A Blonde Bengali Wife

A Blonde Bengali Wife
Travels in Bangladesh

We've Nearly Made It

Hello and Welcome!

AS OF AUGUST 2016 A BLONDE BENGALI WIFE AS MOVED TO ITS NEW HOME ON MY WEBSITE AT http://www.writerightediting.co.uk/

HOPE TO SEE YOU OVER THERE!

Where you will learn everything you
need to know about the progress of A Blonde Bengali Wife, the travel
book I've written about my love-affair with the fabulous country of
Bangladesh.

It's a blog about Bangladesh, about Bhola, and about fiction
and creative writing in general...

A Blonde Bengali Wife:


First published in September 2010 and launched in October 2010.

Reprinted and re-launched in November 2015 as an eBook available from Amazon UK/.com

#1 Amazon Bestseller


Follow it on Twitter @AnneHamilton7 and @Anne_ABBW and Goodreads

Buy it here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blonde-Bengali-Wife-Anne-Hamilton-ebook/dp/B016UDI86I






















Monday 29 August 2016

We Have Moved!

A Blonde Bengali Wife has finally moved to its new home on my website WriteRight.

http://www.writerightediting.co.uk/

From now on you can find all things literary and all information about Bhola's Children under the 'Blog' tab where, hopefully, it's better laid out, more accessible and quite streamlined.

See you over there!

Anne x
 

Friday 1 July 2016

The Great Edinburgh Story Shop Line-Up 2016

Time to follow up last month's far from subtle hint about my other writing news. No, my novel has not found a friendly literary agent or an eager publisher; it hasn't even been sent to any, but that's my project for the summer (and now I've announced that here, I must do it...)

At the beginning of June, I learned I have been selected for Edinburgh City of Literature's 'Story Shop' at the International Book Festival this year. Each day of the festival, one 'emerging writer' is chosen to read an original short story to an audience in the Spiegeltent. It's a ten minute slot, it's FREE, and I'll be reading a short story I've written called The Merry Dancers.

Obviously, when the organisers contacted me, I assumed they had made a monumental mistake, but a meeting and subsequent photographic evidence suggests I really am one of the Edinburgh Seventeen!



Okay, it's a bit like Where's Wally? but I'm right there, in the back of the picture, in the blue (honest).

There's a masterclass coming up and a recording session so that you can hear a taster of each story on the City of Literature Website.

So, this will be almost all of my 15 minutes of fame. Please come along and bring all your friends, neighbours, children, and any strangers you can drag in off the street - my only worry is being the first Story Shoppers ever to read to a sea of empty seats...

It's Tuesday 23rd August at 3pm

Okay, boast over. But I'm making the most of it because when will I ever have the chance again to appear at the world's biggest book festival - and get a pass to the author's yurt!

More info on the programme at: http://www.cityofliterature.com/announcing-the-writers-for-story-shop-2016/

Hope the sun is shining on you as July takes off

Anne x

 

Tuesday 31 May 2016

Back To The Writing Game


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 shameless boasting; I never usually win things so I'm making the most of my moment!

I wrote a story called 'The Shining Girl', set in India, where nothing is quite what it seems, for New Asian Writing, and I managed to get first prize. (I'll gloss over the fact that I received the notification early one Sunday morning and assumed for a long while it was a scam). You can have a look at it here, if you have a spare five minutes:

www.new-asian-writing.com/the-shining-girl-by-anne-Hamilton

My second success has been being shortlisted for the Fresher Writing Prize 2016, and that story, The Twenty-Four Hour Promise, examining what happens when a thirty-something woman tells her best friend she's entering a convent, is being published in an anthology, due out about now. More about Fresher Publishing at:

http://www.fresherpublishing.co.uk

And you never know, there might be a third time lucky - but more about that next time. Hopefully. The best thing is, that it's all reminded me how much I enjoy writing for it's own sake, and that I will do it anyway, prizes or not!

Finally, if you're looking for a great read from a real, proper writer, check out Corrie Jackson's Breaking Dead. It's a crime thriller set in the midst of London Fashion Week and the world of modelling. The eBook is currently 98p and there's a paperback due out later in the year.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Breaking-Dead-edge-your-seat-thriller-ebook/dp/B01BLIV3O6

 
Anne x


 

Saturday 23 April 2016

Bhola In Pictures

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 planting





Once the gardens are ready, different 'teams' take responsibility
 for each bed.


