Hate-Die-Victoria-Murray-ebookVicky's book has challenged a lot of my preconceptions about certain genres!  It's the story of Jake Devlin, lead singer in an up-and-coming heavy metal band.  He just happens to be haunted by a ghost (a real one, not a metaphorical one) from his troubled past and when paranormal investigator, Tayla MacRae, sets out to...

Photo timePlay timeTime to laughGirl timeTime to phone homeBoy timeMore time to play Bed timeAnne x 

I began this blog in the summer of 2010, a lead-up to the publication of A Blonde Bengali Wife (and, as it happens, the birth of my little boy, Simon).  'Time flies' is a cliché and feels so wrong during those more challenging days/weeks/months - when it all but stands still - but looking back over the last five years, I am certainly joining that middle-aged (no...never...help!) chorus of wondering where the years have gone?We're often poor at concentrating more on what we haven't done rather than what we have. During my Family Group Conference work (a whole other story) I learned and taught that listing the positives in a situation is not only vital to present well-being and future planning, but that's it often very surprising - and affirming.  Do it, and it's likely you've achieved far more than you thought, and okay, they might be small things (getting the baby bathed before you...