Breakfast Club & “Readings”

Saturday was a busy day: Breakfast Club at MPH Bangsar Village 2 followed by “Readings” at Seksan’s.

I throughly enjoyed MPH’s Breakfast Club. Quite informal. I chatted enthusiastically about my books. Read an extract from my novella Juriah’s Song which we also launched then. This was followed by some Questions and Answers.

When my bit was done, I thought I could relax as Xeus was next. But no such luck – Xeus pulled 3 of us up front (myself, Lydia Teh & Chua Kok Yee) fellow contributors to Dark City 2 for more!

Then RTM turned up and we did the interview. Lydia and Xeus also managed to ride on that, so wonderful publicity for all of us!

Eric Forbes and myself carrying our baby Juriah’s Song. Every author needs a good editor!

Then it was a delicious lunch with Lydia, Xeus and Eric.

Next was “Readings”. This felt like a more formal affair. I was somewhat nervous. What would this more arty literary crowd thing of this horror writer barging into their rarified space? It was hot too. No air con – though I must say the architectural space Seksan created and his lovely paintings (including the 6 pigs by Hamir Sohib) were delightful.

Feeling the still humid Bangsar air about me, I read from “Blue Glass” which I thought was appropriate since it might be regarded as less plot driven. I paid too much attention to the 10 minute reading limit and this threw me a bit.

I enjoyed the readings from all the other writers though, particularly Chuah Guat Eng. I was a bit surprise to find non-fiction on offer too with Gerald Chuah’s lengthy take on how Rocky can be an inspiration in our lives. It was really nice to meet other bloggers there too.

Later I met friends for dinner. It was a buffet at Chef Ismail’s “Rebung” which was too delicious with too many dishes on offer. I can still taste the fire on my tongue!

Well Done You Guys!

I wish I had the photos from the creative writing course I conducted at MPH at One Utama last week. They were a great bunch of students who were not shy to participate and were eager to learn. I’m lucky to have met such nice people I hope they took away something good from the course

It really was a fun workshop. The students read from Malaysian texts, were enthusiastic in their own writing which they were happy to read aloud to the class. We covered setting, character, dialogue, the process of writing and publishing and many other areas. We talked about cliches and I managed to confuse myself over similes and metaphors.

For me it was a powerful learning experience. I knew what I did well and what I could have improved on. Overall, it’s been the most memorable part of my trip to KL.

Here’s an extract from a lovely letter from Matilda:

Dear Tunku Halim

Once again, I’d like to express my heartfelt gratitude n tks to you for so unselfishly sharing

* your most invaluable knowledge,
* your vast insights to the various writers’ pitfalls that wud make us stand out (or totally be knocked out of the scene as the case may be), n
* your immense n priceless experiences on how to get started in the very first instance . . .
It is unfortunate that the time was so very short as I’m sure many of us do really have lots more queries to ask n probably need that much more reassurances from you…

The Meet the Author session at Borders The Curve went really well and there was a good crowd too and many books sold. TV3 were also there and took quite a bit of footage.

Here’s a photo of me signing books (courtesy of NN)

I had my debut on TV3 this morning. It was on at 7.30am, so it was a bit early for you late night bloggers. It was in Malay too . . . and I, making a rojak of Malay and English, survived!

I’ve got 2 events on this Saturday 26 Jan:

1. MPH Breakfast Club at MPH Bangsar Village 2 at 11am

2. “Readings” at Seksan’s 3.30-6pm (67 Jln Tempinis Satu, Lucky Garden, Bangsar)

Hope to see you there!

Nothing Like the Sea

Warm clear waters. Gentle waves. Fish curling about the rocks. Fishing boats sitting on the horizon. Deep fried crabs and mango salad on the beach. There is nothing quite like the sea . . .

Ah, this is Phuket!

This is our last full day here and it has been wonderful. Swimming, snorkling, massage and, of course, the breakfast buffet . . I’m so stuffed I can hardly write this.

It’s a short break here at this resort before we head back to KL tomorrow.

I’ll be pretty busy there with those events lined up. The first one is at Borders, followed by the creative writing workshop the next day.

See ya, going for a long swim now. The pool, sea and cocktails await . . .

My NTV7 Debut

It was a last minute thing. After arriving in KL last night it was an early start through the endearing traffic to Shah Alam and into NTV7’s studio for an interview on The Breakfast Show.

It went very well and the presenters even put up all my different books up on screen. I’d like to thank them for doing that and for not asking hard questions. I even got in a joke about me wearing a Dracula or Pontianak costume when I write horror stories. I wished I had worn my hat though. I had left it in the car for I thought I might get too hot.

My last TV interview was with RTM a few years back. I was more nervous then as it was my first time and I remember talking some nonsense . . .

Lunch was at a canteen. Fried chicken, veges masak kuning, etc etc – I’m so stuffed!

It’s great to be back in Malaysia and I’ve already visited a bookshop (MPH in Great Eastern) and, yes, hasseled the manager about getting more of my books in.

I look forward to seeing you guys in one of my events soon:

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!)