Marianne MakdisiMarianne Makdisi is the author of several much-loved books set in Dubai and also writes the popular expat blog Circles in the Sand. Prior to moving to the Middle East in 2008, Marianne lived in Minneapolis and before that, London, where she as a magazine journalist working across a range of women's titles. Marianne and her husband are now raising two boys in the United Arab Emirates while she also attempts to hold down a job at Dubai's Media City.