Around the World in a Blogpost ...

There's nothing like spending a few days with a great bunch of international writers to make you feel supported and less - well - bonkers. The Summer Writing Institute is amazing - I'm having a blast, working hard, and there's a great bunch of writers and teachers involved.

It's one of the huge benefits of the web, and the support for writers through blogs, forums, Twitter has changed the writing life - we are nowhere near as isolated as our predecessors were. It really is a global writing community, and I hope the blog tour has introduced you to some great new sites.

Today, on the final leg of our blog tour we are heading to Canada, visiting So Many Precious Books So Little Time, to the UK where Helen Hunt interviews me on Fiction Is Stranger Than Fact, and reviews The Beauty Chorus on Bookersatz, and to Qatar where Chris interviewed me for KooKi. Chris is an American-born, Swiss-immigrated, Qatar-living writer, and it was great to bump into her at the Writing Insitute. For those of you who are curious about life out here, her blog is a brilliant insight into the kookier aspects of life in the Middle East. For anyone who's 'local' do join us at Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar tomorrow night, 1st June 6pm where I'll be doing a reading and signing.

So, hope you've enjoyed our tour - it will be business, and writing prompts as usual soon. Happy writing x