Cutting it Close

I'm flying tonight at 11 to London via Abu Dhabi. It's gonna be a long flight.

The awards ceremony starts at 8.30pm. This is the sort of situation where you wish you had a twin brother! Or even better, a clone!

I'm not sure if I'll make it to the ceremony of the Oustanding Book of the Year Awards tonight at the Bahrain National Museum and that's a big bummer, because I am supposed to be given a special award for my novel QuixotiQ, the first ever novel written in English by a Bahraini.

If I am lucky, I will be one of the first on the list to be honored. If not, then I'll be stuck and end up having to leave the ceremony without my award so that I can catch my flight. The ceremony might take between one and a half to two hours. That's cutting it real close, don't you agree?

In any case I'll make an appearance and see how it goes.

Perhaps I should say a few words in case I don't make it (indulge me will you? I'll probably won't get a second chance at this… you can only have a "first" once!): Thanks for the people at the Cultural Directorate for considering me and including me in their list of honors and for going as far as creating a new special award for my novel. It feels great earning such recognition. And I hope I can from now on meet the level of expectations regarding my future work.

And I also hope that this award will bring more attention to the book and that more and more people will want to read it. Remember, QuixotiQ is available through all major and leading online stores internationally and is stocked at Booksplus in Seef Mall and Al Riwaq Gallery in Adliya.

I should be wrapping up my packing now! See ya later.