Number of celebratory drinks: lots!

Money to be made as best selling author: er…not much!

Having my first monograph (an academic book written on my own) in my hand is a most exciting feeling. It makes all the stresses of writing, editing and indexing the thing worthwhile, certainly a very proud moment. And I haven’t spotted any mistakes yet either, which is one of the greatest fears of an author – that these errors only come to light after it’s too late! Publishing monographs is an essential part of an academic’s activities these days, it is hard to find a job in this competitive environment without one and the RAE has meant that material not necessarily ready or suitable for the public gaze is being churned out in order to meet it’s demands.

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Conference papers presented: 1

Discussions held over a glass of wine: too many to mention!

I have just returned from a most productive academic conference in the U.S. which was very exciting. Being a junior academic at a conference is much like being a groupie at a stadium rock gig, you spend much of your time hanging around in coffee breaks and wine receptions hoping to find someone to introduce you to the real bigwigs in your field! There were scholars at this conference who have defined or revolutionized my field and to be in the same room as them was quite an experience, and to hear them speak was wonderful.

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