My KL Events …

I’ve just realised how busy I’m going to be in KL in January.

My publisher has lined up 4 events:

Meet the Author at Borders (The Curve): 19 January, 3-4 pm
(Am I going to be here all alone talkin’ to myself?)

Creative Writing Course at MPH (One Utama): 20 January, 11am-3pm
Plus: A chance to win a copy of Gravedigger’s Kiss!
(A learning experience for all, especially me!)

MPH Breakfast Club at MPH (Bangsar Village II): 26 January, 11am-12.30pm
Plus: Yet another chance to win a copy of Gravedigger’s Kiss!
(I’m told “simply whack lah” is the best way to do this one!)

“Readings” at Seksan’s ( 67, Jalan Tempinis Satu, Lucky Garden, Bangsar): 26 January, 3.30pm-6pm
(I’ve no idea what I’m going to read!)

MPH have come up with a poster to publicise my creative writing course on 20 January. As you can see, there’s no age limit so adults are more than welcome!

Hope you can make it to one of these events!

P.S HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008 TO ALL OF YOU.
I HOPE IT”LL BE A WONDERFUL YEAR!

Creative Writing Seminar: Adults Too!

Great news!

If grown ups would like to attend the seminar then there’s no need to disguise as a teenager or baby in nappies. That’s because MPH has decided that including grown ups is a great idea!

So, yes, if you’re between 13 and 113 years old, you’ll be able to attend the seminar and I’d be delighted to see you there. Just bring pen and paper to write on so we can do some writing and have some fun.

Here are the details again:

It’ll be a at The Booker Room at MPH Megastore 1 Utama, Petaling Jaya on 20 January 2008 (Sunday) between 11:00am -3:00pm.

If you’d like to attend, please pre-register at MPH Megastore 1 Utama’s customer service in early January 2008. It’ll only cost RM20 for MPH members and RM30 for non-MPH members.

See you there!

Creative Writing Seminar: 20 January

Guess what? I’m going to be holding a creative writing class for young adults (between 13 and 18 years old).

It’ll be a at The Booker Room at MPH Megastore 1 Utama, Petaling Jaya on 20 January 2008 (Sunday) between 11:00am -3:00pm.

If you’d like to attend, please pre-register at MPH Megastore 1 Utama’s customer service in early January 2008. It’ll only cost RM20 for MPH members and RM30 for non-MPH members with lunch provided (I think!).

Please also bring a pen and some writing paper.

Oh yeah, here’s a handout that I completed just this morning:

Looks fun, huh? Hope you folks get to come.

As for you grown ups, I’d be delighted to do a course for grown ups if there’s sufficient interest. All I need is someone to volunteer to organise it!

P.S Merry Christmas and/or Season’s Greetings to all of you!
I’ve got a duck to roast tomorrow, its happily thawing in the fridge today.

Unveiling . . . Juriah’s Song!

I was author in the spotlight at MIX fm . . . serves me right for seeking publicity (just kidding!) I’m lapping all that delicious publicity up . . . (hmmm . . . maybe I should write another letter to The Star?)

Anyway, the radio station mentioned a JURIAH’S SONG.

What’s this?

Well, it’s my latest book, coming out January 2008!

Juriah’s Song is a novella that came out in The Women Who Grew Horns and Other Works collection. I’ve always been thrilled by it and I thought it would be fantastic if it could slip out into this dark world on its own.

So here’s the blurb:

“What choices would you make if you could live your life all over again?”

A young rock star is pursued by a female spectre. He flees to a seaside village where he had once tried to kill himself. Back then an old man had rescued him and taught him the guitar. But now what dark secrets will a repulsive shaman reveal? And does the lovely Juriah mean to haunt him to death?

Juriah’s Song is a horror love story that will grip you till the very end. “

Anyway, I really hope you guys like the cover. That’s because my wife did the original drawing of the girl with her eyes closed. She also drew a few illustrations inside the novella. So this one’s a bit of a family affair!

Peering into Dark City 2

A couple of weeks back I was delighted to find several copies of Dark City 2 waiting for me. Once the brown paper was ripped away I beheld the stunning cover by Kenny Mah. (Why on earth I haven’t used him on my recent books still confounds me!)

I read the Editor’s Note, flipped through the stories and then the bio of each writer. The first thing that struck me was that my bio just seemed too long. Next time, I’ll need to be more succinct!

