Reading, Procrastinating and Pets

I haven't read any mysteries for a long time and forgot how much I love them. I've been on a Blue Balliet reading marathon and all I can say is that if you've not picked up these books, do so. The characters are endearing and interesting. My son has eaten them up, but I was surprised that my daughter couldn't get excited by them. For the first time, she's more interested in reading contemporary fiction with Indian girls, not in India, but here in the US. Slim pickings. If you have titles to recommend (middle grade only please) I will be very happy to share them with her. She told me to hurry up and finish revising my book because she is ready to read it.

I do find Pooja's site helpful, but there's a serious lack of MG fiction.

I realize how important it is to be able to see your own ethnicity reflected in at least some of the stories you read. I had the luxury of reading both Indian and British literature when I was growing up so I read about people like myself and people completely different. I enjoyed both. But in my writing, I find myself almost exclusively focusing on the experiences of immigrants or the children of immigrants, with a foot in two or more cultures. But in the end, my stories are all about finding home and family, so my hope is that they will appeal to all children.

I should've spent an hour writing, but decided to catch up on downloading pictures and organizing them. I know, I know -- major procrastination. But I am determined to get the household things in order this summer so that I do not have piles and piles of things and pictures and papers, but have a home for everything. I guess this is the start of it. I find that when the living space is somewhat organized, I can concentrate on my writing.

Here are some pictures of our new family members. The fish we got for Christmas and the dwarf hamsters, just last month for my daughter. Both the dog and cat are fascinated by their antics, as are we.