Lipi, the new school teacher

Posing in the physiotherapy area


Rihad with his new 'assisted device'

Can you see Tahid up the tree??

We currently have a specific appeal for funds to assist with paying Lipi's salary and for the ever increasing, very valuable physiotherapy work. If you know anyone who can help, please send them over to www.bholaschildren.org for more information.
 
Next month, back to a bit of writing - perhaps!
 
Anne x
 
 




Monday 21 March 2016

Beautful Bhola's Garden

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 primary school each morning and have lessons in sign language, Bangla and tailoring, carpentry or cooking in the afternoons. Three of the older boys - each of them deaf - who did extremely well in their winter exams, won places at the local secondary school, and other have a placement in the technical college.


In addition to the local Trustees Meeting - a very positive experience, with some highly committed and influential members (all men just now; but three women are on the way; a huge achievement!) we had tea with the Superintendent of Police and the District Commissioner, both of whom have offered their total support to the project. Bangladesh remains an incredibly administrative country, so this is very significant. But we also had fun - the traditional 'picnic' on the river, where swimming ad a boat ride pleased everyone.




Children and adults work incredibly hard in the community. Each has his or her chores, and when there is a job to be done, everyone gets involved. A big project right now is extending the boundary wall to make room for some milk cows - we're calling the new land 'The Pasture', which in Bangla is less romantically translated as Goyal Ghar   or Cow Shed. Here the boys - Ahardot, Hassan and Rihan in the forefront - are building a new set of steps, and Deepok, our house-father, advises where the new wall will go.  Meanwhile, the girls are cooking an enormous chicken biryani in the neighbouring kitchen.




There is plenty of time for playing: we had a Sports Day with everything from three-legged races to musical chairs and a dance display, and Zakir has added a slide to the (very erratic) swings. The little ones have only a handful of 'indoor' toys; the few jigsaw puzzles and board games we left were received as such a treat, it was a very poignant moment (next time, I'm packing Lego - here Ripa and Mitu play with what they have)


I could write about Bangladesh forever (some would say I already have done!) so I'll leave it there. There are more photos on our Bola's Children blog on the website: www.bholaschildren.org and, courtesy of Dinah's camera and, back home, Trustee Nick's editing skills, there will be a video before long...

I do just want to add a thank you to everyone who has bought the eBook of A Blonde Bengali Wife. I was able to add the first royalties cheque to our donation - and it makes such a huge difference.  Thank you all - and pass it on by sending people to http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blonde-Bengali-Wife-Anne-Hamilton-ebook/dp/B016UDI86I

View from the third floor roof where the guest rooms are

Anne xx

 

Monday 1 February 2016

A Blonde Bengali Wife Goes On (Blog) Tour



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
 
Date: 2nd February
Date: 3rd February

Date: 4th February

Date: 5th February
 
Date: 8th February
- Boom Baby Reviews
- The Gingerbread Cottage
Date: 9th February
 
Date: 10th February
Date: 11th February

Date: 12th February
 
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 Bengali Wife's story - thank you to everyone involved!
 
Anne x

Friday 8 January 2016

Writing Right in 2016

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, clustered systematic (okay, just random) sample of writers I work with, here are some of the most 'useful'  and simple suggestions for 2016:
 
Seven Personalised Writing Goals
 
1 Start writing a journal and once a week make a story (true or not) out of the best bits.
 
2 Stop waiting for inspiration and write stuff, any stuff, anyway.
 
3 I don't write anything but shopping lists at the moment. So I am going to make my shopping lists  works of  literary art!
 
4 When I am editing I will imagine Anne sitting on my left shoulder, poking a pen in my ear and yelling 'Do You Need?'
 
5 Make a photobook with GREAT captions for momentous events through the year.
 
6 Remember that stories have a beginning, middle and end. I'm okay at the first, good with the second but the third just peters out.
 
7 Listen more.
 
And whatever you do, remember one thing.....
 
 
 
Anne x