The 4th story was my contribution – “Hawker Man”. I wrote it about 12 months ago when Xeus approached me for a tale. I was grateful for the opportunity as I hadn’t written any fiction (well hadn’t finished any fiction, to be more accurate) for a few years. Although she did ask for a twist at the end of the tale, I told her I wasn’t a twisty kind of guy. So you’ll find that “Hawker Man” hasn’t got much of a twist. But still, I’m pretty proud of it . . . especially the hawker man swinging his white cloth in the air, grinning, as his slippers slap the floor toward you!

I then turned to the first story “Strong Chemistry” by Xeus. Three pages into the story I went “Wow! This is bloody good!”. I have to admit I said it with a touch of envy. This woman can write lah. This is Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum” Malaysian-style!

I couldn’t resist reading Xeus’s second tale – “Signature Spa”. A story after my own heart, indeed it was. I was set adrift by the scents of essential oils and I could almost feel the soothing treatments as the oils permeated my skin. I could guess, with trembling delight, at what was going to happen – it was like watching a car crash in slow motion. But the gourmet twist was a surprise. For me, it’s “Paradise Revisited” in 2008!

My congrats to Xeus on her new book, not only as author but editor. Congratulations as well to all those whose stories were published. For those who are published for the first time, it is a very memorable occasion, like no other.

Well done, you guys!

Stand Up! Stand Up!

A few months ago I injured my back. Now I’m not going to tell you how I did it, am I? (Well, it was rather innocent really: wrestling with my 7 year-old-son.)

The pain from the injury was just awful. Sleeping was excruciating, especially when you have to turn over during the night. There’s nothing like pain to bring you back to earth, to focus on what’s really important: your health.

My physiotherapist gave me a couple of heat packs and they were great in assuaging the pain. She also gave me a few exercises to do and these have been really helpful. But the most drastic thing she suggested was to not sit down for long spells.

As a writer, this I knew would pose some difficulties, as sitting down and writing is what writers do. Then I remembered reading or hearing somewhere that Donald Rumsfeld, whose stance on Iraq I totally disagreed with, had a sort of rostrum which he used as his desk and he worked standing up!

So I carted my laptop to the kitchen bench and began writing standing up. (I also did a lot my usual paperwork, emails and phone calls on my feet) The effect of not sitting down, mentally and physically, was quite enormous. There was a greater urgency in the writing (and in everything else I normally did sitting down) and I felt more dynamic for it.

Sure my legs did ache – but I was burning calories too (so I could have a bigger lunch!). Best of all, I was doing something good for my back!

I wonder if any of you have tried writing on your feet.

Growing up in Trengganu

Leafing through Growing Up in Trengganu any reader will be struck by the lucid beauty of Awang Goneng’s writing. The author evokes a time, perhaps not so long ago, of gentleness and simplicity of this unique east coast state. He conjures up places, faces, an almost enchanting way of life, and binds them all together with a sense of nostalgia and history.

I enjoyed this memoir by delving into it at my leisure rather than reading from start to finish. Open this volume at random and you’ll behold the mausoleum of Tok Pelam, turn another page and you’ll feast on satay for breakfast, flip again and you’ll meet the Chinese al-Yunani family whose members hail from Guandong. The topics are as diverse and as interesting as food at a hawker stall beside a windswept sea.

Through it all there is the charming Trengganuspeak which you’ll soon discover is very different from standard Malay. How I wish I could hear phrases like Isy pe el budok ninh hudoh ssungoh being spoken. Comparing it to what west coast Malaysians are used to, it would be like another language. Fortunately, there is a glossary to aid our navigation.

Awang Goneng’s obvious love for his state is infectious. You’ll feel as though you too grew up amongst its coffee shops and kueh stalls, sipped a combination of Milo, Horlicks and coffee conjured by a particularly creative drinks vendor, avoided the sorry old man who graffitied the town with a bucket of white paint, and. heart beating hard, cycled up that road lurked by a tiger. The author has opened up that ketupat to another world far from Malaysia’s car-jammed cities of glass and steel.

I was in Kuala Trengganu once. As a chambering student, I attended its court only to find out the flights back to KL were full. So I spent 3 memorable days wandering around the quiet roads and desolate beaches photographing fishermen and quaint Malay villages. My mother was there too as a mid wife in KT and Kemaman half a century ago. So she too would have tasted the balmy hanyir Trengganu air which almost fills your nostrils as you meander through this volume.

Growing Up in Trengganu is a nostalgic journey which is beautifully written. Monsoon books have also done a wonderful job in its production. The typesetting, quality of paper, design, combined with the old black and white photographs, make this volume a real joy.

This book or blook started life as Awang Goneng’s blog and this transition into hard print may be a first for Malaysia.