TELL MAGAZINE

Hey, it’s almost August and I’ve only received 2 entries for my Favourite Tales Competition. I’m hoping for more of them rolling in soon. Closing date is Merdeka Day.

There’s an article on me in a recent issue of Tell Magazine. To compile the article, journalist, Michelle Gunaselan, came up with a series of questions. Here’s some of them, including my answers . . .

What is your all time favorite, spine-chilling story/novel?

I love Stephen King’s earlier writings: “Salem’s Lot”, “The Stand”, “The Shinning”. Another captivating novel is Peter Straub’s “Ghost Story”. Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart” still gives me the creeps. So does “Dracula”. It’s impossible to pick one.

You’ve received much recognition overseas and even in Singapore, do you feel that you’ve received the same amount of attention here?

To be quite honest I don’t look for recognition. I enjoy what I do and that’s enough for me. Of course I’d love my books to sell more. I wrote the stories to entertain, and I’d like to share them with more readers. And more publicity (or recognition) does lead to more sales.

How do you think the Malaysian audience looks at the horror genre?

Malaysian readers love horror. It may come from us being more superstitious. It may also be the result of the mixing of so many cultures, each with their own set of evil spirits! And we Malaysian believe in all of them. Horror also tends to be plot driven and hence easy and quick to read.

Your writings span a number of different topics, is it easy for you to maintain this versatility?

If a subject attracts my attention enough then I’ll write about it. So it’s not a question about being versatile. It’s about going where your heart leads you.

You’re an avid blogger, what do you think about the growth of the Malaysian blogging scene and the controversy as well as dialogue that has come out of it?

First the controversy. This generally only applies to blogs that criticise the authorities or start unfound rumours. The majority of blogs are on-line diaries written to be shared. Some, like mine, focus on a particular topic. I think the growth of the blogging scene is wonderful. To blog you need to write for an audience. So purely through practise, local writing will improve.

What tips would you give writers who are starting out?

Read as a matter of habit. Expand your reading to books you normally wouldn’t read. Write your first draft. Know that writing is re-writing. You’ll have to re-write your piece several times. Buy a book on creative writing. Know that as a writer you’ll constantly be learning your craft. Go to a course if you can find one. Write fearlessly.

Three words to describe your book.

44 Cemetery Road is Dark, Dangerous, Mystifying

Have you read any spine-chilling books? What’s your favourite?

ME? A FILM DIRECTOR?

If a picture is worth a hundred words, then surely a video is worth thousands!

My brother, he’s a musician and, a few years back, his band “Fishball” released an album called “Ghosts”. With nothing better to do, I went and did a music video for one of the songs. I also starred in it (well only my legs and my trusty gardening shoes!) The video was shot in Sydney and I used iMovie to edit. Whilst I’m pleased with the results, I don’t think I’ll switch to film directing!

If you like the song, you can download the album for FREE (click here)

Hope you like the MUSIC VIDEO (click here)!

BLOGGER ARE LIARS – THE SUBMISSIONS

I received more than a dozen submissions for the proposed Bloggers Are Liars! collection. There was humour, reportage, poems, memoirs and a great depth of feelings and thought in a lot of the writing. All the submissions were good and deserve to be published in print.

Congratulations, all of you!

But that’s what I think.

Publishers will have a different point of view. They also have to decide whether a collection by bloggers will sell. They are, after all, a business.

I can now begin to approach publishers with the collection. As I’m sure you know, this is not an easy or quick process. We may or may not get the result we want, but your writings certainly deserve to be highly considered. And the collection as a whole should have a readership out there.

There was one highlight though in all the submissions. That was from the thought-provoking Zewt. He submitted enough stuff for an entire book! As you all know, his writing is full of wit and wisdom. So I’ll  be taking his book to the publishers separately.

So essentially there are 2 books. My proposed titles are:

Bloggers Are Liars!

Bloggers Are Liars! The Writings of Zewt

These are only working titles as the publishers may have their own ideas.

