for Flight Paths

In Dubai Yacub worked long hours.  The bus from the camp to the site took nearly two hours most mornings, and the day on the site was ten hours long, and then the return journey took another two hours.  At the camp there wasn’t time for much more than washing, cooking, eating - the queues for all the facilities were always long.  When he was in Pakistan and dreaming about the job and the money he would make, he hadn’t anticipated any of this - although much of it was as his uncle had described.  He’d listened to his uncle but, he realised now, he hadn’t believed him. It was good to be working, and he liked watching the building rise from the dirt of the desert, knowing he was contributing to that.  But he hadn’t paid off the money he’d had to borrow to get the job in the first place. He wasn’t sure how long that would take.

At night Yacub lay in his narrow cot and dreamed that the building he was working on was his own.  He was building a silver tower for his family to live in, his parents and brothers and sister, his uncles and aunties and his grandparents, the wife he didn’t have, the children he hadn’t had.  They would all live in grand flats on the top floors of the building, while he ran his business from grand offices below.

At night he had these dreams, and in the morning it was time to get on the bus to the site.

About the blog

My plan is to write a blog for about a year, from end of Oct 08.  During this year, I’ll be working on a number of fiction projects, including ‘Inanimate Alice’, ‘Flight Paths’ and ‘Lifelines’; as well as this, my new book, ‘The Mistress of Nothing’ will be published - July 09 in the UK, autumn 09 in Canada.  I’ll continue to teach on the Online MA in Creative Writing and New Media at De Montfort University; I’ll continue to mentor students privately; I’ll continue occasional one-off speaking and teaching and reading gigs.  I’ll also attempt to stay abreast of the discussions around the current state as well as the future of reading and writing and publishing. I don’t plan to post anything personal - just a collection of things to do with writing.

About me

I write fiction, including novels, short stories, and digital fiction.  I also write for radio, journalism, and games.  I speak about the future of the book and the future of publishing; I teach online and offline; I give readings and talks at conferences and festivals.  I’m not an academic, but I hold the post of Reader in Creative Writing and New Media at De Montfort University, Leicester, where I work largely online.

I’m from Canada, but I live in London, England, home of my dreams.

Contact me at katepullinger (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk (does that really stop the spiders and spambots from finding your e-mail?).  Follow me on Twitter @katepullinger

Hello.  My plan is to write a blog for a year.  During this year, I’ll be working on a number of fiction projects, including ‘Inanimate Alice’, ‘Flight Paths’ and ‘Lifelines’; as well as this, my new book, ‘The Mistress of Nothing’ will be published - July 09 in the UK, autumn 09 in Canada.  I’ll continue to teach on the Online MA in Creative Writing and New Media at De Montfort University; I’ll continue to mentor students privately; I’ll continue occasional one-off speaking and teaching and reading gigs.  I’ll also attempt to stay abreast of the discussions around the current state as well as the future of reading and writing and publishing. I don’t plan to post anything personal - just a collection of things to do with writing.