We have our visas, our tickets and a lot of nappies - so we're off to Bhola!  Technology is notoriously poor over there so the news will wait til our return.Cross fingers for a safe and baby-friendly trip!

It's great news that ABBW is one of three finalists in the non-fiction category of the 2012 EPICeBook awards.  Thanks to LL-Publications for putting it forward.Watch this space - though don't hold your breath!  I can't say I've ever won anything before, even a goldfish at the fair (which is probably a good thing now, it being politically incorrect to dip the poor things into plastic bags etc etc) but it's nice to see the book up there!

So, this time last year I was planning the baby and the book launch.  What a difference a few months makes...Simon's American birthday party is being held today in Virginia (at 40 degrees C!) with lots of love from all friends and family xxx(And yes, I've even got a tiny bit more of the novel written in the last couple of weeks...)

Life for the children in Bhola is different to what we see in the UK - that goes without saying - but the intention is always to balance work and play.  On days off from lessons and, for the older students, training in the sewing and carpentry rooms, the children all help with cooking, cleaning, building, and laundry.  And they are often tasks we as adults would find challenging (not to mention worries about safety) but the day will end with a picnic or a trip to the river, sweets or a much-loved Hindi film:Help with construction...Then there is the gardening and work in the fields...But always time to play...And as the sun sets over the river...... to take a well earned rest          

A sleeping baby, a fully charged computer, a blank page just waiting for my thoughts and a bar of sustaining chocolate to hand  Time To Write...... and I can't think of a thing to say.Real life has overtaken me somewhat.  In just over a month, Simon will be one year old (how on earth did that happen???) and we're off shortly to Washington DC to celebrate with the American/Nicaraguan branch of his family.  Meanwhile, the bills are more or less paid by online tutoring and one-to-one mentoring of creative writing students.  This is something I love doing and it's never a second best to my own writing, but it is a huge (and legitimate, as opposed to cleaning, eating and watching TV) distraction.  The first draft of my novel, part of my ongoing PhD, is due at the end of the summer and let's just say I'm a few words off...