A big THANK YOU to you to you all for your submissions. I sincerely hope it’ll be a success and that we’ll  have 2 wonderful books at the end of the process!

P.S Don’t forget your entries for the 44 Cemetery Road: Favourite Tales Competition.

FAVOURITE TALES COMPETITION

Here’s a great opportunity to win lots of books!

First, the tantalising prizes:

• 1st prize – A RM100 MPH voucher
• 2nd prize – A RM50 MPH voucher
• 3rd prize – A RM30 MPH voucher

So just imagine all the books you could buy!

Here’s all you have to do:

1. Of the 21 stories in 44 Cemetery Road, write a blog post stating which ones are your THREE FAVOURITE TALES. You’ll also need to say in 50 words or more WHY you particularly enjoyed each of those stories.

2. In the comment box here or at my 44 Cemetery Road blog, you’ll need to provide the URL to your blog post.

3. If you don’t have a blog or prefer not to do a blog post, you can list your three favourite tales and reasons why by commenting in the comment box here or at my 44 Cemetery Road blog.

4. I’ll pick the 1st prize winner. As for the 2nd and 3rd prize winners, these will be picked at random (so anyone can win!) The judge’s decision is final, so please do not instigate legal action!

5. Anybody can enter the contest. The MPH vouchers can only be used at MPH bookshops in Malaysia. Instead of MPH vouchers, I may send you a Malaysian Ringgit cheque instead. BTW, only one submission per person!

6. To celebrate Malaysia’s 50th independence anniversary, the closing date is is 31 AUGUST 2007 (yeah!) I’ll announce the winner within a week of the closing date.

I look forward to your entries!

My thanks to Lydia Teh from whom I nicked this great publicity and competition idea!

STORY OPENINGS

What can I share with you today? Perhaps some of my writing?

Anyway, here’s the opening 2 paragraphs of a story I’m currently working on. It’s tentatively called “Blue Glass” (don’t ask me why!).

On the twisted shores of the sea I came upon this earth. My mother stumbled out of the air conditioned car into the warm night, scurrying along the crouching squatter huts, past the shadowy bushes and down the dirt track until the water lapped her feet.

Then the wave of pain and wrenching nausea hit her and she dry retched upon the ground. Gasping as she crawled, sweat dripping from her tangled hair, she vomited. Then, crawling on her back away from the whistling wind, she pushed me out, wet and glistening, and somewhat perplexed, into the embrace of dry sand. I opened my eyes to a constellation of stars that were caught like swirling fishes in my eyes. When I turned to look back at her child-like face, all I found was her cotton blue veil wrapped like a net around my body.

Want to share any of your own story openings?

HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS?

Over the weekend I read an article by Rosemary Neill about an acclaimed Australian author of both children’s and adult’s fiction: Sonya Hartnett.

Although first published at 15 and at 39, with 16 novels written, she had this to say:

“I would never be great at what I did. I would never have [commercial] success…I’m good but I am not great. All these things I have just become resigned to. It’s better to be all right than to be crappy. Better to have moderate [commercial] success than have no [literary] success”

This from a woman who has won literary prizes and sold 250,000 books!

But what struck me was not how the world saw her or how many books she sold. The vital thing was what she felt about herself.

I’ve always felt that as writers, the first person we write for is ourselves. If we’re happy with our work, if it gives us satisfaction, then everything else is secondary. If we’re making a career out of it then, of course, it’s a different story. That’s why I don’t recommend the latter.

The article goes on: “Her disillusionment with writing reflected her frustration at seeing average books, such as Da Vinci Code or the Harry Potter series, being outrageously promoted…She objects to “this sort of rabid support of Harry Potter to the exclusion of so many good books for children. It was fine for a couple of years until it crossed the line and became really sickening and stupid.”“

Hmmm…maybe I shouldn’t have bought the entire series. It seemed a good idea at the time.

Or perhaps the author was just feeling particularly negative that day. But isn’t that just so refreshing?