I’ve just realized that my novel was mentioned yet again in another article that ran in the GDN last week. One paragraph though was rather misleading. Among 110 Bahriani books published in 2004, only six were in English.

But it does not explain that QuixotiQ is the ONLY one that is A) directly written in Eglish, and B) is a novel. The two other work listed as an English book is one written by author Khalifa Sulaibekh, whose collection of non-fiction short stories, and a Qassim Hadad novel, were translated into English as they were originally published in Arabic.

The others are teaching and business books!

I was quite chuffed the other day to learn that there is a Bahrain-based online book forum The X-Cape Forum. The webmaster (whose name I am yet to find out) contacted me, explaining to me what the site is about. There are, according to her, over 100 members from Bahrain and around the region.

The website is impressive and the forum is a great place for people to talk about everything related to books of all sorts and kinds. It’s such a great feeling to know that there are more and more people out there who are passionate about fiction, literature and reading in general.

Pay them a visit and if you like what you say, be sure to join up as a member. I did!

If you are interested you can read the media feature in the current issue of Woman This Month on one of Bahrain’s leading female journalists, Reem Khalifa. Follow this link.

Thanks for all those who’ve been voting for me in the Best Arab Blogs Awards so far. I’m counting on you guys so keep voting! You’ll find all the proper links below in the previous post.

I’m closely running for the Best Bahraini Blog and the Best MediaJournalist Blog (in which both I’m between second and third). Focus on voting me in those two categories please…. The poll ends on Monday (January 31).

Not much progress on the writing front, but I’m pleased to announce that my short story Goodbye, Humanity has been receiving some encouraging feedback from BeWrite readers. Here are some of the comments:

“A very moving narrative that Has To Be Told.”

“This piece is spellbinding!”

“I was gripped and moved by these words of truth.”

“So much pathos and sadness in this most moving (well written) story,”

“Thought provoking,”

So if you are drawn to the story and would like to read it, click on the title above to go to the appropriate webpage. (and don’t forget to leave your own comments)

On the other hand, my short story Jalboot has been strongly criticized by a professional editor, claiming it to be weak and grammatically challenged. Which means that it’ll require lots of revision and rewriting. But I’m still proud and confident of this piece and hope to showcase it sometime/somewhere in the near future.